Grilled Steaks with Sweet-Spicy Hoisin Sauce

Source: Mary Ellen's Cooking Creations

This recipe sounded really good, and I felt like having steak this week. Mary Ellen has come through with some of her other sauces and marinades that we've tried, so I didn't doubt that this was a good recipe.

I changed all the amounts, so if you'd like the original just go to Mary Ellen's blog.

Ingredients

• 1/4 C vegetable oil
• 2 shallots
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
• 1/3 C hoisin sauce
• 1 1/2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1/4 C chicken stock
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 1/2 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 2 steaks
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

• In a medium saucepan, heat oil.
• Add the shallots, garlic, ginger, crushed red pepper and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 7 minutes.
• Add the hoisin, soy sauce, and chicken stock.
  
• Raise the heat to moderately high and boil until thickened, about 5 minutes.
• Stir in the honey.
• Remove from heat and stir in the butter until blended; keep warm.
• Season steak with salt and pepper, cook on George Foreman to desired doneness.
  
• Serve sauce over the steak.

Next Time- This sauce was really good over the steaks. I prefer savory over sweet, so next time I may just omit the honey all together. H really enjoyed the flavor.

Beef and Peppers with Noodles

I found this recipe in Mary Ellen's blog. H and I made it together tonight. I love having a helper! I couldn't find the noodles that Mary Ellen used. Apparently Meijer isn't very diverse! LOL! I bought Chow Mein Stir fry noodles. They worked fine.

Ingredients

• 3 peppers - I used 2 green, 1 red - cut into thin strips
• 1/2 onion, cut into strips (I used a whole onion)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 lb steak strips marinated in soy and Worcestershire with a touch of garlic powder and onion powder (marinated for 20-30 minutes) (used 1/2 lbs. eye of round steak)
• 1 package powdered brown gravy mixed with 1 c water
• 1 tbsp Hoisin sauce
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1/3 c cooking sherry (used beef broth)
• 1/2 package Chinese noodles (not sure what they are called - my parents bought them for us in Chinatown - they are medium, flat noodles that cook up quickly)
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• Chopped green onions for garnish

Preparation

• Heat a large saute pan over high heat
• Add steak strips and cook until just a bit more than halfway done
• Deglaze pan with cooking sherry, scraping up brown bits
• Add garlic, onions, and peppers; saute for a few minutes
• Mix gravy/water with Hoison and soy; add to pan
• Bring to a simmer and let simmer for about 5 minutes; the sauce will thicken
• In the meantime, boil water. Add noodles and cook until done - about 5 minutes. Drain.
• Heat vegetable oil in a large pan or wok over high heat
• Add noodles and toss with approximately 2 tsp soy sauce. When done, garnish with green onions.

Next time- I would just use rice. And my picture doesn't look nearly as tasty as Mary Ellen's!

Valentine's Day Dinner

So H and I decided to skip the super long wait that always accompanies going out to eat on Valentine's Day. A few years ago we stayed in, and our menu was straight Italian. Italian cheese fondue and chicken fettuccine alfredo. This year he said that he didn't want Italian again, so we went the traditional meat and potatoes. I went in search of romantic Valentine's Day meals, and this is what our menu consisted of:
Sauteed Steak with Caramelized Shallots in a Red Wine and Cream Sauce
Cheddar & Chive Twice Baked Potatoes
Corn and Breadsticks
Dessert was fresh strawberries with chocolate fruit dip

Everything turned out awesome. The only change I made was to use beef broth instead of red wine for the sauce on the steak. H and I just aren't wine drinkers. Of course I didn't take any pictures, but it is something I will make again, so there is hope of pictures in the future.