Marla Swoffer
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How I Make Steak

2/9/2017

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​On my monthly Costco shop, I always buy a package of flap meat. It makes the best steak for the best price ($8-9 per pound - used to be $6!). It's a splurge but we get two "fancy" meals out of our $25 purchase. It comes in two pieces, so I put them in the freezer individually in gallon bags (I usually thaw by submersing the meat - still in the sealed bag - in a bowl of hot water for about twenty minutes).

To make this delicious steak, I heat up butter (or bacon fat) in our cast iron pan on medium high, turn on the fan, and cook it on one side for 5-7 minutes. I flip it and repeat. Sometimes I have to flip it one more time to get it perfectly medium to medium rare. I let it sit for a few minutes before slicing against the grain. 
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If I am cooking onions (usually red), I cook them  in the (greased) pan for about 5-10 minutes and then add the steak, cooking them both together until the onions are nicely charred (I take them out before the steak). Sometimes I add mushrooms, but if I do that I usually cook it all before I make the steak, so as not to overcrowd the pan and because mushrooms are liquidy. 
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This is one of our favorite family dinners - steak, mashed potatoes, and salad (the kids don't have the onions and blue cheese - more for us!).
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Easy Fried Rice

7/1/2016

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My kids' favorite lunch - fried rice - sauté celery and meat (ham, spam, or bacon) in avocado oil on medium high in a nonstick pan. Stir in cold, cooked rice, sesame oil, tamari, oyster sauce. Stir constantly. Add green onions and scrambled eggs. Optional: add carrots with celery or instead of, add frozen peas. #friedrice #leftovers #chinesecooking #homemade #quickmeals #healthycooking #easycooking #recipe #lunch #dinner #kidfood #instarecipe

A photo posted by Marla Swoffer (@marlaswoffer) on Jun 29, 2016 at 8:25pm PDT

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Turkey Spinach Artichoke Chowder

1/8/2016

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How I concocted last weekend’s Turkey Spinach Artichoke Chowder - definitely a rough draft (speaking as a writer), but it was delicious (husband raved) and I will be making a final version the next time I have turkey gravy (may be a while):

I wasn’t paying attention to amounts (I rarely do), but the base of this soup was leftover 
turkey gravy (from Christmas dinner) and chicken broth.  

I made the meatballs out of ground turkey, frozen chopped spinach (defrosted in the microwave), parmesan (the canned stuff, I admit it), garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, and - here’s the weird part - cream cheese. Next time I would soften the cream cheese and thoroughly mix it with the seasonings before adding it to the meat, but this time I got away with putting it in the mixture in random chunks (I tried to distribute evenly) and letting them melt into the soup.
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So basically, I brought the base (gravy/broth) to a boil, added in roasted red potatoes I had frozen (you could use fresh, but just cook longer), reboiled, lowered to simmering, and added the meatballs (making them as I went - plop, plop, plop).

Then I added some quartered (or maybe it was halved) canned 
artichoke hearts (that I had frozen, but I don’t think that matters).

After ten minutes or so, I thickened it by adding 
potato starch and sour cream (next time I will dissolve the potato starch into the sour cream - or a cupful of soup - to avoid glops).

Cooked for another five minutes and it was done. 

Yum!

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Potato Spinach Sausage Soup 

4/7/2015

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It rained for an hour this afternoon and that was all it took to put me in the mood for soup. I was on the countdown with the spinach from Costco (today is the "best use by" date) and my red potatoes have seen better days, so what better to marry them then a rich broth made from spicy sausage and cream (actually half and half)? 

Potato Spinach Sausage Soup

Ingredients
1 T butter (I actually used bacon fat from pastured pigs)
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
4 stalks celery, finely chopped (I used my mini-chopper)
1 1/2-2 lbs small red potatoes, quartered
4-6 cups spinach
1.5 pounds spicy sausage (or add spices to ground pork - I did a mixture of both, from pastured pigs)
4 cups water
1/2-1 cup half and half
sea salt
black pepper
garlic powder
onion powder

Directions:

1. Saute onion and celery in butter (or bacon fat) for five minutes in a stock pot. 
2. Stir in garlic and saute for one minute.
3. Pour in water and add about a teaspoon of sea salt (or to taste).
4. Turn up the heat to high, add potatoes, seasonings (to taste) and bring to a boil.
5. Turn to down to a simmer, form the sausage into meatballs (about 1" in diameter), and drop them into the broth, one by one (or all at once, if you read this and decided to make the meatballs in advance, and then let them cook for a few minutes).
6. Pour the spinach on top, spreading it out across the pot, then gently stirring it (it's okay if the meatballs break up a little, or even if they totally crumble). 
7. Simmer until meat is fully cooked and spinach is nicely wilted. 
8. Stir in the half and half and simmer until heated through.
9. Serve with freshly grated parmesan cheese, black pepper, and red pepper flakes at the table. 

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Diary of an Impromptu French Onion Soup with Beef

4/5/2013

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When I got out the red onions at at 1pm to make egg salad (my 3rd attempt), I noticed they were going moldy...so I consulted the slow cooker French onion soup recipe I had pinned to Pinterest, sliced the onions (4) and put them in the crockpot with 1/4 cup butter, 4 cups beef broth, and a splash of worcestershire sauce. Then we had to leave for piano lessons, so I (yet again) didn't have time to make the egg salad (I need the colored eggshells for a mosaic project - also from Pinterest - I'm leading in our co-op art class next week. I also need to use up the lox from Costco whose expiration date was last week).

When we got back home, I thought my husband must have made something really savory for lunch (he had come home right when we were leaving) until I remembered I was cooking soup.  About four o'clock it occurred to me to beef it up - literally - with that leftover uncooked slab of pot roast I had saved in the freezer. So I defrosted the meat in the microwave, put it in the soup, and turned it up to high. At 6:15, I pulled the meat out, cut it into smaller pieces, and put it back in. I tasted the broth and decided it needed more flavor, so I added a half cup of red wine and another cup of beef broth, as well as more worcestershire and a good shake of granulated garlic (it's my go-to ingredient). I turned it back down to low.

No gruyere in the house (never is) nor any oven safe soup bowls (been meaning to get some for over a decade), so I got the sliced sourdough out of the freezer, defrosted four large slices in the microwave, meanwhile grated sharp white cheddar and mozzarella (in the form of multiple string cheese sticks) into a gallon ziploc bag (yet another Pinterest find, but I think it may have originated with Cooks Illustrated - it all blurs together after the last million websites or so). I lined a cookie sheet with foil, put the bread (each slice cut in half) on it, and sprinkled the cheese evenly on all the pieces. I stuck it in the broiler and then grated a bunch more cheese which I put at the bottom of each soup bowl. When the cheese toast was done, I ladled the soup into the bowls, floated a toast in each bowl, and topped with the rest of the grated cheese. 

With freshly ground pepper, a glass of the aforementioned wine (the soup gave me an excuse to open the bottle), and the oohs and ahs of the whole family (at least in the beginning until my picky ten year-old began to complain of soggy bread), including raves from my husband who deemed it restaurant quality (he used to work in some posh ones), I sat down to a very enjoyable dinner I hadn't expected to make. And that is why I will never be someone who menu plans ;)
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Poor Man's Lox Schmear

5/31/2011

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Good quality canned salmon (I get it at Costco) is healthier and less expensive than smoked salmon, and it can even taste like it...if you use the secret ingredient.* I developed this recipe to get my lox fix when the real thing can't be had  - it's good on bagels, sourdough, or for dipping. If you want zing, add horseradish. If you want crunch, stir in chopped celery or pickles or olives. Hard boiled eggs could also work well. I generally put garlic and onion powder in everything, so if it seems to be lacking, try those.  

Poor Man's Lox Schmear

2 7-oz cans of salmon, drained and flaked
4 oz cream cheese
1/4 C mayonnaise
1 T lemon juice
1 T red onion, chopped finely
1 T capers
3 T fresh dill (or 1 T dried)
*1-2 t liquid smoke, to taste 
1 t worcestershire sauce
black pepper

Flake salmon with lemon juice.  Stir in other ingredients. Mix in cream cheese last.  Chill for at least two hours. 

Amounts are approximate - I don't measure when I create recipes.

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