Blistered Shishito Peppers
Have your tried Shishito Peppers yet? All of the Food Network Stars were cooking with this little pepper all last year, yet I couldn't find them in the grocery store. I was excited when this spring, I have found Shishito Peppers seeds at Home Depot. Fingers crossed, later this summer we will have homegrown Shishito Peppers from our garden. To my surprise yesterday, the grocery store had these little peppers available for the first time! I even texted the Cowboss the photo of them from the grocery store. Hey, when you love cooking and your long awaited item is in stock, you get excited. ;)
I had already planned to have burgers for dinner, so I thought, this would be the perfect side to go with it. The key to tasty Shishito Peppers is to blister them and serve them with an amazing dip.
Even though, the cowboys worked outside all day, they have agreed to grill the burgers for me and eat outside. When you are a cowboy and you work all day outside, you are really looking forward to having dinner inside, where the cool breeze comes from the air-conditioning. But, I was able to talk them into eating on the patio as it was a cool evening with no wind.
The Cowboss grilled the burgers to perfection. You ask what is the secret to our amazing burgers? Well, I will share it with you!
3T Ranch Burger Tips: mix 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper and 1 tablespoon of dijon mustard with our ground beef and then make patties. (We also like the Weber Chicago Steak Seasoning for our burgers). Now, heat up your grill and once the burgers hit the grill turn it to low heat and cook for about 5 minutes per side.
In the meantime, while the Cowboss was tending to his grill, I made my Blistered Shishito Peppers.
Let me tell you, it was a hit! Even with the little guys. The Shishito Peppers are mild in spice, but watch out 1 in 10 can be spicy! Good thing we like spicy!
The kids and I loved the peppers and dipping them into the tasty sauce. The cowboys put the Shishito Peppers on their burgers along with onion rings. Clearly, it was delicious as I didn't even had a chance to take pictures. Eaten in no time!
Ingredients:
- 1/2 bag of Shishito Peppers (about 13)
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
Dip:
- 1/4 cup of mayo
- 2 teaspoons of lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon of no sugar ketchup
- 4-5 minced garlic cloves (Use garlic press, if you have it. You really want it minced).
- 1 tablespoon of fresh dill - finely chopped
- Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
- Heat up a large cast iron pan.
- Pour in one tablespoon of avocado oil.
- Cook peppers, turning occasionally, until they begin to blister on all sides. (about 5 -7 minutes)
- Sprinkle with salt and pepper right away.
Dip:
- Mix all of the dip ingredients and put in the fridge for at least 10 minutes to intensify the flavor. Fresh dill really makes this dip.
Tomato & Serrano Ham Tarts
Our freezer has beef soup bones and T-Bone steaks left. It shows that we don't like sharing our T-Bone steaks that much, they are too tasty. I'm counting down the days when our freezer will be restocked again.
It is the middle of the week and the Cowboss felt like grilling. Can't blame him, the weather has been so nice, not as hot, but warm enough to enjoy our summer evenings outside. He grilled our T-Bone steaks to perfection. I made "potato boats" as the Easton Clan calls them. They are really twice baked potatoes, but I go with the Easton tradition and call them potato boats. I also wanted to try a new side dish - puff pastry tart. Our greenhouse is producing tomatoes left and right and I wanted to use them up in a different way than just in a salad. I have recently made peach tarts and they were hit, so I thought, why not a savory tart.
So, here goes the recipe for Tomato and Serrano Ham Tarts. Perfect addition to our tasty dinner.
Ingredients:
- 1 defrosted sheet of puff pastry
- 2 tomatoes (I have used Roma as they were the perfect size for the tartlets) - sliced
- 9 tablespoons of cheese of your choice - shredded - I have used Gruyere
- 5 slices of Serrano Ham - sliced
- salt & pepper
Directions:
- Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
- Defrost the dough - use instructions on the box.
- Unfold your dough and cut into 9 squares (tip: pizza cutter works well on this)
- I did 4 tomato and 5 Serrano ham squares.
- Sprinkle each square with 1 tablespoon of shredded cheese.
- Top with sliced tomatoes or cut up ham.
- Put squares on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Bake for 20 minutes.
- Sprinkle the tomato squares with sea salt.
Dobrou Chut!
What is a Rib Steak?
We all know how delicious a Rib Eye Steak is, but what is a Rib Steak? Well, let me tell you that Rib Steak is even better than Rib Eye Steak. The Rib Eye is boneless and the Rib Steak includes the rib bone and is often called a "Bone-In Rib Eye Steak". Rib Steaks are also the same as Prime Rib. When combined as a multiple Rib Roast Section and roasted, it is Prime Rib. When each bone section is sliced and then grilled, it becomes a
Bone-in Rib Steak.
Now, how do we cook it?
You can grill it or we cooked it last night in the cast iron pan. The important step that many people forget is to bring the meat to room temperature (at least 30 minutes), dry it with paper towel and adequately salt it.
If you are grilling the steak, cook it low and slow. If you are using a cast iron pan, make sure to heat the pan first, then pour in one tablespoon of canola oil and I also include a little bit of butter. Let it heat up again. Sear the meat on both sides, the pan should be screaming hot and sizzling. I would say about two minutes on each side, check out the nice crust on our steak. Transfer the meat onto a cookie sheet with a rack, pour your oil and butter mixture from the cast iron pan onto the meat and put it into 475 degree oven for three minutes to finish the meat. Don't move from the kitchen, you can easily overcook the meat! Take the meat out of the oven and let it rest for about 4 minutes, cover it with foil.
Time to cut the steak and enjoy this wonderful cut. I have served the steak with loaded cauliflower mash. (Steamed cauliflower, 1/2 brick of cream cheese, 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar, 2 chopped up green onions, 2 cloves of chopped up garlic. Mix it all together, you can also use a little bit of your steaming liquid to make the perfect texture. Sprinkle with more cheese and bacon pieces).
Cowboys Love Meat and Potatoes! Roasted Sweet Potato Salad
My garden didn't do so well this year, but the one thing that it did produce were potatoes! Plenty of them! I have learned from last year that storing them in our cold dark cellar didn't do the trick and the potatoes didn't last very long. So, we have decided to go the freezer route this year. It took us all afternoon to peel, shred or cut, blanch and then freeze, but it was all worth it to indulge into homegrown/homemade hash browns, chips, salads and our favorite mashed potatoes. I have also learned from my past failures of trying to rush the freezing process, that you DO NEED to blanch your veggies. Otherwise, they will be all soggy and you might as well throw them out.
Roasted Sweet Potato Salad (Can be made with regular potatoes as well. The cowboys prefer the "regular" potatoes, but they try to please the ranch mom and try new recipe creations).
Ingredients:
- 3 big sweet potatoes (peel and cut up into a medium dice)
- 1 can of black beans (rinsed)
- 1 bag of frozen corn (let it defrost)
- 1 red pepper (small dice)
- 1/2 red onion (small dice)
- 1 to 2 avocados (medium dice)
- 2 green onions - chopped
- 1/2 bunch of cilantro - chopped
- Dressing: 2 tablespoons honey, 2 tablespoons grain mustard (we like the spicy kind), 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, 2 tablespoons of olive oil (try using roasted pepper olive oil from Costco), salt, pepper and cayenne pepper to taste.
Directions:
- Peel and cut up your potatoes, toss about 2 tablespoons of olive oil on them and roast at 400 degrees for about 20 - 30 minutes.
- Sauté your pepper, onion and green onions until translucent.
- Time to assemble, put the ingredients into a big bowl and mix your dressing. Once the potatoes are done include them into the bowl and pour over the dressing.
- Your salad can be served warm or cold, but I found that we did like the warm version of the salad much better. We have tried both versions. The dressing does wonders with the warm veggies.
Stay tuned for homemade potato chips recipe and tips on how to grow your best crop of potatoes. There is always the possibility of a great and fruitful garden next year, right? BTW.. 3T Ranch T-Bone steak would be the perfect addition to this salad!