Carne Asada Marinade

On our last freezer cooking adventure, we made a carne asada  marinade. We put the steak in a gallon freezer bag, put all the ingredients in a blender to mix it up, and poured the marinade over the steak.  Grill the meat to medium and allow the meat to rest/cool a bit before slicing. Be sure to cut the steak thinly, cross-grain to keep it as tender as possible.

When I pulled the steak out to make the tacos this week, it turned out tender and flavorful. My son couldn't get enough of it. This is a great way to use a less expensive cut of meat, and not a lot of it to feed the whole family. Serve with lots of veggies (peppers, onions, lettuce, tomatoes/salsa, etc) and a bit of sour cream.

3/4 c Oil (I used olive oil) - I'd use 1/2 c next time
1/4 c Lime Juice
2 cloves Garlic
1/2 t Cumin
1 t Salt
1/4 t Pepper
1/4 t Chili powder (optional)

Freezer Meal Ordeal - Summer

It was another round of freezer cooking with my girlfriends from our small group last weekend. It was a lot of fun and laughs (as usual), but a great time to really talk in depth about life and our experiences.

I love that cooking together allows us that uninterrupted time (thanks guys for handling the kids) to share life and our hearts. Working side-by-side with other generates a great environment for deepening relationships. Not only do we come out with lots of great food to save us cooking later, but a bit refreshed personally as well.

What was the menu?
Mini Ice Cream Pies (we did vanilla this time)
Belgian Waffles
Oatmeal pancakes
Sesame Garlic Chicken
Turkey Taco Meat (with pureed peppers) - recipe coming
Marinaded Meat - raw with marinade ready to grill
    - Carne Asada
    - Garlic Herb Chicken - recipe coming

I admit, we've already eaten several of the items. Need to pace myself to make these last.

Bok Choy Slaw

I had a huge, mature bok choy from my CSA box last week. The flavor when they get that large tends to get a bit large, so it needs some stronger flavors to go with it. I didn't use the dark tops of the bok choy because it was rather tough and very strong, but I finally diced diced the base and mid portions.

4-6 c Bok choy, finely chopped
1 c Carrots, shredded or finely chopped
3 T Oil (I used sunflower)
2 T Vinegar (I used rice vinegar)
3 t Sugar
1 t Sesame seeds
1/2 t Poppy seeds
1/2 t Sesame oil
squeeze of lime

Toss the bok choy and carrots together. Whisk or shake together the remaining ingredients and add to vegetables. Serve immediately or allow the slaw to set and flavors to mesh together.

It's a fairly nice change from traditional cole slaw, but similar enough to the original.

Veggie Experimentation

Our family joined a CSA (community supported agriculture) farm this summer. We bought a share of an organic farm. Each week we get an assortment of vegetables, several that I've never tried before. It really forces me to experiment and broaden our vegetable horizons.

Some experiments have been successful. Others - not so much. I have learned that I really don't like radishes, in pretty much any form. HOWEVER, if I dice them up small they made a good replacement for onions in salsa. Their sharp taste offered a nice kick to sweet tomatoes.

Kohlrabi is one of the oddest looking veggies you've ever seen. I had no clue what to do with the thing.I did want to make my Jicama Lime Salad, but jicama is really expense in North Dakota and they come this of my child's head. I can't bring myself to spend that much money on a root veggie. So I replaced it with diced kohlrabi and it did quite well. I did miss a bit of the sweetness, but I added a touch more sugar to the dressing and it was wonderful. Next time I'll shred it rather than dice.

I have NEVER like peas. However, I have never had fresh peas from the pod. The smaller ones were so sweet that it was like popping candy. I couldn't get enough of them. I'm a believer now.

I managed to eat a different salad everyday last week with the most amazing lettuces. I didn't realize that when you cut into fresh lettuce that there is a milky substance that comes from the veins. Obviously I've never had really fresh mature lettuce before.

I've got a wealth of cucumbers and zucchini waiting to be tackled next. I have some great new ideas to try out and hope they taste as good as they sound.

Summer Strawberry Pie

This gluten-free version of strawberry pie was a HUGE hit at a backyard party last week - with all the people that COULD eat gluten. The combination of oat flavor and texture was wonderful.

I also wanted to find away around using products with artificial flavors and colors. I think that it is pretty close to the original, and darn tasty.

CRUST:
1 3/4 c Oat flour*
2 T Flour or Potato Starch or Corn starch
1 T Sugar
1 stick of Butter

In pie pan, melt the butter. Mix in the oat flour, starch, and sugar and pat out in the pan and around the edges. The crust will slide down a bit in the pan as it bakes and consolidates so push it as high up the sides of the pie pan as it will go. Bake at 425 degrees for 10-15 minutes. Cool.

* I pulsed gluten free oats in an coffee grinder until fine flour was produced.

FILLING:
1 c Sugar
2 T Corn Starch
1 c Water
1/4 c Mashed Strawberries
1 t Unflavored gelatin (about 1/2 a Knox packet)
1 1/2 lb Strawberries

Mix sugar and corn starch together in a saucepan. Add water, stir often and bring to a boil. Stir constantly and boil for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and add jello powder and mashed berries. Cool until lukewarm but still pliable.

Place cleaned and cut strawberries in the cooled pie crust. Pour cooled (but not cold) filling over the berries. Refrigerate and allow to set. Serve with whipped or ice cream.

Strawberry Pie - Traditional

This is the strawberry pie that I grew up with. It was one of my favorites and I loved when my mom would make it for us. This was the recipe that I picked to add to our class 5th grade cookbook (which 90% were desserts - go figure).

CRUST:
1 stick of Butter
1 1/3 c Flour
1 T water

In pie pan, melt the butter. Mix in the flour and water and pat out in the pan and around the edges.  Prick holes in the pie crust with a fork. Bake at 425 degrees for 10-15 minutes. Cool.

FILLING:
1 c Sugar
2 T Corn Starch
1 c Water
4 T Strawberry Jello mix
1 qt Strawberries, cleaned & hulled

Mix sugar and corn starch together in a saucepan. Add water, stir often and bring to a boil. Stir constantly and boil for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and add jello powder. Cool until lukewarm but still pliable.

Place cleaned and cut strawberries in the cooled pie crust. Pour cooled (but not cold) filling over the berries. Refrigerate and allow to set. Serve with whipped or ice cream.

Gluten Free Strawberry Pie Option

Corn Toppers

It doesn't get much better than corn on the cob in the summer. The 4th of July is just around the corner and corn is likely on many of our menus. The sweet, juicy and crisp kernels are great on there own, but the right topping can make it over the top amazing. I have lots of fresh herbs coming from my container garden and I chopped a bunch of them for dinner tonight and the corn was AMAZING.

I melted a little bit of butter and let some fresh chopped flat leaf parsley hang out in the warm butter to infuse the flavor. Topped with a bit of sea salt - it was so good. I've got plans to try some of these options over the next couple of weeks. I'll keep you posted on the results.

Butter w/parley & lime
Butter w/cilantro & lime
Butter w/basil
Butter w/basil & lemon
Butter w/thyme
Butter w/thyme & lemon
* Butter can be replaced by Earth Balance dairy-free spread for dairy-free or vegans

Applying melted butter in a measured and moderate amount can be a bit difficult. I just used a butter knife to drizzle it on and spread it around. It worked, but it wasn't very efficient. Next time I think I will use a pastry or basting brush.

On to enjoy more tastes of summer.