Monday, November 12, 2012

A meal to cure my home sickness :)

Hello Sweets,

Well sadly it is Sunday night, and that means the weekend is over :(  Last night I went to see the movie "Flight" with Denzel Washington by myself, and I must say the movie was fantastic, and seeing the movie by myself was quite empowering.  I never thought I would be comfortable seeing a movie by myself, but Nathan encouraged me to give it a shot, and I'm glad I did (he is usually right lol).

In yesterdays post, I talked about how I was thinking of maybe doing a biscuit recipe, and then after I posted it, my roomie Tereza told me she had bought some steaks for me to cook for her son and I (she prefers chicken over red meat).  So I decided to include the steak in my biscuit post, and it sort of worked out for the best, because as I am sitting here typing, I'm in my Texas Longhorn sweatshirt and slippers being homesick, and yes I think of Texas as my real home, because that is where I am most comfortable.  So for dinner tonight I baked some fresh southern inspired biscuits to go with my yummy steak and baked potato.  I was more excited than normal to make steak for John (Tereza's son), because this time he was willing to try it with a little pink in the middle (normally had to be thoroughly cooked).  I am very proud to announce that not only did he like the "medium" cooked meat, but I didn't scrape off the seasoning, and I didn't hear a peep out of him, other then to say he liked it and thank you.  Nothing gives me more pride then when a child likes what I make, they are some of the hardest taste buds to please :)  Now on to my southern meal that helped with my homesickness.

Southern Biscuits(courtesy of my Aunt Jan)
Ingredients
2 1/4C All-purpose flour
3/4Tsp Salt
1Tsp Sugar
4Tsp Baking powder
1/3C Butter, very cold
1C Milk, very cold

Directions:
1)  Preheat oven to 450F.  Place flour, salt, and baking powder into a mixing bowl and combine.

2)  Cut butter into small pieces (pea size), add to mixture and blend with a fork, pushing into the butter pieces.

3)  Add the cold milk, toss together gently until it is barely mixed.
see the butter chunks

4)  As soon as the dough starts to hold together, place it onto a lightly floured counter.  Gently "knead" the dough a few time until it is a cohesive ball.
pre-kneading

5)  Roll the dough into a rectangle 1/2-3/4" thick, all depends on how tall you like your biscuits.  Cut into 2" circles, I used a drinking glass and twist when applying pressure to severe from the dough.  Place on a greased cookie sheet.
the kneading breaks the butter down to even smaller pieces

6)  Bake for 8-10 minutes.  Butter and eat while warm, and enjoy!
a house that smells like fresh biscuits, so good



Canuckette's Steak Marinade
Ingredients
1 can of Cola
Salt
Pepper
Garlic powder (use fresh if you have it)
Red Chili flakes
Your favorite cut of steak

Directions:
1)  Pierce the meat with a fork to allow the marinade to really soak into the meat.  Add the cola first as to not wash the spices off, then add your seasonings to your pallets preference.  Do this on both sides, then top up the cola so the meat is almost completely immersed in liquid.

2)  Place in the fridge overnight to get a really juicy piece of meat, or very least a couple of hours.

3)  Preheat your oven to 350F on broil, place the excess liquid in the bottom half of the broiler pan along with some water.  Place in the oven for about 15 minutes (depending on your cut/cooking preference).  


4)  Remove and serve with your favorite side dish, and most importantly enjoy!
So yummy with my fresh baked biscuit

So my roomie brought me home a fresh coconut today from the grocery store, and I am not sure what I want to make with the meat but I did enjoy a small glass of coconut water, mmmm!  
haven't had a fresh coconut in a while

So while I take tonight to research a new yummy recipe I decided to do the hard work of getting the meat out of the hard shell, and found an amazing and super easy way to get it out :D  First I hammered a nail into the "finger" grooves to remove the juice.  This is the softest part of the coconut so if you want the juice, this is the place to go.  Then I wrapped the coconut in a kitchen towel and took a hammer to it out back to break it open, I then placed it into a pot and boiled it for 5-10 minutes.
my coconut bath

This allowed the husk to slowly start to pull away, then you soak it in cold water for about 5-10 minutes.  Then all you need to do is pry the meat off by wedging a butter knife between the shell and the meat, and tada!! it just pops off super easy :)
So proud of myself

Now all that's left to do is figure out what to do with it, and I'm not going to lie, I am very excited to do something new and out of my comfort zone.  Until next time.........


Stay sweet,



Jennifer xoxoxo






















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