Steak Salad

The other recipe from the going away party, this is from Giada De Laurentiis. It's delicious. The recipe explains a pretty way of serving this, but I just threw it all in a bowl. Still delicious.

Serves 4

1/2 head romaine lettuce, cut into bite-size pieces
1 large head Belgian endive, thinly sliced crosswise (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced into rings
3 cups fresh baby arugula
12 cherry tomatoes, halved
4 oz Gorgonzola, coarsely crumbled
Red Wine Vinaigrette, recipe follows
salt and pepper
1 pound steak (such as New York, rib-eye, or filet), pan-fried or grilled and chilled

In a large bowl, combine the lettuces, tomatoes, and half the cheese. Toss the salad with enough vinaigrette to coat. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Arrange the salad on a platter.

Cut the steaks crosswise into thin slices. Arrange the steak slices atop the salad and sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Drizzle more vinaigrette over the steak slices and serve.

Red Wine Vinaigrette:
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons honey
2 teaspoons salt
pepper to taste
1 cup olive oil

Mix the vinegar, lemon juice, honey, salt and pepper in a blender. With the machine running, gradually blend in the oil.

Yield: 1 2/3 cups

Shrimp Cocktail Soup

Nancy Rodriguez gave me this recipe - it's one of their favorites. I haven't made it yet, but it sounds good.

2 lbs shrimp
1 can whole olives, drained
1/3 cup cilantro, chopped
2 whole fresh tomatoes, diced
2 peeled fresh cucumbers, diced
2 stems celery, thinly sliced
2 peeled avocados, diced
2 green onions, chopped
1 32 oz. can tomato juice
1 cup water

Cook and peel shrimp. Combine olives through onions in a large bowl. Add tomato juice, shrimp, and water. Stir and serve either cold or warm with hot sauce.

Watermelon Salad with Mint Leaves

This is the salad I served at our going away party for Matt, Denise, Emma, Jackson, and Coleton. It's getting to be fall, which makes this a little less practical, but if you can find good watermelon, it's a simple, unexpected crowd-pleaser. Ironically, sometimes I leave out the mint.

For you Food Network junkies, this is a Paula Deen recipe (and doesn't contain a stick of butter!)

Serves 6

1 (5-pound) watermelon
1 Vidalia or other sweet onion
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
salt and pepper
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
6 whole mint sprigs

Cut the watermelon into bite size pieces, removing the seeds. Peel and slice the onion into rings.

In a small bowl, combine the vinegar, salt, pepper, and whisk until salt is dissolved. Slowly whisk in the olive oil, a few drops at a time. Add the chopped mint, taste, and adjust seasonings.

In a large bowl, combine the melon, onion, and feta. Pour the dressing over the melon mixture and toss gently until everything is coated and evenly mixed. Garnish with mint sprigs.

Denise Throws One In...

Thanks to Heather, who extended such a lovely invitation to let me post recipes on this AMAZING blog! I am honored. I thought that I would toss in my favorite marinade. Easy to throw together, makes the meat taste amazing, and I can even pass this one off to the kids and they don't notice. That's a big deal in this family. I am really enjoying the magazine, Real Simple. Laurel's sister, Beth, got me hooked. So, here you go, everyone. I hope you enjoy!

Ginger-Sesame Marinade

---------------------------------------------------------------

Recipe By: Real Simple

Ingredients:

1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce

1 tablespoon grated ginger

1 tablespoon sesame oil

2 scallions, thinly sliced

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

2 lbs meat, poultry, seafood, or vegetables

Directions:

Marinate in a zip-top bag for at least 20 minutes and up to overnight. For fish and scallops, marinate for no more than 15 minutes or they may become mushy.

BEST WITH:

pork tenderloin, london broil, pork chops, shrimp, salmon, bell peppers, eggplant and mushrooms

Happy Cooking!

Weinstein Wednesday: Lasagna

Well, in honor of the fact that a McCoy has now become a Weinstein and because I like Heather's Favorite Friday alliteration I thought I would make a play on the Ws...thus Weinstein Wednesday.  If I can remember and keep it up I will be posting favorites from the Weinstein kitchen since we have joined a McCoy and a Weinstein.  

Jon has made lasagna for me twice now and I love it.  His mom got the recipe from one of her "Ya-Yas" and was sweet to share it with us.  So here it is.   

Lasagna 

1 lb. sweet Italian sausage

½ lb. ground beef

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 Tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon salt

1 ½ teaspoons basil leaves, chopped or left whole (chef's choice)

½ teaspoon fennel seed

¼ teaspoon pepper

¼ cup parsley

4 cups canned tomatoes, undrained (or 1 can measuring 2lbs. 3 oz. Italian style tomatoes)

12 ounces tomato paste

1 tablespoon salt

12 curly lasagna noodles

15 ounces ricotta

1 egg

½ teaspoon salt

1 lb. shredded mozzarella

¾ cup parmesan cheese

 

1. Remove sausage from casing. Chop meat. Saute sausage, beef, onion, and garlic. Stir frequently until well browned.

2. To the meat mixture add sugar, 1 Tbsp salt, basil, fennel, pepper, 1/2 the parsley, tomatoes, paste and 1/2 cup water. Bring to a boil and simmer covered until thick (about 1.5 hours).

3. While the tomato meat mixture simmers cook noodles.

4. In a separate bowl combine ricotta, egg, salt, and remainder parsley.

5. In bottom of a 13"x9" pan, spoon about 1.5 cups sauce. Layer with 6 noodles. Spoon 1/3 mozzarella mixture and spread. Spoon 1.5 c sauce and spread. Sprinkle with 1/4 c parmesan cheese.

6. Repeat layering.

(So here the directions get a bit mixed up in the passing down but the jest of it is finish it off with sprinkling parmesan on top of the sauce mixture. It all goes to the same place anyway!)

7.  Bake at 375 for a total of 50 minutes - the first 25 minutes covered with foil and the remainder uncovered until bubbly (maybe more or less then 25 depending on oven).

GF/WF option:  This is another recipe that is easy to make GF or WF.  Lasagna noodles are a bit more difficult to find GF/WF though so I would like at a natural specialty store like Whole Foods or something similar.

Slow Cooker Sunday: Slow Cooker Baked Ziti

I love the Slow Cooker.  We have the best one from All clad.  Here is a link if you are in the market for a new one...

http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/sku8260341/index.cfm?pkey=xsrd0m1%7C16%7C%7C%7C0%7C%7C%7C%7C%7C%7C%7Cslow%20cooker&cm%5Fsrc=SCH

I don't remember how I got on the whole kick of finding a baked ziti recipe for the slow cooker but nonetheless, this is the one I found online and we have fallen in love with it.

Slow Cooker Baked Ziti

from www.recipezaar.com

1 lb. ground beef

1 medium onion, chopped

2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning

½ teaspoon salt

2 (25 ounce) jars pasta sauce

1 (15 ounce) container ricotta cheese

2 cups mozzarella cheese, divided

1 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 (16 ounce) box ziti pasta 

1.  Cook ground beef and onion in a large skillet over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until beef is no longer pink. Stir in seasonings to evenly coat meat; stir in pasta sauce. Set aside.

2. Mix 1 cup mozzarella, the ricotta and parmesan in a medium bowl. Spoon 2 cups of meat sauce into the slow cooker; top with 2 cups ziti. Drop half of the cheese mixture, by rounded tablespoons, over ziti; carefully spread over ziti using back of spoon. Layer with 2 cups meat sauce, the remaining ziti and remaining cheese. Add remaining meat sauce, completely covering all the ziti and cheese. Place lid on slow cooker.

3. Cook on low for 6 to 7 hours or high for 4 to 5 hours or until noodles are tender.

4. Carefully remove lid to allow steam to escape. Sprinkle food with the remaining 1 cup mozzarella; let stand 10 minutes until melted. Serve directly from slow cooker.

GF/WF notes:  The only thing you have to change to make this GF/WF friendly is the pasta.  I have trouble finding GF Ziti shaped pasta so I usually buy penne because that is the easiest to find.  My favorite brand of WF pasta is Vita Spelt.  My favorite brand of GF pasta that I have found as there are many that I haven't tried is Tinkyada Pasta Joy, Brown Rice Pasta.

Kate has joined the fun! Notes on her future posts.

Hello family and maybe friends!  

Heather hooked me up so that I can start posting recipes.  I have had a blast this last year, my first year of marriage to Mr. Weinstein, playing in the kitchen with all my new gadgets let alone my new kitchen.  Before I started posting recipes I wanted to fill you in on a few things that my recipes would include.  So as most people know I am wheat-free.  Often times society doesn't differentiate from wheat-free and gluten-free.  I would like to include a little information about that here before I begin posting.  

I found an excellent explanation of wheat-free v. gluten-free in case you are interested.

“Wheat-free” means that a person avoids all foods containing wheat. Foods containing wheat are anything made with white or whole wheat flour, such as: cookies, cakes, breads, tortillas, pizza, pasta, pancakes, waffles, most fried food, tempura, dumplings, wontons, etc.; anything made with bulghur such as tabouli; wheat berries; cous cous; sauces that are typically thickened with white flour; soy sauce.

Gluten-free means that a person avoids all foods containing gluten. Gluten is the general term used to describe the protein found in many grains including wheat, rye, barley, spelt, kamut, oat, triticale, semolina, pumpernickel, and farro.

(from http://www.snoety.com/wheat-andor-gluten-free-when-should-you-be/)

So for my posts if there is anything included in the recipe that has wheat or gluten I will be adding notes on how I made it wheat-free.

WF = Wheat-Free

GF = Gluten-Free

Looking forward to giving you a glimpse into the Weinstein Kitchen!

Love, Kate