Dontcha Wish Ya Girlfriend Could Cook Like Me PT 3

I’m really bad about this blog, waiting three nights to until I post something up. My cupboards are low on food, so I’m sort of scrimping for tasty dishes. The last two nights I’ve been successful in creating two yummy dinners. However due to my brain not wanting to function correctly, I’ve not been able to write about them. We can blame this on lack of sleep.

First up on the menu is Grilled Round Steaks with steamed broccoli and chicken flavored rice. Don’t ask why we had chicken rice instead of beef rice. This is boyfriends fault. He was the one who picked out the ingredients for supper, I just cooked it.

I love a good slab of beef when I can get my hands on a decent piece. However, round steaks are just as good so long as they are cooked correctly.

Now I like my steaks medium-rare, but grilling on an open flame can be difficult to get this degree of cooked. Many a times I’ve ended up making charcoal, or shoe leather on the grill. It was with careful practice and timing that I learned to make my steaks medium-rare.

Here is a grilling time table for steaks by thickness:

Thickness	Rare	Medium	Well	Heat
1″	8-10	12-14	16-20	High
1 1/2″	10-14	16-20	22-26	High
2	12-16	18-22	24-28	Medium

The steaks that I have are about 1 inch. The time table says high heat, however I don’t recommend doing that if have any sort of marinade on the meat. Otherwise you will end up with burned parts from the sugars in the sauce. On the steaks that I have just basic BBQ sauce.

To get the great BBQ flavor takes some preparation. Usually what I do is I tenderize the meat with a meat hammer, then take a fork and poke holes all over it. Following that I place some sauce in the bottom of a casserole dish and spread it around with a rubber spatula, then place all the round steaks in the dish and cover with the rest of the sauce.  Using tinfoil or plastic wrap, cover the meat and leave in the fridge for about an hour or up to 24 hours.

Light your grill and let it get nice and warm, then turn the heat down to a medium-low. Place your steaks on the center part of the grill, this will allow the meat to cook evenly. Close the lid and check on them about five minutes later.

While the meat is cooking, start the rice. I used boxed Rice-A-Roni, chicken flavor. Let me reiterate, this was not my choosing, my boyfriend is completely responsible.  Follow the directions on the back of the box. Easy and simple.

Steamed broccoli is just like the way I did steamed corn the other night.  A bowl with 1/4 cup of water and about 2 cups of broccoli pieces. Cook for about 5 minutes in the microwave and then check to see if it needs a minute or two longer. Add a tablespoon of butter and a teaspoon of salt.  Leave in microwave to stay warm. Don’t cook the broccoli until you have flipped the steaks on the grill.

This will require a lot of back and forth between the skillet of rice and the grill. Flipping the steaks helps cook the meat evenly on both sides, it also prevents the BBQ sauce from burning.

It should only take a total of 15 minutes for the steaks about seven minutes on each side. Serve and enjoy.

Next up on the Zodi menu is Grilled chicken, Fettuccine Alfredo and sautéed green beans with a butter garlic and onion sauce.

If the chicken you have is frozen, take it out the night before and leave it in the refridgerator to thaw out. If it is still not completely thawed out take it out and let it thaw out in the sink.

When you are ready to cook, spray the grill with non-stick spray. This will help keep the chicken from sticking to grill.

Like the steaks, you want to cook this on a medium low heat. And like pork, the chicken should be cut in the center to see if the chicken is cooked all the way through. Chicken should end up white all the way through.

Once the grill is warmed up and ready to go, place the chicken on the grill and close the lid. Check and flip the chicken every five minutes or so.  After the second flip, use a sauce brush to coat the chicken with BBQ sauce. I used a bottled brand of Honey BBQ sauce.

Again flipping is key to prevent the chicken from sticking and the sauce from burning.

While your chicken is cooking, start the Fettuccine Alfredo. The pasta in the photo came from a box, however, this is a poor week for me, so I couldn’t get the stuff required to make it from scratch. The boxed pasta is also faster when cooking.

The recipe I use when I make this from scratch comes from Emeril Lagassi.

1 pound dried fettuccine
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 shallot, minced
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Fresh parsley, for garnish, optional

Directions

Cook the fettucine in a pot of rapidly boiling salted water until al dente. Drain in a colander, reserving 1/4 cup of the pasta cooking liquid.

While the pasta is cooking, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add shallots and saute until tender. Add heavy cream and bring to a boil. Cook until sauce has reduced slightly, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Return the pasta to the pot it was cooked in, set over medium-high heat along with the reserved cooking liquid. Add the butter-cream mixture and half of the Parmesan and toss to combine thoroughly. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan and garnish with parsley, if desired.

This makes a rich and tasty noodle dish that goes great with chicken.

The green beans are simple. Fresh is the best, but I used frozen for this meal. Boil the frozen greens beans just until they are tender, drain and set aside. Add 2 tablespoon of butter or margerine to a skillet and begin to melt it on low heat.  Add two teaspoons of garlic powder to the butter and mix it up. You should also add the diced onions to the pan as well and get them nice and caramelized. Another trick I use is purchase dried minced onion and add a tablespoon of water to a tablespoon of onion, this will rehydrate the onion and make it ready for the pan.

Once that is nice and caramelized, add the green beans. By the time they are nice and golden brown, add three tablespoons of water to the pan. This will deglaze the pan and make the sauce to coat the beans.

While the Green beans are cooking, check the chicken to see if it’s white all the way through. When it’s cooked completely, serve immediately.

I hope you enjoy the two meals as much as I have.

Keep it real and rockin’

❤