Chinese pie VIDEO tutorial, the mashed potato topping too

This is a super quick, easy, cheap and delicious meal, it's a one pot on the stove and into the oven.  These are the videos, just go make it, trust me, you're going to love it.

Here is the blog post link to my Chinese pie:
http://www.tracycooksinaustin.com/2013/02/chinese-pie-isnt-this-cottage-pie.html


I was asked to do a video, so I did... it includes two videos, one for the pie and one for the pressure cooked mashed potatoes.

Hope they're clear enough, oh and be kind, I'm new at this.

the mashed potatoes recipe is:

6 potatoes peeled and cut into hunks
salt, pepper, water, milk, butter

Place the potatoes on a rack in the pressure cooker over about an inch of water, lock and load, high pressure for 8 minutes.

Remove the rack and drain the water out, put the potatoes back in the hot insert and mash, add butter and salt, pepper and milk as you like.  EAT.

Here's the video:

Cheap Roast plus Fancy cooking method equals killer delicious tender meat! Who knew?

Have you ever wondered what would happen if you took a cheapie old hunk of roast like an eye of the round (euww) and cooked it as though it was a $150.00 prime rib??
I did so I did and I was shocked.

Eye of the round, perfectly pink, perfectly tender...every.single.time.  I promise.

TRACY'S EYE OF THE ROUND PRETENDING TO BE PRIME RIB

INGREDIENTS:

1 3lb eye of the round roast, room temperature!!!
butter, salt, pepper.

METHOD:

Bring roast to room temperature (I leave it out overnight)
Preheat oven to 500 for at least 30 minutes.
Slather, thickly, the roast with butter then seriously season it with salt and pepper.

Roast the meat for EXACTLY 5 minutes per pound.  Use a calcuator and round up!

After the time, turn the oven OFF and do not open the door, DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR, under penalty of culinary failure for at least 2 1/2 hours.

Trust me.

After 2 1/2 hours, remove meat, slice THINLY and eat, eat, eat.

PLAY BY PLAY BEAUTY SHOTS

Here is my tester hunk of cheapie eye of the round, weighed in at 2.13 (x 5 = 10.65 which rounds up to 11 minutes of cooking)

Even I can handle 11 minutes of cook time :)

I slathered with butter and seasoned well.  The pan is dry and the oven screaming hot

After the 11 mins, set timer for 2 hours 30 minutes















After the time in the oven, door closed, this emerged!  I transferred to a board and stared at it, not entirely confident... then I sliced it.  paper thin.  I sliced it and found the most perfectly tender pink interior.  I piled it high on homemade bread with fresh aioli and snarfed it.  Joyfully.  I didn't get a picture, I was so shocked and delighted :)

 

 

Yeah, I'm not lying!  can you BELIEVE IT?  I'm going to test with other cheapie cuts but if it works with this, I have total faith. 

let me know how much you love this method!! 

ENJOY

/tracy

QUICK hacked Ramen Tom Kha soup lunch, crazy fast, crazy easy, crazy cheap and absolutely super delicious.

HI THERE! 

OK, welcome back.  Hello 2014! 

I had to start the year with a ridiculous, quick, kitchen alchemy moment I had this week.  I am not a fan of prepared food of any kind.  I don't like Ramen noodles (the fake ones that my husband buys by the case and adores!)  

I DO, however, like a quick, easy, hack of something I'm not a fan of.  THIS recipe fits the bill! 

Do not blink, this goes FAST.  It's not a recipe, it's an idea, use it to leap off!  I'd love to hear how you like it and what you did with your version. 

IN a saucepan, put 2-3 cups of water and one (large) garlic clove sliced thin.  Bring it to a boil

While it's coming to a boil, assemble the pantry ingredients, the Ramen and the coconut milk, sriracha and chili garlic sauce. 

  

Slice up a green onion and grab a handful of parsley or cilantro.  Chop and slice while you wait for the water to boil so you feel as though you're actually cooking something.  

 

Cook the noodles in the boiling garlic water for 3 minutes and drain them. 

Pour half the can of coconut milk into the saucepan and bring to a hard boil.  Add half the flavor packet, for the sodium and some additional background flavor. Add a squirt of sriracha and a little of the chili garlic sauce.  Stir it in and add the green onion.  Add the noodles back to the pan and stir it around so the noodles absorb some of the liquid and the flavor.  This whole process took 3 minutes.
  

  

Pour into a bowl (or two) add the parsley/cilantro, a few drops of sesame oil and a squirt of lime. 

EAT!  We ate the noodles with a fork (or chop sticks) and slurped the "soup" from the side of the bowl. 

It's absolutely ridiculously good.  It's 5 minutes and it's worth the .33 investment in those fake ramen noodles.  I am absolutely DELIGHTED with how it turned out and there's not much I'd change.  

We made another packet immediately to split.  Connor is thrilled he can make it himself and any of his buddies who come to hang out ... yet another recipe for my son in high school.

Go make it, it's a quickie, it's easy and it's yummy!  Add cooked chicken or add some fish while the coconut milk boils, there are a million variations, this is my base version.  I will be absolutely playing with this for a while and I'll let you know what I add! 

/enjoy

BY THE WAY, you can ABSOLUTELY make this in the NESCO pressure cooker!!  The only change is you break up the noodles and put them in the cooker, cover them with water to 1/2 inch and add the garlic, lock and load for 4 minutes, open and continue the rest of the instructions.  ELIMINATING the need to drain the noodles.

/enjoy again!!  

Grilled Chicken, Fajitas

I think people over think food.  I think they worry about too many seasonings, too much futzing and are too concerned with timing, and coordinating courses. 

I think cooking, and food, are about joy.  Simple is always best.  My friend has a recipe for chili that he proudly states includes in excess of 38 ingredients.  Really?  Why?  There is no way it all matters, no matter how complex and sophisticated you consider your pallet, there's no way that number of ingredients matters.

Friday night, beautiful weather in Austin, Texas.  Husband won't be home till close to 8, as per usual, and Connor and I will die of hunger before then.  Enter fajita night.

There are few things a BBQ grill won't enhance. I have a gas grill but am just as happy to use charcoal.

When I was at the store today I picked a family pack of chicken thighs (boneless and skinless) and a I had a couple of breasts I'd boned out a few days ago.

In a big bowl I tossed all the chicken with some salt, pepper, a little oil. If you want to be chef-y, add cumin and garlic but I just wanted the flavor of chicken and the flavor of grill :)  In another bowl I tossed a couple red peppers, a green pepper, 2 zucchini cut length wise and 3 onions, cut n/s (through the stem so they stay together.

Preheat grill to 10,000 degrees.  Hot hot hot!

Char the vegetables and toss them back in the metal bowl with a cloth over them.  When you're hungry later, peel them, slice them and throw them on a tortilla with, oh look at that chicken!  Grill it high and hot hot hot.  Flip it a few times, let the edges get good and crunchy, crispy.  Toss the whole pieces of chicken and onions in another oven dish and cover it with foil.

Cook some tortillas, slice the meat and add some vegetables.  You will be very, VERY, happy and it didn't take any time at all, didn't matter when anyone could sit down, this is one of those 'it waits for you' meals.  Most excellent.

Beauty shots!

 

     
It's all happily sitting and waiting, I have some fresh tomato and some beautiful avocados what I'll slice up and add when I make the tortillas.  Ah, grilled dinner in the palm of my hands.  You'd hardly know it's only for 3!

The veggies all slices up... I love the charred ends of the onions.  Connor is a purist, meat, cheese, sour cream. I'm a little bit of everything sort of girl.  The grilled zucchini rocked!
   

more, just because
 

Go grill something.

/enjoy