London Broil with Twice Baked Potatoes and Corn

This is a "basics" night. Nothing real fancy, but these are all good foods to know how to make.



Coincidentally, we screwed up the potatoes. They ended up being mashed.

MARINATED LONDON BROIL

Original recipe courtesy of Cooks.com

One of the confusing things about buying meat is that some retailers label certain cuts with names that really identify a method of cooking, rather than the part of the animal from which the cut has come.

A good example is London broil. Traditionally, London broil has been prepared with flank steak. Yet the cut of the beef labeled "London broil" in a supermarket meat case is usually not flank steak but top round, cut from the most tender part of the round next to the sirloin.

From very high quality beef, this can be broiled or barbecued as is. However, you can produce a delicious London broil using a more modest cut of top round if you marinate it first to tenderize and flavor it. Broil it just to the rare stage, then cut the meat in thin slices diagonally across the grain. 1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce 2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed 1/4 tsp. each sugar, crumbled rosemary Seasoned pepper 1/4 c. salad oil and dry red wine 1 tsp. Dijon-style mustard 1/2 tsp. salt 1 bay leaf Chopped parsley, for garnish

Place meat in a shallow dish. In a covered jar or blender container, shake together oil, wine, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, garlic, salt, sugar and rosemary until well combined. Pour over meat, turning to coat well. Place bay leaf in marinade. Cover and refrigerate, turning occasionally, at least 8-10 hours.

Remove meat from marinade, reserving marinade. Place on a rack in a broiling pan. Sprinkle with pepper. Broil, about 6 inches from heat, until well browned on each side (allow about 10 minutes per side for rare), brushing occasionally with marinade.

Place on a wooden board and carve in thin diagonal slices. Sprinkle with chopped parsley.

Makes 6-8 servings.


TWICE BAKED POTATOES

Original recipe courtesy of Cooks.com

1 small yellow onion diced
olive oil
5 baking potatoes
3/4c milk
2tbsp. butter
1 tsp pepper
4oz(1/2 bag) kraft shredded cheddar cheese

Pre-heat oven to 350 place baking potatoes directly on oven rack and bake for 1hour 20minutes.

Meanwhile, cover the bottom of a skillet or frying pan with olive oil add onions to oil and sautee until tender (About 5 minutes) Remove onions from heat; drain excess oil. Add onions to medium mixing bowl.

When potatoes are done, take out of the oven and cut the top 1/4 off of each potato (the long way) Scoop potato out of the shell and into mixing bowl with the onions. Add milk, butter, and pepper to mixture. With mixer, combine ingredients until well blended. Add cheese and mix with spoon.

Place potato mixture into a medium sized plastic bag. Twist bag (bag should appear as a pastry bag) with scissors, clip the corner off the end of the bag. Squeeze the potato into each shell. place on cookie sheet and bake another 20 minutes, or until cheese is melted and light brown crust forms on top of potatoes.



Artichokes
Original recipe courtesy of California Artichoke Advisory Board


Wash artichokes under cold running water. Cut off stems at base and remove small bottom leaves. Stand artichokes upright in deep saucepan large enough to hold snugly. Add 1 teaspoon salt and two to three inches boiling water. (Lemon juice, herbs, garlic powder or onion powder may be added, if desired.) Cover and boil gently 35 to 45 minutes or until base can be pierced easily with fork. (Add a little more boiling water, if needed.) Turn artichokes upside down to drain. Cool completely; cover and refrigerate to chill. Makes 4 artichokes.

Long Grain Wild Rice

This recipe has been shamelessly stolen from Brownielocks, but only because it comes out perfectly every time. If you are associated with Brownielocks and don't want this recipe up here, please don't sue us. Just ask us to take it down.

• Wash the rice thoroughly by running it under cold water in a
  strainer.


• Add 1 cup of raw wild rice to 3 cups of boiling water in a heavy
  saucepan or pot.


• Reduce heat and simmer covered for 35 to 50 minutes.  (I like 45
  minutes myself), or, just until those kernels puff open.  Then, uncover,
  fluff with a fork and simmer 5 more minutes.


• Drain any excess fluid.  If you like chewier rice, cook less
  minutes. 

Makes Approximately:  3 or 4 Cups of Cooked Rice.

(It all depends on how long the kernels are)

World's Best Grilled Cheese Sandwich

The key to perfection in this venture is getting a hold of the proper ingredients, and don't skimp on the fat!


You need:
small (8" or so) nonstick skillet with a lid
Wonder White bread (or equivalent - no $0.99 grocery store brand)
Sliced American Cheese
Butter (real butter... if you're on a diet, don't eat grilled cheese sandwiches)

Put a generous coat of butter on one side of each piece of bread - this is the grillin' side. Use 2-3 (three is better) slices of cheese per sandwich. Use a low to medium flame, assemble the sandwich in the pan, and cover the skillet with a lid. This will help the cheese melt.
Keep a close watch on the bread (and don't be afraid to flip early - this isn't like red meat where you need to seal in the flavor). You want it to be golden brown. Burned bread destroys the sandwich.

For a tasty variation, try a triple decker grilled cheese. I learned this trick at Happy Hobo Cafe in north Long Beach. Often one sandwich is just not enough, so for a triple decker, cook a grilled cheese normally (grill both sides) then add another layer of cheese and bread, and grill. Simple, but delicious. I enjoy this variation because it yields a higher cheese to bread ratio.

Caine's Chili

The best thing about chili, besides eating it, is how malleable the recipe is. Every time I make it, it comes out just a little different. But here are the basics:



1 lb. ground beef
1 pkg spicy italian sausage
~ 3 tbsp chili powder
1 cup dry kidney beans
1 cup dry pinto beans
1 cup dry black beans
~4 cloves garlic
1 habanero pepper
1 yellow pepper
1 six back beer (medium-dark)

• De-sausage the sausage.


• Brown the ground beef and sausage in a cast-iron skillet.


• If you're health conscious, drain the excess fat. If you're not, don't.


• Chop the garlic. You can pretty much put in as little or as much garlic as you want


• The peppers need to be fire blackened. This can be a pain in the ass if you don't have a gas range, because lighters take forever. After they've been blackened,mince them. If you don't like your chili quite as spicy, remove the seeds.


• Add beer to a large crockpot. The whole six pack may or may not be too much. If it is, have a beer.
  
• Add all ingredients and set the crockpot for medium and cover.

So you pretty much want to do all this in the morning or the night before. If you start the night before, leave the crockpot on low. At the end of the day you can turn it up to finish the cooking if you need to. The secret to chilli is letting it slow cook all day.

A note on the beer: You can use water if you like, but I've found that beer adds all kinds of great flavor. I do NOT, however, recommend using Guiness. It was just too much, made the chili much too heavy.


I know, this sounds retardedly simplistic. Like I said, chili is easy. The adventure is in changing recipes around and trying different flavors. I like my chili spicy, which is where the habanero comes in (though it does add a great subtle flavor). In the past I've even tried using ground veal instead of beef, which I don't recommend. Veal simply doesn't have enough flavor to compliment all the other things going on.

A few people that have tried this recipe have suggested diced tomatoes, which I have yet to try. Tomatoes just seem like more of a stew type of thing.


-Caine