Red Wine and Rosemary Flat Iron Steak

 Company's coming!

One of my favorite dishes to make when company comes for dinner is something simple, yet elegant and tasty.  Meat and potatoes are called for! What's more hearty than that?

This dish is a favorite of ours and you can certainly swap out the Flat Iron Steak for another cut.  It's a versatile recipe and the flavor is all in the marinade.  What a great marinade it is.

Red wine and rosemary go so well together and really flavor the steak for grilling.  I used an indoor grill as we haven't broke out the grill outside yet.  It's calling me though.  But for now my trusty cast iron indoor grill works miracles!

I served these with Lemon Rosemary Roasted Vegetables.  Another easy dish to make, allowing you more time to spend with guests. Look for the recipe shortly.

All in all this is the perfect company food or family dinner.  You just can't beat meat and potatoes!
  
Red Wine and Rosemary Flat Iron Steak 

serves 4

2 (1-pound each) flat-iron steaks cut into 4 pieces
2 garlic cloves, mashed
1 teaspoon fresh parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon dry mustard
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup of dry red wine
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary leaves, chopped
Salt and freshly-ground black pepper

In a bowl, combine garlic, parsley, mustard, olive oil, red wine, black pepper, and rosemary; mix together well.

In a shallow baking dish, season the steaks moderately with salt and pepper. Cover the steaks with the marinade mixture and cover the dish with plastic wrap. Allow to marinate in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour or overnight. Remove steak from refrigerator and bring to room temperature before cooking.

Preheat the grill over medium heat. Place steaks onto the hot grill and grill to the desired degree of doneness, about 6 – 7 minutes on each side for medium.

Baked Tacos

Baked Tacos are everywhere on the Internet!

Perfect timing for Cinco De Mayo, don't you think?  Since I keep seeing them all over the place I decided to try them out.  Just to test out the method of making crispy taco shells in the oven.  I usually make (by that I mean fry) my own taco shells.  Something my Mom taught me many, many, many years ago...so I've always done it that way, but I'm open to something new, maybe a tad bit healthier also.

 
It's an easy method really, using your oven and the rack to shape the taco shells.  One this though, (and I know from experience) is that you need to watch these puppies, or your will end up with crispy breaking shells.  One minute too long could make all the difference.

I used my favorite taco filling for these.  You can find that recipe here.  The end result of making the shells was good.  They were crispy (except the 1st batch!) but and went well with filling and baking them in the oven.  I'm not convinced that this saves time, cause you add extra time on for the baking.  But it does allow you to make a ton of tacos all at once and have them done at the same time!  Isn't that nice?

Part two is filling the shells with a meat mixture and then adding cheese.  Placing them in a 9x13 pan and baking them.  This gives you a more moist taco with oozy melty cheese on top.  Ole!




Baked Tacos

12 corn tortillas
cooking spray
1 lb ground beef 
2 T taco seasoning
shredded cheese
shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, taco sauce, olives as garnish

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Working with 6 tortillas at a time, wrap in a barely damp cloth or paper towel and microwave on High until steamed, about 30 seconds. Lay the tortillas on a clean work surface and coat both sides with cooking spray. Then carefully drape each tortilla over two bars of the oven rack. Bake at 375 degrees until crispy, 4 -5 minutes.

Prepare taco meat in a skillet using taco seasoning.  Stir meat breaking into small crumbles.

Spoon the taco meat mixture into the taco shells and place into a 9 x 13 inch baking dish, standing up. Sprinkle cheese over the top of the taco meat in each shell.

Place into the oven and bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until the cheese has melted and the tacos are heated through. Remove from the oven and top with any optional condiments for serving.

Romanian Lentil Soup

One thing I love about living in Los Angeles is the diversity of cultures you come across.  

One of my dear friends is a Romanian woman.  A social butterfly who has a big, big heart.  A passion of hers is cooking, not just any dishes but...Romanian dishes.  

Recently, she's been sharing quite a few of her recipes and her secrets to cooking Romanian style.  Quite different from LA cooking, using international ingredients found in local ethnic food markets.  

The other day she brought me some Romanian Lentil Soup to try.  WOW!  Such flavor.  I would say it was one of the best soups I've had.  She prefers pink lentils over the brown ones, as they are more tender when cooked.  You can easily pick up a bag a Trader Joe's.  The rest of the vegetables are standard.  The only unusual item is the Vegeta, which is a powdered bullion flavor which can only be found in ethnic stores.  So as a substitute you could use chicken bullion cubes and everything will be fine.

Simple to make, and soooo delishhh!  I hope you try this dish.  It's wonderful to experience the flavors of another country in your own home.   


Romanian Lentil Soup


3 onions
2 big carrots, peeled
6 rib of celery
1 container of cherry tomatoes
2 red bell peppers
2 parsnip
1 T olive oil
1 bag of pink lentils (Trader Joe's)
3-4 cups water
1 T Vegeta or 2 cubes of chicken bullion
1 t paprika
1/2 t red pepper flakes
1 t fresh thyme

Chop with the food processor the first six ingredients until finely diced but not pureed. 

Saute all the vegetables with olive oil in a dutch oven for 15 minutes then add the lentils and add water as needed.  

Make sure to add enough water to create a nice broth. Add chicken bullion, paprika and some crushed pepper for flavor.  Let the soup come to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Add thyme and stir.  Serve.