"Big" Dinner #2, part 1: Roasted Flank Steak with Olive Oil Herb Rub

Once again, we have a house guest for a couple of days, and this inspired me to have another "big" dinner.  This one consisted entirely of recipes I had never tried before, so I was hoping I had chosen them well (spoiler: I totally did!!)  This first one, the main dish, was actually the easiest part and relatively quick, too.  Here is a link to the original recipe:

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/roasted-flank-steak-with-olive-oil-herb-rub

I followed the recipe almost exactly, including cooking and rest times.  It was medium rare, which did not suit all that would be eating it, so I ended up cooking it more on the stovetop at the end.  In the future, I will add time on to the oven part instead.

Ingredients:

1 tsp. chopped fresh thyme
1 tsp. chopped fresh oregano
1 tsp. chopped fresh flat leaf Italian parsley
2 tsp. olive oil
1/8 tsp. grated lemon zest
1/2 tsp. bottled minced garlic
1 T. butter
salt and coarse ground black pepper
1 flank steak (1 1/2 lb.)
1/4 c. dry red wine (I used Cabernet Sauvignon)
1/4 c. beef broth

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.

2. Combine first 6 ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

3. Heat large ovenproof skillet (I used my cast iron skillet) over medium-high heat and add butter.

4. Salt and pepper steak on both sides, then add to melted butter in pan.  Cook 1 minute on each side.

5. Add wine and broth, cook 1 minute, then turn off heat.

6. Spread herb mixture over steak, then place pan in oven.

7. Bake for 10 minutes for medium-rare (add more time as desired for medium; it's not advised to go much past medium, though, as this cut of beef will become tough after medium).

8. Remove from oven and let steak rest in pan for 10 minutes.

9. Slice steak into serving portions, serve with sauce, and enjoy!

Cheese Ravioli in Pesto Cream and Tomato Sauce

This recipe is my own creation--I wanted to replicate a dish that I would get at Biaggi's restaurant when I used to go there a long time ago.  I searched for a pesto cream sauce recipe, but most were either too complicated for my time limit on this evening or listed ingredients I didn't have on hand.  Thus, decided to make my own.  A great decision--it turned out exactly how I wanted! This recipe is actually just one large serving; my family doesn't care for pesto, so it's another one of those cravings I have to satisfy solo.  I'm certain this recipe could easily be doubled or more, depending on need :)

Link to my YouTube short of the preparation of recipe: https://youtube.com/shorts/PZNaZzaa5Mo

Ingredients:

1 T. butter
1 tsp. bottled minced garlic
1/3 c. heavy cream
1 1/2 T. jarred/prepared pesto (personal preference note: do NOT use Prego brand. Rao's is best if you can get it!)
2 T. shredded Parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish (if desired)

frozen or fresh cheese ravioli (amount/number depends on how large the ravioli are)
~1/3 c. jarred/prepared tomato pasta sauce (I used Classico Four Cheese)

Directions:

1. Melt butter over medium heat.  Add garlic and cook for about 1 minute.

2. Stir in heavy cream and pesto, cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly, until mixture is homogenous.

3. Stir in Parmesan cheese until melted.  Remove from heat.

4. Meanwhile, cook ravioli according to package directions.

5. Drain pasta, return to pan, and add pasta sauce.

6. Pour pesto sauce onto plate and spread out.

7. Pour ravioli over top of pesto sauce and spread out.

8. Garnish with Parmesan cheese and enjoy!

Brownie Cookies

When I went to make these today, I discovered that the bookmarked page I had for the recipe no longer existed (noooooooooooooo!!!)  Fortunately, memory served me well enough to find another one that I'm certain was the same or very close (even says at the end that it was adapted from the site I got it from originally; think her only change was to add more chocolate chips, which I did not do since I use the triple chocolate mix).  Anyhow, these are super easy--even the clean up is fast thanks to using a mix :)  Here is the link to the one I found to use now:
http://www.couponingncooking.com/2013/07/double-chocolate-chip-brownie-mix.html

Ingredients:

1 package Ghirardelli Triple Chocolate Brownie Mix (the size that makes a small pan)
1/3 c. canola oil
2 eggs
1 T. all-purpose flour

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Mix together all ingredients in one bowl by hand.  Dough will be a little oily-looking and thick.

3. Using 2 spoons (or cookie scoop), drop rounded tablespoon sized dough balls onto parchment.

4. Bake for 10 minutes.  Cool on cookie sheet for at least 3 minutes before removing to rack to finish cooling.

5. Grab a glass of milk and enjoy!

Strawberry Pistachio Millefeuillantines

I've only made this twice now, but that is not for lack of wanting to; thing is, you need good strawberries for this.  Even though there are many supermarkets to choose from here, decent strawberries aren't always easy to come by.  Having prepared this before, I am glad that I know how it is supposed to go--first time, I wasn't sure I'd done everything correctly and discovered the bake time in the original recipe is not accurate (I even tried making some thinner wafers and that was not the solution).  This is one of my very favorite desserts--indulgent, yet not over the top.  Here is the link to the original recipe:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/strawberry-pistachio-mille-feuillantines-14025

Ingredients:

1/2 c. shelled pistachios
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
2 large egg whites
5 T. unsalted butter, melted
1/4 tsp. vanilla

1 c. heavy cream
1 T. vanilla bean sugar (or, seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean plus 1 T. sugar)
2 T. sugar

1 lb. small strawberries, hulled and sliced
sugar or turbinado sugar (optional)

powdered sugar

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 325°F.  Place a small mixing bowl in fridge to chill.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. In a food processor, grind pistachios with sugar.

3. In a bowl, whisk together pistachio mixture, flour, and salt.

4. Whisk in egg whites, butter, and vanilla until well combined.  Mixture will have a sticky, thick consistency.

5. Drop about 1 T. of batter onto parchment and use back of a spoon to spread out to a thin circle of around 4 in" diameter.  Repeat to fill sheet.

6. Bake in middle of oven for 11-12 minutes.  They will look slightly golden and a little underdone.

7. After removing from oven, transfer parchment off of sheet and after 1 minute, remove circles gently by peeling parchment away from bottoms.  It may be sticky--if it is too sticky, wait 1-2 more minutes, but not longer, before trying again.  Turn them over (bottom side up) and leave on parchment (don't place on a plate or they will stick to it).

8. Into the chilled bowl, pour the cream and add the sugars (or seeds and sugar).  Whisk until mixture holds stiff peaks.

9. If using, sprinkle sugar over sliced strawberries and stir to form glaze.

10. Assemble the dessert: place one pistachio circle on plate.  Top with whipped cream and some strawberries.  Repeat layers again.  Top with one more pistachio circle and dust with powdered sugar, then top with additional strawberries.  Enjoy!

Coq au vin

There are many variations out there available for this dish, so it was difficult to choose.  Since I hadn't planned far ahead (chose it same day), I had to eliminate the ones that require marinating--that helped a bit on cutting down the choices.  When it came down to it, I figured to give William-Sonoma's version a shot, as I've generally had excellent experiences with their recipes.  This was stellar--very highly recommend it.  I only modified a couple of ingredients slightly.  Here is the original version:
http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/coq-au-vin2.html

Ingredients:

1 bottle (750 mL) Merlot
5 fresh Italian/flat parsley sprigs, plus a little chopped for garnish
3 fresh thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
1/2 leek (cut lengthwise)
6 oz. thick cut bacon, cut into 1/2" dice
3 1/4 lb. chicken drumsticks
salt and coarse ground pepper
1 lb. small button mushrooms
1/2 lb. shallots, halved
1 T. unsalted butter
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 T. tomato paste
2 T. all-purpose flour
1 small can chicken broth
3/4 lb. carrots, peeled and cut into 1-2" pieces

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (I'm a bit of a slow cook, so I actually waited until I was nearly done to do this, but I'm sure others are faster...).

2. In a medium or large saucepan over high heat, bring the wine to a boil and maintain boil for 15 minutes, then remove from heat.

3. Place the parsley sprigs, thyme sprigs, and bay leaf against the cut side of the leek and tie together as a bouquet garni with kitchen string/twine.  Set aside.

4. In a 5 1/2 qt. Dutch oven over medium heat, cook the bacon until just crisped.  Transfer to a paper towel lined plate and set aside.  Discard all but 2 T. of drippings from the pot.

5. Season chicken with salt and pepper, then raise heat to medium-high.  Cook chicken in batches (I did 3 drumsticks at a time), 8 minutes total, turning once at halfway point.  Transfer chicken to a plate.

6. Place mushrooms in pot and cook, stirring every minute, until they are beginning to brown (around 6 minutes).

7. Add shallots to pot and cook for additional 2 minutes.  Transfer all contents of pot to bowl.

8. Reduce heat to medium and melt the butter.  Add the garlic, tomato paste, and flour.  Cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.

9. Whisk in the reduced wine and the chicken broth, increase heat back to medium-high, and bring to a simmer.

10. Add bacon, chicken, mushroom mixture, carrots, and bouquet garni.  Cover and transfer to the oven.

11. Bake for 1 1/2 hours.  Upon removing from oven, transfer chicken pieces only to a bowl.

12. Set pot over medium-high heat and simmer sauce for 15 minutes to reduce.

13. Remove bouquet garni, then return chicken to the pot.

14. Garnish with desired amount of chopped parsley, serve with preferred side (mine was egg noodles), and enjoy!

Rocky Road Oatmeal Squares

This recipe came as one of those daily email subscriptions that I always rarely pay attention to (even though I intend to...).  Glad this one managed to get my attention--delicious and easy to make!  It's on the rich side, but not extremely.  You will want some milk to go with this bar cookie, be prepared!
Here is the link to original recipe:
http://www.cooking.com/recipes-and-more/recipes/rocky-road-oatmeal-squares-recipe#axzz3ksteUwok
I made it exactly as written except that I was 1/4 cup short on the old fashioned oats, so I subbed in some quick oats.  Think it turned out just fine :)

Ingredients:

--for the oatmeal cookie base--
1 1/2 c. old fashioned rolled oats
1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
7 T. unsalted butter, softened, wrapper reserved
1/2 c. dark brown sugar
1/2 c. sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract

--for the filling--
1 T. unsalted butter
7 oz. (1/2 can) sweetened condensed milk
1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 c. mini marshmallows

--for the topping--
1/2 c. mini marshmallows
1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. For the cookie base, begin by combining oats, flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.  Set aside.

3. Use electric mixer to cream butter and both sugars until light and fluffy.

4. Add egg and vanilla, mix until fully incorporated.

5. Add dry ingredients, about a 1/3 at a time.  Finish by mixing by hand if needed.  Only mix until all ingredients are just incorporated.

6. Grease an 8"x8" pan (or 9"x9", like I used) using the reserved butter wrapper.  Press 2/3 of the cookie batter into the pan and reserve the rest.

7. For the filling, place butter, condensed milk, and chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl.  Microwave for 30 seconds and then stir.  Microwave for additional 10 second increments until mixture becomes smooth when stirred (it only took 40 seconds total for mine).

8. Add salt, vanilla, and marshmallows.  Stir to incorporate.

9. Pour into baking dish and spread to top cookie base.

10. For the topping, use reserved cookie dough to dot all over top of filling (filling will still be visible after).

11. Sprinkle marshmallows and chocolate all over top.

12. Bake for 28-32 minutes (23-27 for 9"x9" pan), until marshmallows are nicely browned.

13. Let cool completely before cutting into squares to enjoy!