Recipes – in thriver words

Stir-fry Beef Recipe, Sorta

Here’s a stir-fry beef recipe, sorta. It’s become one of my favorite go-to meals. The sorta part reflects that I haven’t measured anything any time I’ve made it so it’s not an official Cooking2Thrive recipe…yet.

I’ll guess the measurements for you below, but this is really a recipe for those who don’t measure anything. Don’t worry, this is not our usual method. We painstakingly test Cooking2Thrive recipes.

two pieces of broccoli on white background

If you’re afraid to play in the kitchen, this is a great chance to do that. Summon all that muscle memory from times you’ve seasoned dishes using a recipe. Remember how it looked. Remember how it smelled. Duplicate that. Or sprinkle salt like you’ve seen a chef do on TV. Be sure to add a flourish just for fun.

Also, find a happy apron to wear, or one that makes a statement! Not only will a fun apron keep your clothes safe, it can put you in a more playful mood.

Some other small tips before you start…When in doubt, under salt. You can always add more. In general, use half as much black pepper as you do salt. Be generous with garlic powder.

Ingredients:

One broccoli crown or bunch or two if they’re small
Olive oil (about 2 tbsp)
4 -5 cloves of fresh garlic, peeled
Salt (1/4 – 1/2 tsp)
Black pepper (1/8 – 1/4 tsp)
Chinese five spice (1/4 tsp)
Toasted sesame oil (1 – 2 tsp)
1 lb. sirloin tender steaks
Garlic powder (1/2 tsp)
Hoisin sauce (1 – 2 tbsp)

Clean and slice the broccoli into medium-thin slices. I remove the large stems, but you can include them. Just remember they won’t soften as quickly so you may want to cut them thinner and smaller than the other pieces. Trim the ends of the garlic and cut each clove in half.

Heat oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add broccoli to hot oil. After a minute or two, add the fresh garlic. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and a pinch of Chinese five spice. Don’t stir the broccoli until it begins to brown on one side.

While broccoli is cooking, season the steak with garlic powder, salt, Chinese five spice, and pepper on both sides. Cute into cubes.

Continue cooking broccoli until it begins to soften. Move broccoli to the outer edges of the pan. Pour sesame oil into the center of the pan. Once hot, add the steak. Cook, stirring only the steak until it nears desired doneness. Mix broccoli and steak together. Stir in hoisin sauce. Continue to cook until steak is done. Serve hot over sticky rice or on its own.

If you don’t love hoisin sauce, you can leave it out or serve it on the side. Gluten-free versions are easy to find. I like the dish with it and without. For a little extra heat, you might want to leave out the hoisin and add some chili garlic sauce.

Any time you’re playing in the kitchen, many variations can work. Chicken and broccoli with fresh ginger and onion in place of the Chinese five spice and hoisin sauce can be delicious. Trying new combinations is all part of the fun!

Beef with broccoli is a fast dish to prepare so I often make it when I don’t have a lot of time. If I don’t want to wait for long-cooking rice, I sometimes use quick-cooking but I’ve also been known to use microwaveable sticky rice that’s ready in 90 seconds.

Fast, delicious, and only a sorta recipe needed! Enjoy the stir-fry.

Cold Dog Soup

The first novel I read by Stephen Dobyns was Cold Dog Soup. It’s hilarious black humor. I’m thinking about it today because it’s too hot to eat anything that’s not cold. That makes me think of cold soup which makes me think about that book. (Thanks for taking a little tour of how my mind works!) Okay, my first thought may have been ice cream, but my second was definitely cold soup.

I make a mean cucumber and honeydew soup that would taste delicious today, but my introduction to cold soups was gazpacho. Where I live, gazpacho does not contain bread, but traditional gazpacho includes stale bread, tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, garlic, bell peppers, olive oil, wine vinegar and salt.

Many variations have developed in modern times that substitute watermelon or strawberries, avocado or grapes, and other suitable options for tomato and bread. Strawberries with shortcake could make a delicious dessert soup combo. I’d probably add some heavy whipping cream or serve the soup with whipped cream on top.

Whatever the ingredients, technique and texture vary between regions and individual cooks. With tomato versions, I prefer a style made with chunky vegetables and less liquid that is akin to Castilian varieties. But when it’s hot outside, keeping the soup cold is even more important than the texture.

Chilled bowls are great for serving cold food! Insulated bowls are even better! YETI and S’well offer insulated bowls. Haweek sells a food flask that travels with a foldable spoon and a lid that functions as a bowl. There are many brands and many versions. You may already have something in your cabinet that will work perfectly to keep soup chilly.

Some cold soups can be adapted into smoothies or milkshakes for an entrée level experience. Many of my lunches in high school were strawberry, banana milkshakes from Dairy Queen. They used fresh strawberries and bananas blended into vanilla ice cream. They were delicious, filling, and cold!

Living under a heat dome, we’re advised to drink lots of water and watch electrolytes. One doctor described this as putting a pinch of salt in our water. That sounds awful to me, but a cold soup with a little salt offers both fluid and something to help keep my electrolytes in balance.

If you’re going to include cold soup in your menu plan, here are a few options:

Asparagus Bisque – asparagus, chicken broth, water, leeks, olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, spinach, cream, lemon juice

Avocado – avocado, cilantro, lime juice, garlic, hot pepper, veggie broth, cream, or yogurt

Cantaloupe – cantaloupe, mango, yogurt, honey, ginger, fresh mint

Cucumber – cucumber, green onion, lemon juice and zest, salt, pepper, veggie broth, sour cream

Farmers Market – sweet corn, tomatoes, yellow bell pepper, onion, olive oil, cider vinegar, salt and pepper

Gazpacho – tomato, cucumber, bell pepper, other peppers, garlic, onion, vinegar, olive oil, salt

Strawberry Coconut– strawberries, yogurt, orange and lemon juice, sugar, coconut cream, vanilla, ginger, cinnamon

Vichyssoise – leeks, onion, potato, cream, and chicken stock

In general, the prep for these soups includes cleaning the fruits and vegetables chopping, pureeing, seasoning, and chilling. That’s pretty much it. And you can adjust any ingredient to taste and garnish with whatever sounds good.

I love easy. I love cold in summer. I love savoring the flavor of fresh ingredients combined in interesting ways. I’ll be taking the heat out of my meals with cold soups until this heat dome is gone. Join me!

What Goes Well With Green

On St. Patrick’s Day, we all wonder what goes well with green! The question is relevant whether you’re cooking or choosing clothes. This St. Pat’s Day, I’m skipping the colcannon and opting for salt potatoes.

Bag of small red potatoes spilling out on table.

This allows me to skip the kale which I do not love. Technically, I could make colcannon with an alternate green and avoid kale, but the swiftness and ease of salt potatoes appeals to my Monday sluggishness.

The first time I learned of salt potatoes, my son told me to put so much salt in the brine I thought the potatoes would be inedible. I was wrong. They were delicious.

Like many dishes, salt potatoes are a result of availability and convenience. In the 1800s, Irish immigrants who worked in the salt mines around Syracuse, New York would bring new potatoes to work and cook them in brine left from solution mining. The high salt content of the water and the small size of the potatoes meant the cooking process was quick and it yielded a filling lunch.

To make salt potatoes, all you need is salt, water, and small potatoes. Yukon Gold potatoes work well, but any new potato can be used. For visual appeal, I like a mix of jacket colors. Once the potatoes are done and in the serving dish, I let a few pats of butter melt across the top. Some people serve with melted butter for dipping.

I’ve never used a recipe for salt potatoes and I haven’t found any two that are exactly the same. Roughly, use a ratio of 2 cups of salt to 8 cups of water. You read that right, CUPS. (See why I thought it would be too salty?) Some recipes prefer 1.5 cups salt to 8 cups water, but others add another .25 – .5 cups of salt to this amount of water. In other words, there’s some flexibility.

Any kind of salt is fine, but some cooks prefer large, coarse grains that result in a more even coating on the potatoes. When the potatoes are done and removed from the brine, the skin will have a cloudy white surface that becomes more pronounced as it dries.

The process is to wash the potatoes. Add 8 cups of water to a large pot. Stir salt into water until dissolved. You can turn the burner on while you’re dissolving the salt. Once salt is all melted and water is boiling, add about 4 pounds of potatoes and boil until done – about 15 – 20 minutes depending on the size of the potatoes. Remove potatoes from brine.

At this point, you can serve with melted butter for dipping or let some butter melt over the warm potatoes. Dipping butter can be plain or enhanced with fresh herbs and/or garlic.

These potatoes are delicious alongside cabbage or any other green. They’re a great starch to serve with beef, chicken, or pork. Leftovers can be reheated or made into potato salad or hash browns.

When you’re looking for something that goes well with green, don’t be afraid to choose frugal, simple, flexible, and delicious salt potatoes!

Dessert in the Palm of Your Hand

You can use a small bowl or prepare today’s dessert in the palm of your hand.

What could it be? Here are some clues:

It originated in Italy.
It’s a little over 70 years old.
It was invented to solve a problem.
It’s delightful in the summer.
It contains chocolate.

What if I told you, it often bears a resemblance to a DQ chocolate dipped cone?

Yeah, me neither. I only recently became acquainted with Tartufo di Pizzo, an easy to make gelato and chocolate dessert which can be quickly customized for your summer party.

Around 1970, there was a wedding reception at Bar Dante in Pizzo, Italy. A chef known as Don Pippo realized he would run out of gelato molds before he shaped enough gelato for the anticipated guests. Working with what he had, Don Pippo placed a small amount of hazelnut gelato and a small amount of chocolate gelato in the palm of his hand. He added some melted chocolate and wrapped the whole thing in sugar paper creating the mound shape of the tartufos served today.

Tartufo is the Italian word for truffle and these mounds of gelato and chocolate can be rolled in chocolate to visually mimic candy truffles. Another option is to coat them with a hard chocolate shell. This is my preferred version. My grandchildren turn the shell over and use it like a bowl.

The dessert is simple to make. You only need two flavors of gelato or ice cream, semi-sweet chocolate chips, coconut oil and any add-on you’d like in the center. Many recipes call for a cherry. Some call for crushed wafer cookies mixed with coconut oil.

An easy kid-friendly version is vanilla ice cream, crushed Oreos mixed with a little coconut oil, then chocolate ice cream. The whole thing is drizzled with a melted mixture of chocolate chips and coconut oil that cools to form the shell. The kids love it!

I’m boozing-up a fresh peach with bourbon and spices to put in the center of an adult tartufo that uses butter pecan or pistachio gelato paired with vanilla. Crushed Ava organic coconut crispy rollers would be an excellent addition to surround the peach.

My neighbors heard about this plan and have volunteered to taste test as many as I’d like to make! I can experiment with multiple combinations and not worry about eating too many myself. And you won’t need to worry about my hands freezing.

I use small bowls lined with plastic wrap to hold the gelato layers. I’m pretty sure I’m too slow to avoid melting the it if I tried to use my hands. I even place the first flavor and center components in the freezer to firm up before adding the second flavor.

Once that’s complete, I freeze the dessert in the bowls overnight and coat with chocolate the next day. They need to sit in the freezer for an hour to harden the shell, then I can wrap them individually in plastic wrap until I’m ready to serve.

Even though I may have used bowls to make them, when I remove them from the freezer, I have dessert in the palm of my hand! Get some tartufos and you too can have a chocolatey, cold, and super-sweet dessert in the palm of your hand!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Five Easy Ways to Freshen Up Your Summer Menu! – in thriver words (cooking2thrive.com)