Last night's dinner was steak and roasted rosemary potatoes.
I had a couple steaks in the freezer that needed cooking (I forgot they were in there) and I have some new spice blends to try, so I decided to make them last night. Last time I went to the spice store they were running a coupon where you get two spice blends for free when you spend $10.00. That was easy, because I had to buy cocoa for my homemade iced mocha lattes (I'm addicted!!). But right before I left for the store, they emailed another coupon for two more free spice blends with a $10.00 purchase. AND THEN! I got to the store and they were giving away another spice blend with a $30.00 purchase. And I didn't have to spend a total of $50.00 to get all the free items. I only had to spend the $30.00. So that was quite the awesome deal. I got 5 free jars of spice blends to try out.
Last night I tried the Quebec Beef Spice, which is a mix of salt, black pepper, coriander, garlic, white pepper, and sugar. I really liked this one. I usually don't like anything on steak other than Borsari seasoned salt, but this blend was good. I could actually taste it. There have been a few that I just couldn't taste, even though I used a heavy hand when applying it to the steaks.
I also made roasted rosemary potatoes. I had potatoes to use up and I have a rosemary plant I bought this year and haven't touched yet. I found the recipe in one of the cookbooks I borrowed from the library. It was super simple. Just cut up two pounds of potatoes, toss them with olive oil, salt and pepper, and toss them in the oven at 400 degrees. After 20 minutes you check them and stir them around a bit, then put them in for another 20 minutes or so. That's when you sprinkle on the chopped fresh rosemary. Then pop them back in the over for another 20 minutes or until they're crisp and brown on the outside and tender on the inside. The timing varies based on how big you cut your potatoes. These tasted really good and were cooked perfectly. The fresh rosemary (vs. dried) really made a difference.
I got into parboiling my potatoes and sweet potatoes in chicken stock last year.. then I do the oil herbs and oven thing. ;) It makes them so fluffy on the inside!
ReplyDeleteI'm having a pea obsession right now, just taking frozen peas and cooking them in the microwave, then putting some grana padano and parmesan on top. So easy, so quick, so tasty, plus all the veg I usually like are super Up Money at the moment.
I'm not into peas, but parboiling the potatoes in stock sounds interesting and like it would add some flavor.
DeleteI was not at all into peas a few weeks ago, this has come to me as a surprise. But I have gone through 700g of frozen peas in a week. 100g a day. Maybe they have something I am missing, I'm not sure. ;)
DeleteI have an update on the parboiling because two days ago I was watching Judge Judy and when she's done it goes into a cooking show. They happened to be making sweet potato wedges. They said the following -
Only cook the sweet potatoes for 5-10 minutes. (I did 15-20 for the potatoes)
Drain the sweet potatoes in the sink and allow them to cool, letting all the steam escape as this moisture can affect the crispy.
Use spray on oil (EVOO or Canola or whatever kind you like) because you get better coverage and less oil overall.
I did this last night for our potato and sweet potato chips which I gotta be honest, my chips were pretty good before, but wow did all these tips take them to a whole other level. Especially the sweet potato, they held together a lot better, it was easier to handle them once they had cooled, so I could stand them up all nice in the baking dish, and I did not have to drain them on paper towel as much as usual once they were done cooking.
I better invest in more spray on cooking oil, I think.
And yes, the stock was born from an ad by a chef here who was saying "Don't use water, it's so bland" - when I tried it with the potatoes it was so good, we have been doing it ever since, with a reduced salt stock. :)
I've been using stock for more things, like making rice. It just gives it that extra something!
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