Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Marinated Steak Fajitas


These fajitas are great because you throw the steak and marinade in the frig the day before and then cook it and make fajitas the next day. Such a simple dinner that has lots of flavor!


Marinade:

2 lb top round steak (london broil)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup worchestershire sauce
1/4 soy sauce
2 tbsp molasses
1 tsp sea salt
2 tsp fresh cracked pepper
3 tsp garlic powder
3 tsp sweet paprika
2 tsp liquid smoke


Fajitas:

flour tortillas
1 cup Cheddar cheese
1 Cubanella pepper
1 Sweet red pepper
1 Orange Pepper
1 Habanero Pepper
1 small shallot
Corn oil for frying




1. Mix all marinade ingredients minus steak in a large ziploc bag.

2. Pound steak with meat mallet and make shallow diamond cuts on the meat surface.

3. Add steak into marinade bag and refrigerate in a shallow pan for 6-24 hours.

4. Broil on middle rack of oven on medium low for 7-9 minutes per side.

5. Let rest after cooking and then slice.

6. While broiling the steak, slice peppers and shallot. Fry in a pan with a tbsp or two of corn oil.

7. Time for the easy part: to build our fajitas! Take your tortilla and add in sliced steak, grilled peppers, and cheese. Wrap and enjoy!


Monday, August 30, 2010

Baby Shower Onesie Cookies



In case you haven't noticed I've been having an addiction to sugar cookies and royal icing. Well, one of my best friends and college roommate is having her first baby girl in a few months! I made these Onesie sugar cookie favors for her baby shower. They were fun to make and came out so cute! Best Wishes to Mommy and Baby!




I used this recipe for the sugar cookies and royal icing, only I added a bit more vanilla and one cup of granulated sugar.





Monday, August 23, 2010

Fresh Crabs with a Quick Marinara Sauce


My family and I headed down the shore to relax for a quick vacation. We had a great time doing the usual Jersey shore activities of skee ball, waffles and ice cream on Jenkinson's boardwalk, swimming at Sandy Hook, and one of our family favorites, crabbing. Being from this area, I assumed everyone had been crabbing. Now, we are far from experts. Actually, the locals on the pier laughed at us from time to time, but it is something we love to do on summer nights during vacation. My husband, who grew up much closer to the beach than myself, had never been crabbing! Well, he is a now seasoned crabber!

We knew we had to cook those feisty buggers soon so I whipped up a quick marinara sauce! This crab was not quite ready to be caught, because he held on to the rope very tightly. When you are away, you need simple and easy recipes with fresh ingredients. Well, this is it. The fresh Jersey blue crabs with sauce and pasta were lovely!


Marinara Sauce

6-8 blue crabs
4 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup olive oil
1 can crushed tomatoes
1/2 tsp cracked pepper
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp oregano
3/4 tsp parsley (choppped)
1 1/4 tsp pepperoncino
3/4 cup red wine


1. Heat olive oil and fry garlic for one minute. Shake the pan to be sure it doesn't burn.

2. Add tomatoes, pepper, salt, oregano, and parsley slowly, stirring after each addition.
3. Continue to cook over medium heat for 15-20 minutes.

4. While your sauce cooks, time for crabs! Bring salted water to a boil. One at a time gently place crabs in the pot with tongs. Reduce heat and simmer for 25 minutes.


4. Add red wine and pepperoncino. Continue to cook for 3-4 more minutes.

5. Toss in cooked crabs and let simmer until ready to combine with cooked pasta.


Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Hearts of Love Sugar Cookies




As I shared in a previous post, I made sugar cookie favors for one of my closest friend's wedding rehearsal to her high school sweetheart. After 10 years together, they tied the knot this past weekend!



These are the cookies I made for the rehearsal dinner. I used this sugar cookie recipe and royal icing recipe as taken from Annie's Eats. These little tasty tuxedos and wedding dresses were so fun to make that I even attempted a few of the bridesmaids and groomsmen attire!
Best Wishes to the Bride and Groom!