Steak with Pomegranate Sauce

Guess what everyone?? Classes have started, and damn, is everything busy these days. On the other hand, I have unofficially started a club called Food at UCLA. Check out the blog: foodatucla.blogspot.com. So far, I'm trying to keep the number of members down because my apartment is sooo small. Until the club can be an official club, it will be limited to 20 members :(.

To celebrate classes, I have made steak with pomegranate sauce. I never knew pomegranate can be used for so many things. It goes so well with the steak by bringing out the flavor of the meat through the sweet and sour taste.

Before I start, people have been asking me how I can tell how done my steak is. Well, I tell them to poke it. If it is very squishy like a sponge, then it is still raw and probably cold on the inside. If it is like the feeling of poking your cheeks, then it should be medium rare to medium. If it is like pushing into a thing of clay, your steak is definitely well done or overcooked. It is all based on experience.

Wine pairing: This goes well with a Syrah

Steak with Pomegranate Sauce

Ingredients
1 lb Ribeye steak
1 cup Pomegranate juice like POM
1/2 Orange
2 tbs White sugar
1/4 cup Golden brown sugar
2 Shallots
1 Bay leaf
1 tsp Orange zest
salt

Prep and Cooking the sauce
1. Slice the shallots thinly
2. Bring pomegranate juice to a boil
3. Squeeze the juice from 1/2 orange into the pomegranate juice
4. Add both sugars into the pan and stir around making sure the bottom doesn't burn
5. Add bay leaf, shallots, and orange zest into the pan
6.Stir until reduced in half.

Cooking the steak
1. Heat a oil in a pan on high heat
2. Sear steak on both sides for 30 seconds each side
3. Turn over and turn heat to medium-low, cover, and cook for 4 minutes
4. Turn over, cover, and cook for 4 minutes
5. It should be about medium to medium-rare, so take the steak and slice it into strips
6. Plate and drizzle sauce over the steak strips.

Rib-eye Steak with Cheese Butter and Walla Walla Onion Rings

I have returned to America to find rib-eye on sale at Ralphs. Oh boy, I miss a big ole American steak. My recent trip to Taiwan has lacked a huge juicy steak. I've only had petite sized sirloins from Australia. Though I have to say, Australian beef is quite delicious.

To my surprise, I had two issues of bon appetit magazine welcoming me back from Taiwan. The front page of the September issue had a rib-eye steak with blue cheese, which sounds so amazing and fatty goodness. Also, this recipe had onion rings, which are one of my favorite food items.

Blue cheese has always been to mysterious. It has a crumbly texture and sharp taste that makes people like it or not.

Rib-eye Steak with Cheese Butter and Walla Walla Onion Rings
Courtesy of Bon Appetit Magazine September 2010


Ingredients for the steak and blue cheese butter
1 lb Rib-eye steak
1 tbs Garlic powder
1 tbs Thyme powder
1 tbs Salt
1 tbs Ground pepper
3 tbs Unsalted butter
3 tbs Blue cheese
1 tbs Paprika

Prep work
1. Let butter and cheese set at room temperature
2. Mix the salt, pepper, garlic powder, and thyme powder.
3. Lightly sprinkle the mixture on both sides of the steak.
4. Mix the blue cheese and butter with the paprika.

Walla Walla Onion Rings

Ingredients
1 large Sweet onion
1 cup Cake flour
1/4 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt
3/4 bottle Beer, about 3/4 cup (I used Blue Moon)
2 tbs Vodka

Prep work
1. Mix the cake flour, salt, and baking powder.
2. Add the vodka and beer and mix until pancake batter consistency. (add more beer if too thick).
3. Let the batter sit in the fridge up to a day.
4. Cut the onion into thick slices.
5. Dip the onion rings into the batter.

You can multi-task and cook both at the same time. Start on the steak first, then after 2 minutes you can start on the onion rings too.

Cooking the beef
1. Heat up the pan and add oil of choice
2. Sear both sides of the steak for 30 seconds each.
3. Turn on medium-low and cook for 3-4 minutes on each side for medium rare.
4. Put a tablespoon of the butter cheese on top of the steak and allow it to melt.

Cooking the onion rings
1. Heat up a lot of oil.
2. Shake off excess batter.
3. Gently drop the onion rings into the oil.
4. Fry until golden.
5. Place paper towels on a plate to soak up the oil.

Enjoy. The onion rings taste so good like tempura onions. The steak is also delicious with buttery cheesy goodness. School is in session!

Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup (牛肉麵 niu rou mian)

The other day, I was having a huge craving for Taiwanese beef noodle soup after I ordered a ticket for Taiwan, where I will be in August. With that being said, will anyone be in Taiwan August through September that wants to go eat yummies with me?

For my beef noodle soup, it takes quite a lot of time to make because I love lots of beef flavor from beef marrow bones and beef itself. The main component of this dish is beef shank, which gives the soup a meaty flavor and also it has a lot of meat. It's cheap and is only $2.49 per pound. You can ask the butcher at Whole Foods or at 99 Ranch for this cut of meat.

The bones were obtained at Whole Foods and can be found in the frozen meat section. I only trust Whole Foods for marrow bones and maybe Ralphs too because I had a horrible experience with the bones from 99 Ranch.

Taiwanese Beef Noodles Soup (牛肉麵 niu rou mian)

Ingredients
2 lbs Beef shank
1 lb Stew beef
2 lbs Beef marrow bones
2 tbs Chili bean paste (find in Asian markets)
3 cloves Garlic
2 large Onion (I used Maui Hawaiian onions from Trader Joes)
2 Roma Tomatoes
2 Organic carrots
1 inch Ginger
1/2 cup Soy sauce
1/4 cup Rice wine
1/4 cup Brown sugar
3 Star anise
1 tbs Rock sugar
Water
Green onions
Baby bok choy

Prep work for the stock
1. Slice 1 onion in half
2. Slice 1/2 inch ginger and smash it with the blade of the knife
3. Heat oven for 400F.
4. Pat Bones dry and roast in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until bones are brown.
5. Put bones, onion, ginger, and stew beef in a 6 Quart stock pot and fill up the pot almost to the top with water.
6. Bring to a boil and reduce heat.
7. Simmer the water for 5 hours covered.
8. Strain the stock and pick out the stew beef.
9. Chill until fat solidifies and remove the fat (I used the fat to brown the beef shank)

Prep work for the beef noodle soup
1. Peel and slice the carrots into three parts
2. Cut the tomatoes into quarters
3. Take the other 1/2 inch of the ginger and smash with the blade of the knife
4. Smash garlic and peel the skin off
5. Boil water in a large pot.
6. Throw in beef shank until it looks like the surface of the beef has been cooked (2-3 minutes)

Cooking
1. Heat up a large pot so that it can support the whole beef shank.
2. Put in beef lard from the stock or 2 tbs of oil in the pot.
3. Brown the sides of the beef shank 2-3 minutes)
4. Add in brown sugar and chili bean paste to coat the beef shank and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
5. Add ginger, star anise, and garlic and stir around the beef shank and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
6. Add the rice wine and cover for 3-5 minutes.
7. Add the hot stock, including the stew beef, soy sauce, rock sugar, carrots, 1 onion, and tomatoes.
8. Simmer covered for 4-5 hours on low heat.
9. Taste the soup. It should be relatively spicy and sweet with a hint of soy flavor. If it is too salty, add a little more water. Not enough flavor, add a little bit of salt.
10. Take out the large beef shank
11. Wait until it cools then slice it into thin pieces. (These pieces can also be used for cold appetizer with greens onions, soy sauce, and sesame oil)
12. Cook some Asian wheat noodles or udon noodles according to instructions.
13. Cook baby bok choy in water.
14. Finely chop the green onion
15. Put noodles in a bowl and spoon soup into it.
16. Add slices of beef and the green onions.

I haven't had good beef noodle soup in awhile. I guess this will be my Taiwanese treat in America before I venture into Taiwan.

Also, one of the blogs I follow, Tasty Eats at Home, is giving away coconut oil. I hope I win it. Time to do lots of experimentation with this oil xD.
http://tastyeatsathome.wordpress.com/2010/07/11/tropical-traditions-coconut-oil-giveaway/

Sage Rosemary Burgers

Fourth of July was yesterday. Didn't really do much except had a decent sized BBQ party at my apartment. It was quite fun, but we didn't watch any fireworks because we were all too busy doing other stuff more fun and exciting than watching fireworks aka. manning the grill and keeping my guests entertained.

I made quite a lot of food. I will start with burgers, the true American food. No matter where you travel in the world, the word "burger" is associated with fat, greasy, American food. What a great way to celebrate America with hard core American food full of grease. Yes, this burger I made is pretty greasy, but it tastes so good!

Sage Rosemary Burgers
.
Ingredients
1 lb Ground sirloin
1 stick Butter at room temperature
2 tbs Freshly chopped sage
2 tbs Freshly chopped Italian parsley
2 tbs Freshly chopped rosemary
1/2 lemon
1 tbs sugar
Salt and peppers
Onions
Tomatoes
Arugula
Hamburger buns
Ketchup
Pepper jack cheese

Prep for things better than fireworks
1. Chop all the herbs using knife or food processor
2. Add to softened butter and mix well
3. Squeeze lemon juice into the butter and mix well
4. Wet hands with water and take a handful of meat and form into a ball
5. Form a thumb indent in the center of the ball and stuff enough butter in there
6. Then fold corners of the indent to fold inward and flatten to form patty
7. Slice onions, tomatoes just like how it is found in any American burger.
8. Spread remaining butter on burger buns

Grill work
1. Heat up grill to normal grill like manner
2. Put beef patty on top and grill on both sides for 5 minutes each
4. Put cheese on top
5. Toast burger buns on grill
6. Put together the burger the way you like it.

Steak Chunks and Peppers

The heat is definitely getting to me! I just want to sit inside and have my fan blowing in my fan, but unfortunately I hate sitting around. To conserve my energy, I decided to create a simple dish I learned from my mother awhile ago in high school. It is probably one of the simplest and most delicious dishes I've had. When you're in a hurry, instead of going to In-n-Out burger to get your greasy beef, try this dish. Only thing you have to do is samurai slice beef, peppers and onions. with lots of KIYAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

Steak Chunks and Peppers

Ingredients
1 lb of Sirloin steak
1 Red pepper
1 Green pepper
1 Yellow onion
Salt and pepper
Extra virgin olive oil

Prepwork of choppy choppy
1. Peel and cube the onions into 1 inch squares
2. Remove seeds from the peppers
3. Chop the peppers into similar size as the onions
4. Cube the meat into bite size piecse

Cooking Time!
1. In one pan, dry heat it and throw in the peppers and onions and cook until onions are brown
2. In another pan, put about 1 tbs of olive oil in and throw in the beef when the oil is hot
3. Cook the beef for about 3-4 minutes for medium rare.
4. Combine peppers, onions, and beef into one pan and salt and pepper.
5. Serve with rice and drizzle some extra virgin olive oil on top.

Basic Meatball

Guess what everyone? The UPS man delivered my Canon EOS 20D. Ironically, this model is older than my SD1000 haha. Oh well, for d-slr cameras, the quality depends on the user. I am still trying to learn about all the features and how to take good photos. I am excited as the time I got the Starcraft 2 Beta.

I decided to make meatballs with rice. Who would have thought that meatballs go with rice xD. I have to apologize for the picture quality because I am still trying to get the hang of taking pictures with my camera. It is a bit blurry because my hand is not use to balancing and holding my camera steady. I might also have to adjust the shutter speed or get a tripod.

The basic meatball consists of ground meat, breadcrumbs soaked in milk, cheese product, seasoning. I shall give you what I added to my meatballs.

Basic Meatball



Ingredients
1 lb Ground beef (lean)
2 large Eggs
1 1/4 cup Panko bread crumbs
1/2 Milk
1/2 cup Romano cheese
5 cloves Garlic
1 tbs Extra virgin olive oil
1 tbs Honey
1 tbs Rosemary
Salt and pepper

Preparations
1. Soak Panko crumbs in milk
2. Dice garlic and rosemary
3. Lightly beat the eggs
4. Throw all the ingredients together and mix well
5. Shape meatballs from the mixture of diameter 1 inch

Cooking
Method 1 (pan frying --> baking) Preheat oven 350F
1. Heat up oil in an ovenproof pan
2. Throw in meatballs and rotate meatballs occasionally until all sides are brown
(about 5 min)
3. Put skillet in the oven for 5-7 minutes.
4. Remove and serve with favorite sauce

Method 2 (braising with red wine)
1. Heat up oil in a pan and sear all sides of the meatballs
2. Pour in about 1/4 cup red wine, cover, and allow it to simmer for 10 minutes
3. Check if the meatballs are done.
4. Serve with favorite sauce

The sauce I served the meatballs with is a balsamic strawberry sauce. It is quite tangy and sweet and contrasts nicely with the meatballs.

Basic Italian Meat Sauce

Well ... the time has come for the last night of spring break. Tomorrow, I revert back to college life by attending class, doing homework, and studying about civil engineering topics. Hopefully, this quarter I will learn something new and not get bored out of my mind in any of my classes.

To celebrate the last dinner of spring break, I've decided to go to basics and simplicity. I realized that the more complex I get, the harder it becomes for my readers to follow through and try what I make like how my professors go through all this theory for something unpractical at all, which causes me to fall into a long 2 hour slumber called lecture.

There are two parts to this recipe. The sauce without the meat and then cooking the meat.

Basic Italian Meat Sauce



Ingredients for sauce (vegetarian portion)
1 lb Roma tomatoes
2 cups Mire poix
5 cloves Garlic
1/4 cup Butter
1 tbs Dry oregano
1 tbs Dry marjoram leaves
1 tbs Dry basil
1 tsp Thyme powder
t tsp Sugar
Ample amounts of salt and fresh ground black pepper

Prep
1. Dice tomatoes
2. Peel garlic

Cooking the sauce
1. Melt butter in pan
2. Add in mire poix and garlic and saute until onion is translucent and carrots are soft. Careful not to burn anything!
3. Add in tomatoes and its juices, and then add in herbs, salt, and pepper
4. Stir around until tomatoes are soft
5. Cover and turn heat on medium low and simmer for 15 minutes
6. Put everything in a blender and blend until smooth
7. More sauce to a sauce pot to keep warm on the stove top
8. Taste for salt or pepper

Now the meat section

Ingredients of meaty goodness
1 lb Ground beef (leanest you can get)
2 tbs Butter (less if you have fatty ground beef)
1 tbs Fennel seeds (chopped)
1 tbs Garlic powder
1 tbs Dry marjoram leaves
Salt and Pepper

Directions of manliness meat
1. Melt butter in pan
2. Add ground beef and cook until half of it is cooked
3. Add in seasoning of various ingredients
4. Taste for enough salt and pepper when no more red is showing
Note: Do not burn it like my apartment mate. Keep the heat steady on medium and wait for the oil to get just about right for hotness. If the oil is way too hot, the meat will burn quickly!

Combination of ultra combo fight moves
1. Combine meat with sauce
2. Add meat to cooked noodles

Enjoy this simple dish. Well goodnight everyone ... school begins tomorrow yay!... -_-

Corndogs ... Preparation for National Corndog Day!

I heard from my co-worker last week that National Corndog Day is coming up in late March; thus that got me in the mood for corndogs for the entire week. Finally, I found some time to make these delicious pancake warped hotdogs during my study break. I might as well make the best out of these beef hotdogs I bought on sale at Ralphs. I think this is the only time I would actually buy and eat hotdogs from the supermarket because not to be a food snob ... but I do not see hotdogs to be appetizing for dinner or lunch due to the numerous amounts of bad grade meats and chemicals they stuff into those pink rubber sticks.

As for this case ... since I haven't had a corndog in awhile, I decided to make them.

Corndog


(looks like eggrolls on sticks XD)

Ingredients of processed foods
1 package Hot dogs (8 count)
120 g Cornmeal (about 3/4 cup)
105 g All purpose flour (about 2/3 cup)
30 g Cake flour (about 1/4 cup)
1 cup Milk
1/4 tsp Baking soda
2 tbs Maple syrup
3 tbs Brown sugar
1 tsp Baking powder
1 Egg
Cornstarch (for coating)

Preparation for an American heart attack!
1. Mix all the dry ingredients together
2. Mix all the wet ingredients together
3. Combine dry to wet ingredients
4. Pour in a tall glass
5. Dry hot dogs and coat with corn starch
6. Stick chopsticks or skewers through the hot dog and dip them into the batter

Cooking in fatty goodness
1. Pour some oil into a pan thats good for frying
2. Cook the corndog until all sides are browned

Man ... now I feel stuffed ... I better get on those vegetables soon ^_^ ... not anytime soon though xD.

Pasta with Sausage and Mustard Sauce

Man it is Friday already! That means finals are coming up and then spring break! I plan to have my spring break filled with Italian food after I get my pasta maker. Today was rather uneventful day with my meetings and lab work.

My friend Jeannie decided to make some pasta with spicy sausage and mustard cream sauce. Here is my modified version of the recipe.

Pasta with Sausage and Mustard Sauce



Ingredients
1 cup Pasta shells (depending on how much you want)
4 Italian sausages (spicy ones)
4 cloves Garlic
1 Shallot
1/4 cup Red wine
1/4 cup Heavy cream
1 tbs Whole grain dijon mustard
1 tsp Chili pepper
Chopped parsley (garnish)

Prep work
1. Smash garlic and dice
2. Dice the shallots
3. Chop the sausages into slices
4. Boil water

Cooking section
1. Heat up pan and add sausages to cook for about 2 minutes (brown them)
2. Throw in pasta into boiling water while the sausage is cooking
3. Add in garlic and shallots until translucent and cook until sausage about done
4. Remove sausages and place on top of paper towel to soak up the grease and keep warm.
5. With the same pan, deglaze with red wine and reduce about 2/3 of the liquid
6. Stir in the heavy cream, chili, and mustard
7. Reduce until sauce-like and check if your pasta is done, taste sauce if salt is needed (probably very minimal because the sausages are salty)
8. Plate pasta then sausages and use a strainer to strain the sauce into the dish
9. Sprinkle parsley on top

Enjoy eating this spicy pasta dish. Now time to clean up and work on my lab report ... fun stuff ... along with editing my group report and essays, which people need to learn how to cite their sources properly -_-.

Red Wine Marinade for Steak

The weekend went by extremely fast! One day it's Friday, and after doing a couple of projects and lab reports, it is Sunday night. I did not even have time to relax or chill with friends because I have so much homework.

Well, I got to eat...

Today, I have made ribeye steak. This is a quick and easy recipe.

Red Wine Marinade for Steak
1/2 cup Red wine vinegar
1/8 cup Extra virgin olive oil
2 tbs Thyme powder
2 tbs Garlic powder
1 tsp Fennel seeds
Salt and pepper (on reserve)

Prep work
1. Grind or chop the fennel seeds
2. Throw all the ingredients together in a marinade bag or bowl
3. Pat the steak dry
4. Salt and pepper the steak
5. Preheat oven 425F

Instructions of zoom zoom
1. Throw steak in the marinade and marinate for about 3 hours or a day (I give it a day)
2. Heat up pan and sear both sides for 30-60 seconds
3. Toss steak in the oven and cook for 10-15 minutes (medium rare for large ribeye steak)
Note: You can grill it too.

Now back to finishing up various homework and continuing my life as a college student. No picture today because I was extremely hungry and forgot to take a picture :(.

Steak Reward for Hell Endured

Man I am very veyr tired ... I pulled off two all nighters in a row, and I do not know why I am still standing typing to the citizens of the internet. Anyways quite a long week, and I haven't really updated my blog with recipes, which will be added later as I perfect them.

As for today, I made a balsamic vinegar marinade with my steak. Turned our really nice.

Balsamic Vinegar Steak Marinade


Another crappy cell phone picture : (...

Ingredients for beef massage

1 cup Balsamic Vinegar (enough to cover 1/4 of the sides of a steak when in a bowl)
1 tbs Soy Sauce
1 tbs Rice Wine
4 Fresh Basil Leaves (dry ones work too)
1 Shallot
1 tsp Butter
Salt and pepper

Directionals

1. Shred basil with your hands into tiny pieces
2. Add in all other ingredients into a bowl or marinade bag
3. Throw in big juicy rib-eye steak
4. Marinade in fridge for a day, or if you are in a hurry, an hour would be sufice.
5. Sear the steak 30 seconds on each side on high heat using oil of some sort (I use butter)
6. Place on a grill with sliced shallots and 1 tsp of butter until meat thermometer reads 135F
Alternatively use an oven to cook it for 375F for 8-10 minutes.

Serve with spinach salad tossed with honey mustard, onions, and tomatoes.
Eat with bread or rice. (I eat rice becasue rice is my everyday food xD)

Korean BBQ So fulll rawr

Hello people reading my blog... It's a Saturday, and I woke up feeling much better than yesterday. I didn't get much homework done today because structural analysis class is a pain in the ass. Well, after spending 5 or more hours on 4 problems, I went to eat all you can eat Korean BBQ with ASCE people in K-town.

Every time I go eat Korean BBQ, I go happy and leave gluttoned and feel really terrible : (. I feel like I can never enjoy eating at buffets because I would just eat too much. I think for 20 people we got like 40 some plates of meat.

I'll post my recipe for Korean BBQ marinade. I usually marinade chicken or beef with it. Never tried marinating pork before though.

Korean BBQ marinade



(rawr so much meat ><...)

Ingredients for serving 3lbs of meat
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tbs sesame oil
5 cloves of garlic (mashed)
2 green onions
1 carrot
2 tbs sesame seeds


Directions
1. Julienne carrots
2. Slice the green onions
3. Combine everything together and mix well
4. Throw in the meat and marinate for an hour
5. Take out the meat and grill or pan cook

Steak... sort of

So... Today I came back from my meeting and super long day on campus, 8am to 7 pm (I guess this is what the real world feels like). To treat myself, I decided to defrost and cook steak that has been "properly" stored in the freezer for the past 3 months. After cooking it and trying to multitask, I left the steak in the oven for too long ... so thus it overcooked : ( bleh ...

Straight up streak... (sorry there's no picture, but it will come later when I make it better)

Ingredients

1 lb sirloin steak
1/4 stick of butter (2 tablspoons, 1/8 cup, 1 oz for the picky people who don't do conversions)
1/2 white onion
3 cloves of garlic
2 tablespoons of rice wine
salt and pepper (enough so you don't make your mouth like a salt mine)

Prep

1. Preheat oven to 375F
2. Dice the onions and garlic
3. Salt and pepper the steak
4. Pound steak if needed to tenderize
5. Split butter into two equal parts

Cooking

1. Put one piece of the butter in an oven-safe skillet
2. Sear the steak about 30-45 seconds on each side on medium-high heat
3. Remove steak add in onions and garlic for about 20 seconds
4. Place steak back on the skillet and put the other piece of butter on top of the steak
5. Add rice wine
6. Place skillet in the oven for 10-15 minutes for medium-rare to medium.

Usually when I make this steak it would turn out just right and taste great... but...
Because I was doing homework and cooking at the same time.... I left the steak in the oven for 20 minutes, which caused the steak to turn into a well done disgusting dry piece of shit.

Experimental Content !
So.. to revive the taste and not make my mouth so dry...

I removed the steak and kept it in the warm oven on a plate.
With the skillet, I decided to experiment with a sauce.
Here's what I used

3 tablespoons of ketchup
1 tablespoon of brown sugar
1 tablespoon of worcheshire suace
A dash of Dejon mustard
Paprika
enough rice wine to deglaze the pan
salt and pepper to adjust

1. Basically deglaze the pan with the wine
2. Dump all that in with the onion and garlic mix
3. Reduce until thickened
4. Strain the sauce
5. Serve with thinly sliced pieces of the steak

I guess the sauce experiment turned out so-so without doing any prior research, I sort of made a bbq sauce to go with the steak slices.

Well hopefully someone can improvise more on this and tell me what they think.
Some advice would be nice too : ).

Eat with broccoli and rice or bread.