Baked Country Steak w/ Mashed Potatoes, Gravy and Peas

Oct 30 2015

One of my favorite meals is baked steak. My Mom made this a lot using sirloin or round steak and mushroom soup. She would cut the steak in one serving pieces, pound a couple of times with a meat mallet, season with salt and pepper, dredge in flour and brown up. Then she placed in a casserole dish, poured the mushroom soup over and baked 45 minutes to an hour.

When I bought some Angus minute steaks I was not thinking baked steak but I had some small yellow potatoes that would make good mashed potatoes. The steaks baked in Pioneer Country Gravy would be good and I could have some peas over the potatoes and gravy. 

The grandson did not have school today so he and my wife went to a movie today and then some shopping. When they got home he closed all the vents in the crawl space for me before he went home.

I have been plugging at getting my work shop cleaned up and I am just about done now. It is starting to look like a work shop instead of a storage shed!

For supper I browned the minute streaks and made the country gravy for over them. I used Pioneer brand package mix and it makes 2 cups. I steamed the potatoes and mashed and whipped them with a half stick of butter and added some dried chives. The steaks were in the 350 deg. oven for 45 minutes, covered for 30 minutes then removed the cover the last 15 minutes. I heated some frozen green peas in the microwave.

We both had gravy over the steaks and potatoes and added the peas over the potato mash. I had some of the cheesy pull bread to have with it. I love the peas over the potatoes; since I usually end up mixing them anyway. I had not had this in a while so it sure tasted good; the minute steaks were fork tender.

Note: some other soups to use with the steak are, Campbells Beefy Mushroom or Golden Mushroom. Making your own after browning the steak is probably the best but I like the convenience of soup or gravy mix.

Browning the steaks

Done baking with gravy

My mashed potatoes

My supper

Panzanella and Toasted Cheese Sandwich

Aug 13 2015

This is a good dish to use up those garden tomatoes and bread; I had both. I adapted a recipe from Giada of Food Network and had it made up at 3:00 to set until supper time at 6:00. I cooked the tomatoes and pepper strips on my Traeger and toasted the bread on my Weber Spirit.

I had two hamburger buns to use so told the wife I would do some toasted cheese sandwiches to go with the tomatoes. I sliced the tops off the buns, added two slices of baby Swiss cheese, sprayed with some olive oil and toasted them on my weber. I got them a little over-toasted!

My over-toasted cheese wasn’t too bad and the panzanella was delicious!

Click here for printable Panzanella recipe

Ingredients

Toasting the bread

Roasting the tomatoes and peppers

All in to mix

Mixed up

The layered dish

My supper

Caprese Tomato Quiche

Sept 01 2014

It didn’t seem like a holiday week-end here, no big party! Saturday I had a large tree limb come down from my Cleveland pear tree. I spent a few hours today getting all the limbs sawed off and out for the city to pick up. Our son is coming in the morning to help me saw up the rest of the limb.

Having plenty of tomatoes from my garden I found a recipe for a Caprese tomato quiche to fix for our supper. The recipe was by Zlo at food52. I cheated and used a frozen puff pastry for the crust! I had some smoked brats left to have with mine and my dipping sauce; equal parts of yellow mustard, hot mustard and smoky horseradish sauce.

I think my wife just had the quiche. We liked it and will do it again. Zlo did not give an oven temp. but I figured 350 deg. and mine was in for 35 minutes. I think it could have gone a few more minutes, the very center was not set up as well as I like.

Link to Quiche Recipa

Ingredients

Tomato cheese mix added to the crust

Egg heavy cream mix added

Finished baking

My supper

Garden Tomato and Corn Casserole

Aug 27 2014

I had an overload of ripe tomatoes from my garden to use so I made up this recipe for supper tonight. My wife had to go to church at 6:00 for a meet the new minister’s wife party so I did it up early so she could eat at 5:00. I thought the daughter in law would stop to eat or take some home with her. I will have to see that she gets some tomorrow, there’s a bunch left! My son does not like tomatoes but the grandson will probably eat some. I don’t think it would freeze well.

I had a half a smoked chicken left so I removed it from the bones and sliced to go with the casserole. The wife and I both thought it was pretty darned good. It would go with any BBQ meat or a nice dish if you have someone that is vegetarian to serve.

I was pretty basic with just salt and pepper for seasoning so you could add your choice. Diced sweet or green onions, diced red peppers, thin sliced fresh basil or any mix of these I think would work well. I took my gravy to a medium thickness and next time may let get thicker.

If you brown up the cheese under the broiler at the end like I did be careful. I let mine almost go to the burn stage! I should know better to watch closely as it can go from a nice brown to burnt in about 5 seconds!

Printable Casserole Recipe

Overload of ripe tomatoes

Casserole ingredients

Bread toasted

A layer of tomatoes, seasoned

A little cheese

A little gravy

Corn added

Rest of the gravy and a layer of tomatoes

Baked 40 minutes and added the rest of the cheese

Ready to serve

My supper

BLT's and Fried Pumpkin Blossoms

Aug 06 2014

Last night my wife said she was hungry for pizza so I was all set to have some of Sandman’s pizza. That changed this morning when a friend showed up at the door at 9 am. She had a large plate of pumpkin blossoms freshly picked and cleaned from her garden. There was no way I would not fry up those babies for supper instead of pizza. I told the wife we’ll have some BLT’s with them.

So it was off to the grocery for some buns and lettuce and to my butchers for some of his good thick sliced bacon. I had enough tomatoes on hand. I did up the bacon on my Traeger after lunch. 300 deg. grill level and it took about 50 minutes to get it where I like it. A pellet smoker is the best bacon fryer there is; no grease spatters on the stove and no dirty skillet to wash. You can get it just the way you like from limp to crispy.

Our friend cleans her pumpkin blossoms different than I do. She cuts the green stem off, opens the flower and washes clean. I just snip the very end of the stem off and the pistil comes out easily. I leave the flower whole and wash. Either way they are delicious.

I got my stuff out for the BLT’s and 3 bowls with crushed cracker crumbs, egg wash and flour for doing the blossoms. I folded the blossoms dipped in flour, egg wash, cracker crumbs and fried until browned up on both sides. I used olive oil and 3 pats of butter in my Lodge 12 inch steel skillet to fry them. I made up my wife’s sandwich and fried her up a skillet full of the blossoms then made up my sandwich and blossoms. That was a taste treat for us, they were so good I forced myself to fry up 3 more and have a couple slices of tomatoes with them!

The bacon

The blossoms

Set up to cook

First batch in

Wife's plate

My plate

My dessert

Update Aug 07

I had enough of the pumpkin blossoms left I fried them up for my lunch today. Too lazy to crush up some crackers I used Panko bread crumbs this time. I bundled them up too instead of leaving them more flat. You get a little less breading that way and more of the blossom taste.

I think I like the cracker crumbs better and do like them more bundled. It is hard for me to describe the taste I guess for me they are like a light sweet oyster taste. I split them with the wife, she got 3 and I got 5! Try some and enjoy!

Pork Chops with Potatoes, Carrots and Cabbage

Jul 26 2014

Friday I was happy to get the picket fence done at our sons. We got the gate in and all looks nice. Now all it needs is for his wife to white wash it.

Today I got a 5 slat wood bench stained and now all my outdoor furniture looks nice. I had four nice center cut pork chops and was hungry for some potatoes, cabbage and carrots cooked up for supper.

I coated the chops with kosher salt and wrapped in plastic wrap and they were in the fridge about four hours. An hour and a half before smoking I wiped them good and placed in a pan with a rack and back in the fridge.

For the veggies I browned up some bacon in my cast iron chicken fryer, removed it and drained some of the grease then browned some onions just until getting brown. I then added the potatoes, carrots and cabbage wedges, about a half quart of chicken stock, salt and pepper and added the bacon back in. I brought it to a boil and then on slow simmer, covered for an hour and half. When I leave cabbage in wedges to cook I do not core it and then the wedges stay together for serving.

I heated my Traeger on 180 deg. I was getting 200 deg. grill level. I got the chops on at 4:45 and after 20 minutes went to 270 deg. grill level. At 5:20 I turned the chops and went to 300 deg. grill level and went to 350 grill level the last 15 minutes for, a total of 1 ¼ hours. If you note the one chop didn’t look like a center cut and that’s the one the cook ate!

I had some good bread and my compound butter to serve with the meal. I like to mash up my potatoes and carrots together, add some butter and broth from the veggies. It all tasted great.

Chops from my butcher Kah Meats

Wiped after a dry brine

For the veggies

Bacon browned

Onions in

All in

Ready for the smoker

After turning the chops

All done

Veggies are done

My supper

Pork Sirloin Roast with Veggies

Nov 03 2013

For Sunday’s supper I asked the wife if she wanted chicken or pork, she said pork. I had in mind to do a pork shoulder roast with veggies, potatoes, carrots, and celery. I couldn’t find a shoulder roast small enough so settled for a pork loin sirloin roast, bought some baby gold potatoes and some Brussels sprouts for me. I knew I had carrots and celery.

I got the roast in brine for 2 a half hours; seasoned, tied and in the fridge for one hour.  My seasoning was just salt, pepper and garlic flakes. I browned it on my Weber Q100 3 or 4 min. per side then went on a tray over some sliced onions and in my Traeger at 350 deg. grill level.

I had my veggies cleaned and just one carrot but I had some parsnips so used them for me and the wife could have the carrot. I drizzled olive oil over the veggies and placed around the roast and added salt and pepper.

It took about one and a half hours to get to an IT of 158 deg. I stirred the veggies near the end. I tented the roast and veggies while I put 3 pretzel bread sticks on the smoker to heat up.

It tasted pretty good, I had my potatoes, Brussels sprouts, parsnips and celery with mine and the wife had potatoes and carrots with hers. The Brussels sprouts and parsnips could have been a little more done, next time I would nuke the veggies some and then on for 45 minutes to brown up.

The pork sirloin is not my favorite pork cut, next time I will get a shoulder roast and cut it if it’s too large.

The sirloin roast is mostly white meat and has a little dark meat attached; it comes from near the hind leg. I figure if I want white meat I may as well do a loin. With a good brine a pork loin can come out tender and juicy.

Roast and Veggies on the smoker

Pretzel bread sticks

Ready to serve

My Plate