Pan Seared Steak With Pineapple Relish!

I'm telling ya, steak rocks and rules! Okay, I love red meat of any kind, you wanna get my attention, holler "red meat" and I'm there! Pair it with pineapple relish, salad and cheese biscuits, oh Mama I'm home... 

JD brought me this magazine with these recipes and mentioned that I might make this sometime. I was more than happy to oblige! Both of the recipes were absolutely delicious and so easy. Perfect for a Saturday supper!

Recipe for the pineapple relish:

2 cups chopped fresh pineapple

1/2 diced red onion

1 to 2 tablespoons chopped red jalapeno chile

1 tablespoon minced fresh chives

1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

1/4 teaspoon salt 

1 tablespoon lime juice

Love fresh pineapple!

Chop, mince, dice and squeeze...

Place all of the ingredients in a medium bowl and stir until well blended...

Let the relish stand in the fridge for at least thirty minutes before serving.

For the steak:

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 (1/2 inch thick) boneless beef New York strip steaks

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

In a small bowl, stir together the Worcestershire sauce and oil. Pat the steaks dry.

Heat one large skillet or 2 medium skillets over medium-high heat until hot. Brush both sides of steaks with the Worcestershire/oil mixture. 

Dueling skillets :) Place the steaks in hot skillets.

Cook 3 minutes for medium-rare or until of desired doneness, turning once. Sprinkle with pepper and serve with the relish. 

It just don't get no better! Sorry for the slang/twang, it was just that mahhhvelous dahhhling!

Easy Cheese Biscuits! Yum!

Oh my, but these are so delicious. They go with anything from steak and salads to pinto beans and everything in between. They freeze and reheat well too! I just love something that's so versatile...

For the recipe:

2 cups all purpose flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

2/3 cup buttermilk

1 cup sharp Cheddar cheese, grated plus more for the tops

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Place the flour, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl and whisk to blend.

Mix the shortening and cheese in a small bowl. 

Add the shortening/cheese mixture into the flour. Cut it into the flour with a fork until it's becomes crumbly and is thoroughly mixed.

It should look like this. 

Add the butter milk a little at a time to the flour/cheese mixture, stirring after each addition.

Keep adding until it's gone!

Almost ready...

Grease your muffin pan with shortening.

Spoon the mixture into the pan and top with sprinkling of cheese.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes and brush with melted butter. 

I can almost taste them. Wish I hadn't eaten all of them...

Cilantro-Jalapeno Slaw

I have to tell you first of all that this is not my recipe. I got it from The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond. I also have to tell you that when I saw her make it, I was skeptical. VERY skeptical. Cilantro in slaw? I don't think so. That was before I started growing cilantro and putting it in everything with any resemblance to Mexican food. Then when I decided to make the barbecue turkey on Labor Day I wanted a slaw with a twist and this one came to mind. I'm in love. Deep love. I ate it on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday last week and I'm thinking I may have to have some tonight. I substituted buttermilk for the milk she calls for in the recipe, but other than that, I pretty much stuck to it. Don't wait, try it today!

This is her recipe, but I had to cut it way down since there are only two of us. 

1 head cabbage (I used about 1/4 small head)

1/2 cup milk (or buttermilk)

1/2 cup mayonnaise - PW mixed the mayo and milk together, but since I was cutting the recipe I just added them separately so that I didn't have too much. 

1 to 2 tablespoons white vinegar

pinch of sugar

salt to taste

pinch of cayenne ( I used paprika) JD won't eat cayenne, I think cayenne would be great!

1 jalapeno chopped finely

fresh cilantro

Chop the cabbage, I just did a rough chop. You could grate it if you like.

Remove the rib and seeds from the jalapeno and trim the ends.

Finely chop it. I used about a whole one on my portion of the slaw. I like the heat!

Wash and pat the cilantro dry. 

Place the cabbage in a medium bowl. Add the sugar.

And the salt...

Paprika...

Add the mayonnaise. For the amount of cabbage I had I used a couple of tablespoons of mayonnaise.

Add the vinegar. Again, for my recipe I used about a teaspoon. 

Add the buttermilk a little at a time. 

I mixed the slaw after adding about a teaspoon of buttermilk and then kept adding it in small amounts until I had it at the consistency I liked. Add the jalapeno and stir and just before serving place the cilantro on top.

Here's the link for the barbecue turkey just in case this makes you want it!

BBQ turkey in the crock pot

I love cooking in the slow cooker sometimes 'cause it just makes everything so much more simple!

Barbecue Turkey In The Slow Cooker!

This one's easy folks. And with everything that's going on around the cottage, easy is working really well right now!

Ingredients:

3 lbs. turkey boneless skinless turkey breast

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup hot barbecue sauce

1/2  cup water

3/4 cup mild barbecue sauce

This is going to take most of the day to cook but it doesn't need much attention, which is good news!

Don't heat the slow cooker first. Place the turkey breast meat into your slow cooker. Sprinkle with the salt and add the hot bbq sauce and the water. Turn the cooker on low and cover. My turkey breast was frozen because I didn't plan ahead :) That's how I roll sometimes. (a lot) Cook for at least an hour before checking on it, even if it isn't frozen. I also need to add that this was wild turkey and it has to cook low and slow or you might as well put a baseball glove in to simmer!

At this point it had been cooking for three hours and I could separate it with a fork. This helps it get tender through out. Add 1/4 of the mild sauce, return the lid to the pot and continue cooking.

This is at hour number five. I took a fork and tore it apart a little more and added 1/4 cup of the mild sauce. Recover and continue cooking.

Hour number seven and it's ready to remove from the pot.

I couldn't believe just how tender it was! I was able to shred it easily with two forks.

Now one last time return the shredded meat to the pot and add the rest of the sauce. Cover and cook for another hour. 

So tender and so juicy and oh so yummy!

These are huge plates. And I had seconds....

Easy Double Duty Grilled Shrimp!

I love it when this happens...you spend an afternoon preparing for a meal, cook it, eat and enjoy it and you have leftovers. Immediately I begin scheming on how I can take the leftovers and turn them into something completely different. That's what happened with this grilled shrimp. One day it was a meal with salad and bread and then because of the seasonings used I was able to turn the leftovers into fajitas the next. Love, love, love it!

Ingredients for the shrimp:

1 pound shrimp (large)

2 medium green bell peppers

1 medium red bell pepper

1 medium onion

Tequila lime marinade mix

I have never ever used a packaged marinade (that I can remember) but I have to tell ya, this one was pretty darn good!

I just followed the directions on the package.

Cut the vegetables so that they are large enough to thread onto skewers and won't fall off while you're grilling them. About two inch pieces.

I didn't actually marinate the shrimp. Instead I threaded them onto two skewers (shells on) and brushed them with the marinade.

I used two skewers to keep the shrimp from flopping around on the grill :0

I grilled the limes too. Oh. My. Goodness. They were so delicious!

Place on a grill heated on the medium low setting. 

The vegetables take a little longer than the shrimp, so I put them on the grill a few minutes before. Grill them until they're just tender. Cook the shrimp for about eight minutes on the first side or until the shrimp turn pink.

Turn them over and cook for about another five minutes or until they are pink on the second side. 

I made a chopped salad to go along with the shrimp. Lettuce, tomato, cucumber, and chopped green onions. 

I served the salad with blue cheese dressing. This recipe is crazy easy and I have to tell you that I have tried to use fresh garlic in it once instead of garlic powder and it wasn't as good. For a half cup of dressing, add about 1/3 cup mayonnaise (Duke's) to a jar.

Add enough buttermilk to get the dressing to the consistency that you prefer. I use about 3 to 4 tablespoons.

Add about 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder....

And half of a 5 ounce container Gorgonzola blue cheese, or whatever blue cheese you prefer. I like Roquefort too! And Maytag. And Clemson. Okay, I like it all...

Blend with a whisk.

So good I wish I were having it again tonight. I also wish that I had taken pictures of the fajitas, but since I didn't I'll just have to tell you about them. I peeled the leftover shrimp and cut them in half. I added a little canola oil to a skillet heated on low heat and tossed in the leftover peppers and onions, then added the shrimp and heated just until warm. Then I heated some flour tortillas and stuffed them with the shrimp, veggies, lettuce and tomato and topped them with sour cream and cilantro. Wish I had more double duty dishes. Gonna have to work on that...