Crews' Kitchen: Meat 'n' Potatoes...'n' Asparagus

When I said I'd post more recipes, I meant it! Thanks to Pinterest for being the source of all things new and creative and fun and TASTY...I was able to dig up some good looking recipes to try. I picked THREE that seemed to go well together, and crossed my fingers that all went well...and guess what? IT DID. Joe loved it, I loved it, and it is being chalked up as a success in my short little book of recipes I've dared try.

I found recipes for no-grill sirloin steak {pinned here}, "crash hot potatoes" by the Pioneer Woman {pinned here}, and a self-proclaimed "best recipe ever for asparagus" {pinned here}. While I cannot take credit for the original recipes, I can give you my tweaked-to-fit-my-schedule-and-abilities versions! Without further ado, I give you "my" recipes:

**Please excuse my lack of/quality of/need for more photos. I was late coming home from work, rushing, and am currently using only the camera on my iPhone. Bear with me, people.**

 

NO-GRILL STEAK:

{I thought the texture of this was very similiar to Outback steaks! Next time I will try a higher-quality cut and I bet it will be almost identical to their recipe!}

 

you will need:

- steak of your choice {I choose a mid-grade sirloin; not the nastiest of cuts, but not the cream of the crop either.}

- butter

- olive oil

- salt {I used garlic salt!} and pepper

 

instructions:

1. Preheat the toaster oven to 350 degrees.

2. Put a few "dollops" of butter in a frying pan, and drizzle some olive oil in there as well. Sprinkle some pepper and some {garlic} salt in the mix. Turn the stove burner somewhere between "almost really hot" and "HOT." Allow the butter/oil mixture to begin simmering and bubbling.

3. Place your steak{s} in the pan. Allow them to sizzle and get a brown bottom.  

4. Remove from heat. Place the BROWN SIDE UP on a toaster oven tray, and place a "dollop" of butter on the top. Sprinkle again with {garlic} salt and pepper.

5. Put the steak tray in the toaster oven for approximately 6 minutes. *You may want to shorten or lengthen this time, depending on how you like your steak. 6 minutes gave me a light pink middle, with some very scarce deep pink/red. Shorten the time for more red; keep it in longer for less pink.*

6. Remove from heat and VOILA! Awesome steak.

 

 

SMASHED TATERS:

 

you will need:

- small red skin potatoes {I bought a small, sealed bag of about 20 potatoes, about 2 inches long each.}

- water

- olive oil

- potato masher {The original recipe says if you don't own one, you can use the bottom of a cup! I used a masher.}

- salt and pepper

- toppings for potatoes {I used a package of baked potato toppings and some parmesan cheese sprinkles; the original recipe calls for herbs such as rosemary. I HATE HERBS. But more power to ya if you want to use 'em.}

 

instructions:

1. Salt a pot of water and bring it to a boil. A watched-pot never boils, so occupy yourself by drizzling a baking sheet with olive oil. Go ahead and turn on your oven, and preheat to 375 degrees.

2. Toss in your potatoes and allow them to boil until they are very soft.

3. Lay them out on your baking sheet in rows, much like you would do while baking cookies, leaving some room between each potato.

4. With 1-2 "smooshes" of the masher, smash those little taters to make what resembles little cakes.

5. Using your fingers {carefully, because they are hot!}, generously dab olive oil onto the tops of the smashed taters. {The more oil, the less dry/crunchy your taters will be when you eat them!}

6.  Salt/pepper the potatoes, and sprinkle the toppings of your choice.

7. Place in the oven for about 15 minutes.

8. Remove and enjoy!

 

 

BEST ASPARAGUS IN THE WORLD:

 

you will need:

- fresh asparagus

- olive oil

- parmesan cheese sprinkles

- salt and pepper

 

instructions:

1. Cover a small baking sheet in aluminum foil. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. {I made this right after I put the potatoes in the oven, and set them in the oven after the potatoes had been in for 5 minutes, so that they'd be ready about the same time.}

2. Lay out the asparagus in a row on the baking sheet.

3. Drizzle olive oil, cheese, and salt and pepper all over; move the asparagus around to evenly coat the veggies.

4. Place in the oven for approximately 10-15 minutes.

5. Remove and enjoy!

Is your mouth watering yet? It was SO GOOD. I had some A-1 on hand because that's just my go-to steak sidekick, but it didn't really need it! The potatoes were a little dryer than I would have liked, but I will put a little more olive oil on them next time.

Try it out and let me know what you think!

xo

NOTE: Blogger's image upload system is not currently working; but you CAN see a photo of the finished project here.

I've Been Pinned!

Y'all, I found out something really cool last night. Like, super cool. It got me a little giddy, probably more giddy than I'm okay admitting publicly.

Someone pinned my chicken chili recipe {found here} to Pinterest! And of course being pinned means it was repinned...and that's exciting. Poor Joe, he was on his way to being asleep when I squealed with excitement, "Baby! Someone pinned my chili recipe, and some other someones have repinned it!" Thank God for having a husband who understands me and my simple sources of happiness...oh, it's the little things in life. ;)

It got me thinking: I am going to make a point to post more recipes. Be on the lookout for some Crews' Kitchen posts coming soon!

I'm trying out some Pinterest recipes tomorrow night...no-grill sirloin, "smashed potatoes" {not be confused with mashed potatoes!}, and "the best asparagus you will ever eat." Yum!

Have a wonderful Monday evening, y'all.

Xoxo.

*Sidenote: THANK YOU, thank you, thank you...to those of you who have pinned my blog. You guys are the BEST and I am super grateful for the opportunity to be heard!*

chicken, black bean, and corn chili!

i promised yesterday on my facebook that i'd post my new recipe on my blog..so finally, without holding out on you any longer..here it is. :)

i found a similar recipe online, and just sort of played with it. added things, took away things, ya know. so here goes!

anna nicole's chicken, black bean and corn chili: {perfect for chilly fall weather!}

you will need
- 1 whole rotisserie chicken
- 2 cans of yellow corn, drained
- 2 cans of black beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 cans of tomato sauce
- 1 can of Rotel tomatoes {i used the "hot" kind..you can also try "mild"..it you are not into spicy stuff at all, you can always try just crushed tomatoes.}
- 1 onion
- 1 green pepper
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 packet of chili seasoning {i used mccormick's 30% less sodium chili seasoning}
- 1-2 celery stalks {i left it out of mine only because it got too cold in my fridge and ruined my celery..sad day.}
- black pepper {as much or as little as you like}
- salt {to taste}

how-to:

1. i like to call step one the fun part.."pickin' the chicken." i was lucky enough to have a good friend over while i did this step, so it made it not so bad. i just sat there, laughing and chatting away, while greasing myself all up by picking every piece of meat apart and throwing it in a bowl.

2. slice the onion and green pepper into edible-sized pieces.

3. mince the garlic. i'd never done this before; i'm just trying my hand at a broader range of homemade dishes..so i had to youtube how to peel/cut/mince garlic. here's what i used..a little silly, but useful the same.

4. combine the tomato sauce, the veggies, the chicken, everything..all in a crockpot. mix well! when i emptied my tomato sauce cans, some stayed in the cans; i filled each can up maybe 1/3 of the way full, swished it around, and poured that in as well. when you dump in the rotel, don't worry about draining it; the juice has a heat to it that is amazing in the mix!

5. allow the goods to simmer on low heat for about 4 hours or so and then..enjoy!

*you can always top it with other yummies! cheese and sour cream are both great toppings for this chili*

enjoy! leave me a comment and let me know what you think :)

what am i eating?

thought i'd share an easy and yummy recipe with you tonight, so here goes:

{italian chicken and potatoes -- richards' family version}

you will need:
1 lb of chicken breast
bag of potatoes
italian salad dressing {i love zesty italian by kraft, or any store brand similar to it}

you can add to your liking:
1 onion
1 red pepper
sprinkled parmesean cheese (**added in the last 10-15 minutes of cooking)
fresh green beans

directions:
- preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
- line a glass baking dish with aluminum foil. it makes for easier clean-up!
- pour some dressing into the bottom just to coat it so the chicken doesn't dry out on the bottom.
- place your chicken breasts into the dish.
- cut your potatoes {as many as can fill the rest of the dish} into cubes {1" cubes or a little smaller work best!} and place around and on top of the chicken.
- if you are adding peppers/onions, do that now as well.
- pour enough dressing over the meal to coat the tops of everything.
- place in the oven and cook for 1 hour. if you are adding parmesean cheese sprinkles, do that when there's about 10 minutes left on the timer.

{mom never did the next step, but i like to!}
- cut the ends off of the fresh green beans.
- in a skillet, pour a little dressing and put a dollop of butter.
- place the green beans in the skillet on the stove just long enough for them to get hot and a little softer...but you still want them to crunch! the dressing gives them a hint of italian flavor as well.

and...voila!

let me know what you think! such an easy recipe and soooo yum:)