Donna Walsifer
easy peasy
I was watching a spinoff from America’s Test Kitchen called “Julia at Home,” featuring ATK co-host, Julia Collin Davison. Her show focuses on seasonal recipes that she prepares for her family. I recently caught an episode where she made an cheesy egg roulade, a sheet pan baked egg dish. I was so intrigued by this recipe that I had to try it.
For the recipe you’ll need one dozen eggs, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon pepper and one clove of garlic (Julia used a rasp grater for this task) finely grated. To ensure that the eggs will roll neatly after baking, in a separate bowl half-and-half and all-purpose flour are whisked together. While Julia filled her roulade with chopped spinach, I had some broccoli on hand that I roasted and used for my filling. For the cheese component she used Gruyère, I had smoked mozzarella on hand that I used for my filling. Before pouring the mixture into the sheet pan, the pan is sprayed with cooking spray then lined with parchment paper. Another shot of cooking spray goes on the parchment that will help with rolling the cooked eggs into a log. The eggs are poured into the pan followed by whatever green you choose. The pan is placed in the oven for nine minutes. Once removed, the shredded cheese is spread over the eggs. Using the parchment paper, roll the eggs into a tight log, as best as possible. Place the roll on a long platter, seam side down.
For the recipe you’ll need one dozen eggs, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon pepper and one clove of garlic (Julia used a rasp grater for this task) finely grated. To ensure that the eggs will roll neatly after baking, in a separate bowl half-and-half and all-purpose flour are whisked together. While Julia filled her roulade with chopped spinach, I had some broccoli on hand that I roasted and used for my filling. For the cheese component she used Gruyère, I had smoked mozzarella on hand that I used for my filling. Before pouring the mixture into the sheet pan, the pan is sprayed with cooking spray then lined with parchment paper. Another shot of cooking spray goes on the parchment that will help with rolling the cooked eggs into a log. The eggs are poured into the pan followed by whatever green you choose. The pan is placed in the oven for nine minutes. Once removed, the shredded cheese is spread over the eggs. Using the parchment paper, roll the eggs into a tight log, as best as possible. Place the roll on a long platter, seam side down.
What a delicious and great idea for brunch. The roasted broccoli with its charred edges had a wonderful flavor. The smoked mozzarella was a nice contrast to the eggs and complemented the broccoli.
On a previous trip to Perrotti’s Quality Meats in Cranford, NJ, I picked up a skirt steak. I’ve prepared this cut before, but was looking for yet a new recipe for this beefy tasting cut. My search led me to a recipe by Jacques Pépin from his show “More Fast Food My Way.” Skirt Steak Grandma is a recipe from his late wife’s grandmother, who was from Puerto Rico. Besides the skirt steak you’ll need fresh lime juice, salt, freshly ground black pepper, good olive oil, a 2-ounce can of anchovies, chopped garlic, minced scallion and water.
The steaks are rubbed with lime juice then seasoned with salt and pepper. In a heavy skillet over high heat, oil from the can of anchovies along with additional olive oil are added to the pan. The steaks cook for about a minute and half per side for medium rare (adjust for your preference). The steaks are removed; water is added and boiled for 30 seconds. The mixture is poured over the steaks along with additional lime juice.
The steak was tender and juicy. Instead of a tin of anchovies, I used anchovy paste from a tube. While I found the sauce a bit salty, the extra pour of lime juice helped to cut through the taste. Swapping anchovy filets for paste may not work all the time.
My husband loves a good meatloaf. I have a variety of recipes for such, but recently found one on The New York Times/NYT Cooking website for Meatloaf Stroganoff by Sam Sifton. For the recipe you’ll need unsalted butter, an onion, either white or cremini mushrooms, kosher salt, black pepper, panko bread crumbs, ground beef, an egg, tomato paste, smoked paprika, chicken stock, Worcestershire sauce, sour cream, heavy cream and parsley.
Based on other cooks’ comments, I adjusted the recipe a bit. One piece of advice was to make a duxelles with the onion and mushrooms. Using my food processor, I chopped the two together, but made sure that the mixture wasn’t too finely chopped. In large skillet, butter is added and the heat turned to medium-high. The mushroom and onion mixture was seasoned with salt and pepper and cooked for 15 minutes. Half of the mixture is added to a large bowl along with the panko and mixed. The ground beef is added and mixed again followed by the egg. At each step I seasoned the mixture with salt and pepper, something that Mr. Sifton didn’t mention.
Another hot topic of this recipe was the shape of the meatloaf. Mr. Sifton has you transfer the mixture to a sheet pan and form into an 11x8-inch rectangle. Some cooks thought the meat should be rolled, others like to place in a loaf pan. I followed his directions and formed the meatloaf the size of a sheet of paper. The directions call for baking for an hour. I set two timers, one for 35 minutes the other for 45. At the first mark, the meat loaf was firm, as specified by Mr. Sifton, and the internal temperature was 165 degrees. I reduced the oven temperature just to keep the meat loaf warm while I prepared the gravy.
With the remaining half of the mushroom/onion mixture, I reheated the mixture and added tomato paste and smoked paprika. Some cooks thought the sauce was too runny, therefore, I used a cup of broth instead of two. While the recipe called for chicken stock, I decide to go with beef for a richer taste compared to using chicken stock. I noticed one of the cooks used crème fraiche instead of sour cream. It just happened I had some on hand left from another recipe and did the same. I also had a handful of mushrooms left, so I added that to the sauce for additional texture. I tasted the sauce and it was missing something. I added more salt and freshly ground pepper, but it still wasn’t quite there. I did a quick internet search of beef stroganoff recipes and found thyme might be the missing ingredient…indeed it was; it was the zhuzh it needed. What a surprisingly delicious meatloaf. I placed a piece of meatloaf on a bed of egg noodles and poured the sauce on top. The addition of thyme gave the sauce an earthy, peppery flavor that was spot on, making it flavorful and tasty. While I initially reduced the stock for the sauce to one cup, I decided it needed a bit more and add an additional half cup. Overall, a delicious meatloaf for a cold, wintery night.
On a previous trip to Perrotti’s Quality Meats in Cranford, NJ, I picked up a skirt steak. I’ve prepared this cut before, but was looking for yet a new recipe for this beefy tasting cut. My search led me to a recipe by Jacques Pépin from his show “More Fast Food My Way.” Skirt Steak Grandma is a recipe from his late wife’s grandmother, who was from Puerto Rico. Besides the skirt steak you’ll need fresh lime juice, salt, freshly ground black pepper, good olive oil, a 2-ounce can of anchovies, chopped garlic, minced scallion and water.
The steaks are rubbed with lime juice then seasoned with salt and pepper. In a heavy skillet over high heat, oil from the can of anchovies along with additional olive oil are added to the pan. The steaks cook for about a minute and half per side for medium rare (adjust for your preference). The steaks are removed; water is added and boiled for 30 seconds. The mixture is poured over the steaks along with additional lime juice.
The steak was tender and juicy. Instead of a tin of anchovies, I used anchovy paste from a tube. While I found the sauce a bit salty, the extra pour of lime juice helped to cut through the taste. Swapping anchovy filets for paste may not work all the time.
My husband loves a good meatloaf. I have a variety of recipes for such, but recently found one on The New York Times/NYT Cooking website for Meatloaf Stroganoff by Sam Sifton. For the recipe you’ll need unsalted butter, an onion, either white or cremini mushrooms, kosher salt, black pepper, panko bread crumbs, ground beef, an egg, tomato paste, smoked paprika, chicken stock, Worcestershire sauce, sour cream, heavy cream and parsley.
Based on other cooks’ comments, I adjusted the recipe a bit. One piece of advice was to make a duxelles with the onion and mushrooms. Using my food processor, I chopped the two together, but made sure that the mixture wasn’t too finely chopped. In large skillet, butter is added and the heat turned to medium-high. The mushroom and onion mixture was seasoned with salt and pepper and cooked for 15 minutes. Half of the mixture is added to a large bowl along with the panko and mixed. The ground beef is added and mixed again followed by the egg. At each step I seasoned the mixture with salt and pepper, something that Mr. Sifton didn’t mention.
Another hot topic of this recipe was the shape of the meatloaf. Mr. Sifton has you transfer the mixture to a sheet pan and form into an 11x8-inch rectangle. Some cooks thought the meat should be rolled, others like to place in a loaf pan. I followed his directions and formed the meatloaf the size of a sheet of paper. The directions call for baking for an hour. I set two timers, one for 35 minutes the other for 45. At the first mark, the meat loaf was firm, as specified by Mr. Sifton, and the internal temperature was 165 degrees. I reduced the oven temperature just to keep the meat loaf warm while I prepared the gravy.
With the remaining half of the mushroom/onion mixture, I reheated the mixture and added tomato paste and smoked paprika. Some cooks thought the sauce was too runny, therefore, I used a cup of broth instead of two. While the recipe called for chicken stock, I decide to go with beef for a richer taste compared to using chicken stock. I noticed one of the cooks used crème fraiche instead of sour cream. It just happened I had some on hand left from another recipe and did the same. I also had a handful of mushrooms left, so I added that to the sauce for additional texture. I tasted the sauce and it was missing something. I added more salt and freshly ground pepper, but it still wasn’t quite there. I did a quick internet search of beef stroganoff recipes and found thyme might be the missing ingredient…indeed it was; it was the zhuzh it needed. What a surprisingly delicious meatloaf. I placed a piece of meatloaf on a bed of egg noodles and poured the sauce on top. The addition of thyme gave the sauce an earthy, peppery flavor that was spot on, making it flavorful and tasty. While I initially reduced the stock for the sauce to one cup, I decided it needed a bit more and add an additional half cup. Overall, a delicious meatloaf for a cold, wintery night.
Cheesy Egg Roulade
By Julia Collin Davison
“Julia at Home”, Season 5, episode 2
Ingredients
1 dozen large eggs
¼ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 glove of garlic finely minced or use rasp
¼ cup half-and-half
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1–8-ounce package chopped frozen spinach, defrosted and squeezed dry
1 cup shredded Gruyère cheese
Equipment
One rimmed sheet pan
Parchment paper to line sheet pan
Cooking spray
Preparation
By Julia Collin Davison
“Julia at Home”, Season 5, episode 2
Ingredients
1 dozen large eggs
¼ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 glove of garlic finely minced or use rasp
¼ cup half-and-half
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1–8-ounce package chopped frozen spinach, defrosted and squeezed dry
1 cup shredded Gruyère cheese
Equipment
One rimmed sheet pan
Parchment paper to line sheet pan
Cooking spray
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 375°.
- Spray rimmed sheet pan with cooking spray. Line with parchment and spray again; set aside.
- Whisk together eggs, salt and pepper, and garlic.
- In a small bowl whisk half-and-half with flour; making sure there are no lumps.
- Whisk into egg mixture and whisk again.
- Pour eggs into sheet pan; top with chopped spinach.
- Bake for 9 minutes, or until egg are set around the edges.
- Remove from oven, sprinkle shredded cheese on top of hot eggs. The heat of the eggs will melt the cheese, no need to bake.
- Place your platter close to sheet pan and start to roll eggs using the parchment to help you.
- When you reach the edge of the sheet pan, roll onto the platter; turn seam side down.
Skirt Steak Grandma
“More Fast Food Way,” Jacques Pépin
Episode 201
Servings: 4
“Gloria's mother, originally from Puerto Rico, always rubbed lime juice on her steaks before cooking them and sprinkled lime juice liberally on the steaks after they were cooked. Her sauce included anchovies and garlic. This is a delicious interpretation of her recipe.
Ingredients
4 skirt steaks (about 6 ounces each and about 3/4 inch thick)
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice, plus more to sprinkle over the cooked steaks
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon good olive oil
1 can (2 ounces) anchovies in oil
2 teaspoons chopped garlic
2 tablespoons minced scallion
1/4 cup water
Directions
Rub the steaks with the 1 tablespoon lime juice and sprinkle them with the salt and pepper 10 minutes before cooking.
Heat the olive oil and the oil from the anchovies in a large heavy skillet over high heat. When hot, add the steaks and cook them for about 1 1/2 minutes on each side for medium rare, or for more or less time based on your own preferences.
Crush the anchovy fillets with the chopped garlic. When the steaks are ready, transfer them to a hot plate and set them aside to rest for a few minutes.
Meanwhile, add the anchovy-garlic paste and the scallions to the drippings in the pan and cook for about 30 seconds. Add the water and boil for 30 seconds. Pour over the steaks, sprinkle them with more lime juice, and serve.
“More Fast Food Way,” Jacques Pépin
Episode 201
Servings: 4
“Gloria's mother, originally from Puerto Rico, always rubbed lime juice on her steaks before cooking them and sprinkled lime juice liberally on the steaks after they were cooked. Her sauce included anchovies and garlic. This is a delicious interpretation of her recipe.
Ingredients
4 skirt steaks (about 6 ounces each and about 3/4 inch thick)
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice, plus more to sprinkle over the cooked steaks
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon good olive oil
1 can (2 ounces) anchovies in oil
2 teaspoons chopped garlic
2 tablespoons minced scallion
1/4 cup water
Directions
Rub the steaks with the 1 tablespoon lime juice and sprinkle them with the salt and pepper 10 minutes before cooking.
Heat the olive oil and the oil from the anchovies in a large heavy skillet over high heat. When hot, add the steaks and cook them for about 1 1/2 minutes on each side for medium rare, or for more or less time based on your own preferences.
Crush the anchovy fillets with the chopped garlic. When the steaks are ready, transfer them to a hot plate and set them aside to rest for a few minutes.
Meanwhile, add the anchovy-garlic paste and the scallions to the drippings in the pan and cook for about 30 seconds. Add the water and boil for 30 seconds. Pour over the steaks, sprinkle them with more lime juice, and serve.
Meatloaf Stroganoff
“When a Meatloaf Is a Work of Art,”
By Sam Sifton
The New York Times/NYT Cooking
February 13, 2019
Total Time: 1-1/2 hours
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large yellow onion, peeled and diced
1-pound cultivated mushrooms, like button or cremini, cleaned, trimmed and thinly sliced
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1½ pounds ground beef
1large egg, beaten
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon tomato paste
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
2 cups chicken stock, homemade or store-bought
2teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1½ cups sour cream
½ cup heavy cream
4 ounces chicken-liver pâté or canned cooked foie gras, optional
3 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
Preparation
“When a Meatloaf Is a Work of Art,”
By Sam Sifton
The New York Times/NYT Cooking
February 13, 2019
Total Time: 1-1/2 hours
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large yellow onion, peeled and diced
1-pound cultivated mushrooms, like button or cremini, cleaned, trimmed and thinly sliced
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1½ pounds ground beef
1large egg, beaten
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon tomato paste
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
2 cups chicken stock, homemade or store-bought
2teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1½ cups sour cream
½ cup heavy cream
4 ounces chicken-liver pâté or canned cooked foie gras, optional
3 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
Preparation
- Heat oven to 350. Melt the butter in a large skillet or Dutch oven set over medium-high heat, and when it foams, add the onion and mushrooms. Stir to coat the vegetables with fat, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are translucent and the mushrooms have started to brown, about 15 minutes. Transfer half the mushroom mixture to a large bowl, and set the skillet aside.
- Make the meatloaf: Mix the panko into the mushroom mixture in the bowl, then add the meat, and mix again, making sure not to over handle the meat. Add the egg, and mix again. Donna’s Note: season again with salt and pepper
- Transfer to a sheet pan, and shape the mixture into a 11-by-8-inch rectangle (it should be about the size of a sheet of paper). Bake until firm and nicely browned, approximately 1 hour.
- Meanwhile, make the gravy: Return the skillet with the remaining mushroom mixture to the stove, and heat over a medium flame. When the mixture is hot and glistening, stir in the tomato paste and paprika. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomato paste just begins to caramelize, about 2 minutes. Stir in the stock and Worcestershire, and cook until it begins to simmer.
- Put the sour cream into a medium bowl, and add to it ¼ cup of the hot liquid from the mushroom mixture in the skillet. Stir until combined and warmed. Stir the tempered sour cream and the heavy cream into the mushroom mixture, then heat until warmed, about 5 minutes. Taste, and add salt if needed. Donna’s Note: I added thyme to the finished sauce as per other cooks’ comments, the sauce was a bit bland. Start with a ¼ teaspoon, adjust to your preference.
- When the meatloaf is done, remove it from the oven, and allow to rest for 10 minutes, then place on a serving platter. Add spoonfuls of the pâté or foie gras, if using, to the gravy, then pour the mixture over the meatloaf and shower it with parsley. Serve immediately, perhaps with buttered egg noodles.