Innie or Outie

This is a tasty twist on a local main dish favorite, Pepper Steak Wrap:

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Simply sauté thinly sliced beef in olive oil; add julienned red onion and bell pepper, minced garlic paste, white pepper, and soy sauce; place in the center of heated tortillas and roll.

This is a switch on the typical pepper-steak that hubby created, Papa’s Sake-Miso Beef:

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The meal consisted of beef sautéed in oilve oil with minced garlic paste, minced ginger paste, white pepper, sake, 1/2 sodium red miso, cabbage, arugula, and basil added. He spooned the remaining sauce and leftover precooked rice and garnished with cracked black sesame seeds.

The island’s weather is getting a little nippy at times. When I began seeing various versions of this type of soup on TV and over the net, I thought I’d give it a try. So here’s my version, Eggless-Meatball Soup Dinner:

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This meal consisted of 1 carrot, 1 medium bell pepper, 1 medium potato, 1/4 red onion, 3.5 cups water, one 15 ounce can chili beans with sauce, 2 tablespoons tomato paste, 1 tablespoon chicken broth granules, 1 teaspoon 1/2 sodium red miso paste, 1/2 teaspoon red chili pepper flakes, 1.5 pounds hamburger meat, 1/2 cup dried bread crumbs, 1/4 cup milk, 2 tablespoons fresh basil, 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, 1 teaspoon minced garlic paste, and whole wheat dinner rolls. View a video with further details here.

This is a simple and flavorful dish hubby created, Papa’s Chunky Asian-Flavor “Hamburger Helper”:

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For this dish, hubby used olive oil, hamburger, minced garlic paste, chunky carrot, onion, and bell pepper, fresh mushrooms, toubanjyan sauce, oyster sauce, corn starch, rice, and cracked black sesame seeds.

Hubby created this twist on a popular Asian dish, Papa’s Mediterranean Veggie Steak Dinner:

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The meal consisted of a chopped onion and cubed beef sautéed in sesame oil, Mediterranean veggie mix, chopped brocolli, sliced carrot, white pepper, minced garlic paste, soy sauce and chopped fresh basil medley on rice with a small side salad of fresh homegrown arugula and salad greens, red onion slices, and pine nuts topped with a creamy cheese dressing.

Here’s a quick and tasty way to beat the munchies and make use of leftovers, Chili Steak Wrap:

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Simply place some cheddar cheese, fresh salad greens and arugula, and Chili Steak on a tortilla; heat in microwave, roll, and garnish with two small fresh arugula leaves.

Here’s a TexMex inspired dish that hubby created, Papa’s Chili Steak on Rice:

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For the dish, hubby sautéed cubed beef in olive oil; added chili pepper flakes, powdered cumin, minced garlic paste, Worcestershire sauce, and canned chili beans with sauce. He plated the beef mixture on a rice bed; topped with homegrown salad greens, sliced cheddar cheese, onion slices, and quartered cherry tomatoes; then sprinkled with dried cilantro flakes.

One of my favorite aspects of home cooking is taking whatever can be found in the pantry and creating a dinner with the items. This is one such meal, Grilled Mini-Meatball Kabob Dinner:

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What I found readily available in the pantry to use for this meal was:

2 medium potatoes
1 slice bacon (diced)
1 slice large onion (thinly diced)
1 small carrot (sliced)
1 teaspoon-size chunk baby cheese (diced)
1/2 cup heavy cream
7 medium frozen shrimp without shells (coarsely chopped)
1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
1 teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon powdered nutmeg
1 teaspoon powdered paprika
1 package 10 frozen cocktail mini-meatballs in sauce (defrosted)
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 small bell pepper (chunk-style diced)
1/8 large onion (chunk-style diced)
5 small cherry tomatoes
5 bamboo skewers (soaked in water to prevent charring – something I forgot to do, ugh…)

When I first envisioned this meal, I wanted a version of twice-baked stuffed potatoes. Unfortunately, the pantry potatoes were the wrong type. Instead, I created Baked Creamy Shrimp-Potatoes:

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Microwave potatoes until tender (about 8 minutes); remove skin; coarsely mash with baby cheese, cream, shrimp, parsley, white pepper, and nutmeg; put mixture into a baking dish and sprinkle with paprika; place in preheated oven at 200 Centigrade for 15 – 20 minutes (until lightly browned).

To accompany the potatoes, a side dish with a twist, Baked Glazed Carrots:

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While potatoes are in the microwave, sauté bacon and thinly-diced onion until browned; place bacon mixture with fat on top of carrot slices and, after the potatoes are finished microwaving, microwave for 3 minutes; place microwaved carrot mixture in an aluminum foil packet and top with cocktail sauce gently scraped from defrosted mini-meatballs; seal and bake in oven at the same time as the potatoes.

For the entré, something a little different, Grilled Mini-Meatball Kabobs:

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As the potatoes and carrots bake in the oven, sauté bell pepper and chunky-diced onions in sesame oil until onions are slightly translucent; alternate sautéed bell pepper and onion, cherry tomatoes, and meatballs on skewers (use a salad fork’s prongs to slide the bell pepper and onion into place if too hot to handle); grill until lightly charred (about 5 minutes each side on low heat in a gas pair-broiler).

The kabobs, potatoes, and carrots should be done at about the same time. Simply plate and serve.

(NOTE: Although this meal sounds difficult, it really was quite uncomplicated because of the timing and rhythm of the preparation and cooking of the individual dishes.)

Still another simple way to use the 25 pieces of 70 grams package of noodles and leftovers, Meat Sauce Somen:

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This was almost effortless, place desired amount of leftover meatloaf, diced onion, tomato juice, tomato paste, dried parsley flakes, dried oregano flakes, and soy sauce in a container and let defrost and marinate over night. About twenty minutes prior to serving, start somen water; place meatloaf mixture in a pot; add diced green bell pepper and sliced mushrooms; bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until somen is ready, stirring occasionally and breaking meatloaf into chunks. Cook and strain somen, add to meatsauce and toss thoroughly. Plate, top with fresh basil leaves, and sprinkle with parmesan. Serve.

To go with the somen dish, I tried something a little different, Toasted Basil-Baby Cheese Garlic Brown Bread:

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While the meat sauce somen was cooking, the slices of walnut-raisin brown bread (soemthing hubby had picked-up at a local bakery) was placed in a toaster until slightly crunchy; topped first with a thin layer of minced garlic paste, second with small chunks of baby cheese, and third with a fresh basil leaf; finally the toasted bread was microwaved for 2.5 minutes. The result of this unusual cooking method combination was a bread with a creamy, nutty, and light fruit flavor and a texture reminiscent of melba toast.

Sometimes a simple standard meal is just what the taste buds demand, Mama’s Basic Beef & Potato Dinner:

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A true standard, meatloaf made with hamburger, panko (bread crumbs), dried parsley flakes, dried oregano flakes, white pepper, Worcestshire sauce, white pepper, sage, diced onion, and egg topped with a minced garlic paste, ketchup, Worcestshire sauce, and fresh basil sauce; baked potato with melted sour cream, baby cheese, and nutmeg sauce topped with chopped chives, and chunky mixed veggies with almond slivers and white pepper sautéed in sesame oil.