In the mood for a REALLY nice steak?

How about a flat iron steak with chimichurri sauce.....


With just an old fashion baked potato along with green beans/mushrooms/edamame

The sauce here is the key. I seasoned the steaks with sea salt, fresh pepper and garlic powder. Grilled them on the inside grill pan to medium ( INSIDE? why I don't know it was 82 degrees F here today). The sauce takes time to rest so plan ahead:

For the sauce:

one hand full of fresh parsley ( flat leaf)
one roasted garlic clove [ in foil add the clove, a touch of olive oil roast 30 min @ 375]
one sprig of fresh rosemary
about 2 tablespoons of olive oil
about one tablespoon of finely chopped sweet onion [to your taste]
about 3 shots of Worcestershire sauce from the bottle
salt and pepper

Put the first three ingredients in a food processor and pulse until chopped, you will have to mix it in since there is no liquid yet.... once the herbs are chopped, with the machine on, add the olive oil and the W sauce; just make sure everything is mixed. Add salt and pepper, mix and keep in the refrigerator for an hour.

After an hour, warm in the microwave in 10 second intervals until warm and let it stand until the steaks are rested.

I sliced the meat wafer thin, served on a white plate. On one side, the meat with some rested jus over the top. I plated the chimichurri sauce around the meat in teaspoon fulls in between a touch of horseradish dollops. Baked potato on the side and vegs in between.

So easy, so good. ENJOY.

Flat iron cuts really have not caught on as a great steak cut ( at least here in La Jolla) so they are VERY cheap to cook.

This one surprised me...so good. Stuffed Pork Tenderloin

Stuffed Pork Tenderloin with sun dried tomato, fontina and basil.

I found some ingredients in the fridge along with the pork that I thought would work well. Guess what. They did! You have to try this:

One pork tenderloin, butterflied and pounded evenly
one handful of fresh picked parsley, chopped fine
one sprig of fresh basil, about 6 leaves (still growing on my patio in January!) chopped
about 1/4 cup finely chopped fontina cheese
about 6 pieces sun dried tomatoes in olive oil, drained and chopped fine
1/2 cup panco or other bread crumb or to taste
1 tsp olive oil
1 Tsp creole mustard
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
about 1/4 tsp butter, room temp
salt and freshly ground pepper

Prepare the tenderloin by laying it white side down. Make a longitudinal cut not all the way through, opening up the meat as you go [about 1/2 the way through.] As you cut it, keep cutting the sides that you are opening in the same way until you have sort of a rectanglular cut. Cut cross striations aka, diamond like, until its roughly even thickness. Place a piece of saran wrap over the meat and pound with a mallet until even thickness throughout.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Rub the mustard evenly on the meat. Let rest 10 minutes. [This would be an excellent time to have a glass of wine!]

Stuffing Mix:
Combine tomato, parsley, basil, bread crumb and cheese in bowl. Add olive oil and mix by hand until incorporated. Add a touch of ground pepper. Let this stand for five minutes.

Cover the meat with the stuffing mix. Pat down the mixture onto the meat. Roll the meat lengthwise, like a jelly roll, making sure to wrap it tightly on each roll and tucking in the ends as you go.

Once you have the meat/mixture wrapped and into a vessel sprayed with no stick spray, rub the meat with the butter (this helps get a nice brown crust) and top with rosemary sprigs.

Cook for 12 minutes, 425 degrees. After, tune oven to 325 degrees and finish for another 15-25 minutes depending the size of the meat. I like mine just barely pink or 5 minutes longer if you like yours well done. You can always shoot for an internal temperature of 160 degrees, [AND I RECOMMEND THIS, A MEAT THERMOMETER IS VERY CHEAP] but I find that is too high and makes the meat dry for my taste.

The combination of cheese and olive oil infused sun dried tomatoes results in just an amazing juicy, tender and eye appeasing look on a white plate. The mustard comes in later in the taste which adds a nice bite.

I served this with roasted new potatoes and green beans with a rosemary butter sauce. (there's a version in the frozen section of vegs that's good too)

EAT, ENJOY!

White Bean Chicken Chili

I have to give props to Sam the Cooking guy for the base of the recipe. I just fine tuned it a bit for more flavor.
If you don't know who Sam is: Sam The Cooking guy

Base Ingredients:

1 small yellow onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic
4 cans Great Northern White Beans
1-4 ounce can diced green chilies
2 cups cooked shredded chicken
2 cups chicken broth
2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon dry oregano
1 Cup (enough to cover) white wine
1 or 1/2 cup whipping cream to your taste
white pepper/salt to taste

FYI: Sam used a rotisserie chicken, I used skinless, boneless chicken thigh that I slow simmered in white wine, water and chicken broth with added sprigs of rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper. I cooked it until it was soft and cubed it with a knife.

Steps
1. Drain beans
2. Saute onions in butter first until they start to get clear, add garlic, saute 2 minutes over medium high heat.
3. Add everything up to the white wine. Saute, mixing for 2-3 minutes over med high heat or enough to get the pan quite hot.
4. Add the white wine, the mixture should be a bit loose, turn heat lower to medium and reduce by half ~10-15 minutes.
5. Remove pan from heat, add cream, stir in and add back to low heat. The mixture will thicken and remove as it just comes to a boil.
6. Add salt and pepper to taste.

If you like it less spicy you can serve with a spoon of sour cream, garnish with fresh parsley.
Enjoy!