A Super Side Dish

I recently saw a recipe made on the Food Network, tried it at home (with a few adjustments) and it was so unique and delicious I wanted to share it with you!

Savory Spinach Bread Pudding

6 slices bacon, fried and chopped in small but not tiny pieces

1 ½ c. shredded swiss cheese

2 c. fresh baby spinach, chopped

2 shallots you have chopped and softened in olive oil

3 slices French or Italian bread, cut in cubes, crust on

Combine all these ingredients in a bowl and set aside. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray 4 ramekins with a non-stick spray (I used my larger ones – they hold about 12 ounces or use 6 small 6 ounce ones)

Custard: In a large bowl, whisk together 6 eggs and ¼ c.whole milk Add combined ingredients above and make sure all the bread is coated in the custard. Spoon mixture into the prepared ramekins and bake 30 minutes for the larger ones and about 20-25 minutes for the smaller ramekins. When the tops are golden and a bit bubbly, remove from oven. They can be served in the ramekin or for a pretty presentation, run a knife around the edge, flip them and the bread pudding should come right out.

Becky Knows Everything: Here are a few important tips – Gruyere cheese is a great substitute for the swiss, but as it is a lot pricier I opted for the latter. I purchased a loaf of unsliced French bread that was soft, not a crusty baguette (which won’t accept the custard as well), then sliced three medium thick slices and cubed from there. I served these as a side dish with a nice grilled strip steak, but they would also be great for an interesting brunch or ladies lunch dish too.

Disappearing Mushrooms

Yes, that’s right. I made this new stuffed mushroom recipe twice and both times, they were all gone before I could even take a picture of them for you. The ingredients aren’t all that unusual but the flavor combination is great.

Pecan Stuffed Mushrooms

16oz. fresh mushrooms – I often buy these individually so I can select ones that are large enough to stuff but not so gigantic they are difficult to eat. The smaller mushrooms just don’t hold enough stuffing and that simply becomes annoying, as the stuffing falls all over the place.

½ tsp. salt

2 shallots, minced

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tbs. olive oil

1/2 c. parmesan cheese

1/3 c. panko bread crumbs (these crumbs are lighter than regular, but regular crumbs can be used)

¼ c. pecans, chopped (I use pecan halves and chop them myself so they are a bit larger pieces)

6 tsb. butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

The first thing you need to do is remove the mushroom stems, clean, chop and set aside. I believe mushroom caps need to be cooked in some way before stuffing or they just taste raw and their inherent moisture makes them too wet. The Barefoot Contessa sautés hers in Marsala wine. I tried a new idea where you salt and pepper the caps, then place them on a rack on a cookie sheet and bake them for 10 minutes – this got out all the moisture but they were so rubbery and tough and ugly you didn’t want to use them. My best method is to simply sauté them in a combo of olive oil and butter (a few tablespoons each) until they are getting soft and golden and pretty. Drain on paper towels and they are all set.

FOR THE STUFFING:

Sauté chopped stems, garlic, shallots and salt in a combo of 3 tsb. olive oil and 3 tsb. butter until tender. Add crumbs, cheese and pecans and stir to combine. If mixture is too wet, add a few more crumbs, and if it is too dry, add the remaining 3 tsb. butter until melted. Stuff the caps, place in baking pan (I use my pie pans) and bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes until golden. I promise, just like mine, yours will disappear.

A Treat of a Tart

Last weekend while thumbing through a local grocery publication I spotted a recipe that looked interesting. They proclaimed “If you only make one appetizer this season this should be it!”

Well, I thought, OK, let’s see if they’re correct and guess what, THEY WERE! It came out crispy and delicious and looked festive too. Here it is.

Caramelized Onion Tart

1 pkg Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Sheets, thawed on counter
10 slices bacon, fried and cut into 1” pieces
½ c. cottage cheese
2 large eggs
1 tbsp. flour
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper
1 c. grated Gruyere cheese (I substituted Swiss as the Gruyere is so pricey but it is better)
6 medium onions, caramelized
1 tsp. chopped thyme or ¼ tsp. dried

To Caramelize Onions

This is very easy to do and caramelized onions can be used in a lot of ways – on bruschetta, on burgers, not to mention they are the basis for French onion soup.

In a medium frying pan melt 2 tbsp. butter and add 3 tbsp. olive oil. Peel and thinly slice about 6 onions and add to pan. On a medium- low heat start to sauté onions. As they become translucent lower heat and let fry until they are brown and rich and not yet crispy. This may take 20 minutes or more. Remove from heat. If you are not using them right away they can be stored in fridge. Add more onions as needed for larger quantities.

The Tart

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

While onions are caramelizing, fry bacon and cut into pieces and set aside, then shred cheese so it is ready. As puff pastry begins to thaw, gently unfold it on your counter and squeeze edges together. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper and place 5 sections of the pastry on the sheet. Discard the extra one or save it for some other use. Make sure pastry is thawed but still cold.

Mix in a blender or food processor (I used my mini chopper) the cottage cheese, flour, eggs, salt and pepper until smooth. Spread custard evenly on puff pastry. I sort of crimped the edges so it doesn’t run off the cookie sheet. Top with the cheese, onions, bacon and thyme all spread evenly.

Bake 30-35 minutes, let sit 5 minutes when out of oven.

Really, try this one – it is best hot or warm, but I saved a portion of it for the next day and had it cold for lunch and it was great!! It really is the best new appetizer I have found!

A Perfect 4th of July Picnic Salad

Here is a new salad to add to your list – I like it since it is not too mayonnaisey and has a lot of crunchy ingredients. After talking to friends, I think it is a slightly different version that many people make. Make it this weekend for your 4th of July festivities.

Best Broccoli Salad

3c. broccoli flowerets – just buy the crowns and trim them into mouth size pieces
½ c. raisins
½ c. chopped celery
8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled (in a pinch I have used Hormel real bacon pieces)
½ c. nuts – I have used cashews, walnuts and even peanuts

Mix all these elements together in a large bowl, then coat with dressing. Here is the dressing: mix ½ c. mayonnaise, 2 tbs. honey and the juice of one whole lemon. Pour on the salad and toss away. If I am making more, I use 2 lemons and increase the mayo by ¼ c.

I really liked this and so have my guests. I first had a version of it at my grandson’s birthday party that was purchased at Sam’s Club. This is my duplicate version. It keeps well and is something different than the standard fare. ENJOY! Happy Fourth of July!

Broccoli, Bacon and Cheese, OH MY!!

Recently I had lunch with one of my friends and the special soup of the day was cream of broccoli with bacon and gorgonzola cheese. Even though it was a warm day, we both thought it sounded great and it was! My mom has a broccoli soup she has been making for years and I knew I could easily add the additional ingredients.

Cream of Broccoli Soup with Bacon and Cheese

6 tbs. butter
1 c. chopped onions
3 tbs. flour
6 c. chicken broth
2 bunches of broccoli chopped and cooked
1 ½ c. half and half
3/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
8 strips bacon cooked till crisped, then chopped
½ c. gorgonzola cheese plus more for topping

Melt butter in large pan and sauté onions for 5 minutes. Add flour and cook 2 minutes, stirring to get out that raw flour taste. Add chicken broth and broccoli. Simmer 15-20 minutes. Puree in blender in batches, then return to pan. Stir in half and half, salt and pepper, bacon and cheese.

When serving, top with a few cheese crumbles and maybe a few bacon bits.

When another friend came over with her husband I served this soup as a first course instead of my usual appetizers. I served it in plain white coffee cups with the Barefoot Contessa’s cheese straws, which by the way are very soft and yummy. Enjoy!

Frozen Peanut Butter Cups

Doesn’t this title sound delicious? Well they are delicious and the perfect simple summer dessert. They can be made ahead of time and popped out onto the plate whenever you are ready.

Frozen Peanut Butter Cups

1c. whipping cream
7 oz. jar marshmallow crème
3 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
½ c. chunky peanut butter
Chocolate syrup or chocolate shavings if desired

In a small bowl, beat whipping cream until stiff peaks form. In a large bowl, beat marshmallow crème, cream cheese and peanut butter until smooth. With a rubber spatula, fold whipped cream into peanut butter mixture. This takes a bit of time but be patient so it all gets mixed in and stays fluffy.

Line 9 regular sized muffin cups or 24 min-muffin cups with paper liners. Spoon the mousse mixture into the cups. Set uncovered pans in freezer for 20-25 minutes until cups are firm. I place them in a plastic container and cover tightly with foil and then the lid. From there, I return them to the freezer. Remove from freezer a few minutes before serving. Top with chocolate syrup or shavings if desired.

I have been making these for years and they are always a hit. The mini ones are perfect for a ladies lunch with coffee.

Cornbread You Won't Believe

I recently watched an episode of Giada at Home where Giada made a cornbread that I knew I could improve on. So here’s what I did – I experimented with different ingredients and I came up with a most delicious cornbread you can serve with soup or stew or anything else.

Becky’s Deluxe Cornbread

2 boxes Jiffy cornbread mix (see I told you this was good and easy, plus Jiffy is only $.50 here in Rochester)

½ c. milk

3 tbs. butter, melted

2 eggs

10 large pimento stuffed olives, coarsely chopped

1 small jalapeno pepper, finely diced

½ red pepper, chopped

3 green onions, chopped

1 c. grated mozzarella cheese

Spray a baking dish with cooking spray – Giada used an 8x8 but that was too small for me after adding all the additional ingredients, so I used my 11x8 dish which worked perfectly.

In a medium bowl mix all the ingredients together. The batter will be very thick and lumpy but you can spread it easily in the pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes. It will be crunchy on the outside and wonderful and soft on the inside. Give this a try. You will love it.

An Upside Down Valentine Cake

Mike and I went to a small gathering last week and I brought dessert as my contribution. Since Valentine’s Day is so close, I thought I would use my heart shaped cake pans that I’ve had for many years.

I made a pineapple upside down cake, using both cake pans, so I really made two small cakes. Moist, delicious and fun to do!

Here is my recipe:

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

½ c. melted butter
1 c. packed brown sugar
One 20 ounce can pineapple slices in juice, drained, reserving juice
Maraschino cherries
½ c. chopped walnuts
1 pkg. yellow cake mix
Oil and eggs as called for on cake directions

This recipe will make a 13x9 cake or two 9” cakes. If you are making the two cake pan version, just divide all the ingredients between the two cakes – the butter, pineapple, sugar and nuts – then split the cake batter between each pan.

Grease and flour each pan or use a cooking spray to coat. Pour melted butter into the pan, then sprinkle the brown sugar and nuts on top of the butter. Lay the pineapple slices into this mixture, with a cherry in the center of each slice.

Add enough water to the reserved pineapple juice to make 1 ¼ c. Then make the cake batter using the juice, oil and eggs as the pkg. requires. Pour the batter over the prepared pan.

Bake 40-45 minutes or until toothpick in center comes out clean. Immediately turn pan onto a serving dish or tray and leave pan on cake 1 minute. Serve warm or cooled with whipped topping.

This is my valentine to all of you this year!

Ham and Bean Soup Deluxe

You need to buy a bone-in ham, about 3-4 lbs. I try to buy the smallest one I can find since they are all pretty big and pricey.

1 bag Great Northern beans
1 ½ tsp. paprika
4-5 carrots, peeled and sliced (sort of chunky)
2 onions, chopped
2 cans chicken broth
Water
Pepper
Crushed red pepper flakes
A nice baguette

Place the beans in a large stockpot, cover with water, add one chopped onion and paprika and cover the pan. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer. Meanwhile, take the ham and start cutting off the meat. Most of this will go in the soup, but there will be a lot left over for sandwiches, quiche, etc. You are trying to remove the ham, leaving the bone, fat, etc, to flavor the soup. I cut the ham into small cubes until I get about 2 c. The remainder I leave I big pieces for another meal or the freezer.

When the beans begin to boil, add the ham bone, fats, skin, etc. to the water. Cover with the chicken broth and more water if needed. Add ½ tsp. pepper. The cubed ham will be added later. Ok, now comes the time part. The beans will take about 2 hours to soften, but that time is good for the flavor – the ham bone is in the pot too and all of its flavor will come out.

When the beans are soft, remove the ham bone, fats, skin, etc. and discard. Add the other chopped onion, the cubed ham, carrots and red pepper flakes. Continue to cook about an hour until carrots and onion are tender and the ham absorbs the flavor of the broth.

Serve with a new sprinkle of red pepper and a delicious biscuit or baguette slices.

A Shrimp's Dip

Happy New Year everyone!! To start the new year off right I have a new dip recipe for you. We call it “A SHRIMP’S DIP” since it is Mom’s recipe and she is a true shrimp at only 5’ tall. I took it to a party this past weekend and so many people asked me for the recipe. I gave all of them my blog address and promised it would appear this week.

A Shrimp's Dip

1 can tomato soup, undiluted
8 oz. cream cheese
I packet Knox unflavored gelatin
½ c. cold water
1c. mayonnaise
1c. diced celery
1c. diced celery
12 oz small cooked shrimp

In a pan, heat soup until it boils on low heat. Break up the cream cheese into chunks and add to soup, stirring or whisking until cheese is melted and the soup and cheese are blended well. Remove from the heat. Dissolve the gelatin in the cold water and add to the soup mixture. Add the mayonnaise, celery, onion and shrimp and pour into a bowl and let it sit in refrigerator for at least 4 hours. This can be made ahead, like the day before or early in the day of your party.

Mom always served this with Bugles corn chips which I have had a difficult time finding in Rochester so I just used plain corn chips. Tostito’s “scoops” work great.

**Becky Knows Everything: Mom will often cook and clean her own larger shrimp and chop them but I find if you buy the frozen small ones (not the tiny bay shrimp as they are too “fishy”) the results are good. Just run them under cold water until they thaw, then pat them dry with paper towels before you add them to the dip. The small frozen shrimp I use come in 1 lb. bags and this is really too much - so use about 2/3rds of the bag and use the rest for another recipe, salad, etc.

Also, Mom usually puts this in a mold, like a star mold for Christmas, but I think it is difficult to dip your bugle into this, so I transfer it into a pretty bowl and sort of chop it up with a spoon so it looks fluffy.

An Incredible Cranberry Salad

OK, I know most of you love that jellied cranberry sauce right out of the can with the ridges still on it, but sometimes there really is something more delicious you can at least try.

For many years, my mother-in-law experimented with new cranberry recipes – relishes, citrus dishes with cranberries that were way too orangey etc. etc. A number of years ago she served a wonderful cranberry/fruit mixture and I have been making it ever since. Just having made it recently for Thanksgiving, I thought I would share it with you so you could give it a try at your next holiday dinner.


Cranberry Salad
1 small pkg. raspberry jello
1 small can crushed pineapple, drained (save the juice)
Boiling water to make 1 c. when combined with reserved pineapple juice
1 large can mandarin oranges, drained
1 can jellied whole cranberry sauce
½ c. chopped walnuts

Dissolve jello in water/juice mixture. Add oranges, pineapple, cranberry sauce and nuts. You can pour this into a pretty holiday mold if you have one or just pour it into a serving bowl. Refrigerate until set, about 2 hours. This is not a thick jello, but just a nice, smooth salad. My mom loves this so much, she will make a recipe and enjoy it for days. And we all know how picky she is! Merry Christmas.

I Love Pumpkin

I know pumpkin is so traditional a this time of year, and there are a few people out there who don’t care for it (Sue, are you kidding me?) but each year in the fall, I make a pumpkin dessert that isn’t pie just to try something new. Last year I made a pumpkin praline torte for company and it was so fabulous, I made it again last week.

We had the Raynor’s for a college game night recently and I made this for dessert. It came from a Sunset magazine, Nov. 2005.

Ingredients:

3/4 c. firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 c. butter
4 ¾ tbs. whipping cream
1 c. chopped pecans
4 large eggs
1 2/3 c. sugar
1 c. vegetable oil
2 c. pumpkin from a can
1 tsp. vanilla
2 c. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/4 c. powdered sugar.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 9” cake pans and line bottoms with parchment paper. This step is very important or you will not be able to get the cake out of the pan.

In a heavy pan over low heat, stir brown sugar, butter and 3 tbs. of the whipping cream until sugar melted and blended about 5 minutes. Pour half the brown sugar mixture into each pan and sprinkle 3/4 c. pecans evenly into each pan.

In a bowl, beat eggs, sugar and oil until well blended. Stir in pumpkin and 1/2 tsp. vanilla. In separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt. Whisk dry ingredients into pumpkin mixture. Pour half the batter into each pan.

Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 30-35 minutes. Let cool in pans on rack for 5 minutes, then invert. Cool about 1 ½ hours.

Up to 5 hours before serving, beat remaining whipping cream on high speed until soft peaks form. On low, beat in powdered sugar and 1/2 tsp. vanilla. Set one cake layer, praline side up on a dessert plate. Spread two-thirds of whipping cream on top, then top with other layer, praline side up. Cover with remaining cream and top with 1/4 c. pecans.

This is not only sensational looking but makes a delicious, fabulous cake that will serve 12. Store in refrigerator!!

Becky's Original Flank Steak Salad

A long time ago, I came up with a delicious flank steak salad recipe that I have tweaked over the years. Today I made the current version and it was so perfect I will never “fix” it again.

Early in the day, marinate a flank steak in the following mixture:

1/3 c. soy sauce
1/2 c. oil
1 T. brown sugar
4 green onions, chopped or ½ of a regular onion
1 clove garlic, minced

Mix all these together and make sure the sugar is dissolved. Place the flank steak in a plastic bag and add the mixture. Let sit in fridge all day. When I make this for me and Mike, I only use ½ a flank steak since it is only part of the salad, not the star. Freeze the remaining half for flank steak and broccoli stir fry or just to marinate and grill.

On a large plate, put a nice heaping spread of chilled, chopped romaine lettuce you have rinsed and dried. In sections on the plate, arrange chopped hard boiled eggs, red onion diced finely, pretty chopped tomatoes and a green or yellow vegetable. I like asparagus or yellow or green beans you have cooked until not crunchy but not mushy either.

Grill or broil flank steak about 6 minutes each side. Let rest for 10 minutes on your cutting board. Slice across the grain and then cut again into smaller pieces. Arrange on plate. Sprinkle crumbled bleu cheese on top. Make the dressing and spoon on lightly.

Dressing: Mix together 1/3 c. balsamic vinegar, ½ c. olive oil, 2 tsp. Dijon mustard, salt and pepper.

This is such a pretty, great summer dinner. I serve it with fresh French bread or rolls.

A Pretty Summer Salad

Mike and I hosted our good friends the Bradley’s last Saturday night for dinner and a movie (except the movie was at the theater and by the way it was so bad it would have been way better for us to get a rental).

We saw Eat, Pray, Love and if all you want is a huge close-up of Julia Roberts’ big teeth, than this is the movie for you. I slept through Italy, Keith slept through India and Mike through Bali. Debbie was the only alert one and I am not sure why since she didn’t like it either.

Anyway, back at our house I served appetizers (the movie is very long so we were all starving) and then a simple dinner of the Barefoot Contessa’s Shrimp Scampi, garlic bread and a really pretty fresh summer salad.

Here is the salad recipe and ingredients for four:

3 large freshly grown tomatoes (only really available in the summer of course)
8 very thin slices of red onion
Small can of slice black olives
4 oz. feta cheese crumbled (try to crumble yourself –the other stuff is dry)
16-20 asparagus spears you have lightly blanched, placed in ice water, drained and chilled

Dressing: Mix together 1/3 c. red wine vinegar, 2 tsp. sugar, ½ c. salad oil, ¼ tsp. basil and oregano and 2 tsp. fresh chopped parsley. Shake it all together until sugar dissolves.

On a nice large salad plate, lay tomatoes and onions in a pretty curve. Top with feta cheese. On the other side of the plate, lay the asparagus. Drizzle with dressing.

I assembled everything before we left and drizzled on the dressing when I was ready to serve. Try this – it is pretty and delicious!

Bacon Everywhere on Everything

Well, as if my great desire to eat bacon wasn’t bad enough, my dear sister just sent me a new cookbook (one of those mini pamphlets at the grocery store counter) simply entitled BACON. It is by Taste of Home magazine and really is a nice compilation of recipe cards all starring bacon.

We have bacon for breakfast, appetizers, lunch/dinner, side dishes and even DESSERT. The dessert recipes looked a little strange like Bacon Baklava (the Macedonians and Greeks are flipping out right now) and Chocolate Covered Bacon which really did not look too appealing even for chocolate girls.

Well, of course I tried a few and they were pretty good so I had to share.

First, I made an appetizer. I changed the recipe a bit as it was too cheesy, so here is my version:

Bacon Rounds

1c. mayonnaise
1 tbs. grated parmesan cheese
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
¼ tsp. paprika
¼ tsp. pepper
¼ tsp. garlic powder (they also included celery seed which added nothing to the flavor)
1c. shredded cheddar cheese (they used 2 cups but it was too gooey for me)
4 green onions thinly sliced
8 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
1 baguette, sliced into 48 rounds.

The original recipe also added chopped peanuts but again, not so great.

In a large bowl combine first 6 ingredients. Mix well and add cheese, bacon and onions. Lightly brush olive oil on the bottoms of the bread. Oil side down, place on cookie sheet and top with spread. Bake at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Serve warm. I have made these twice and the recipe does well if you cut it in half since it does make a lot. Enjoy!

Bacon Chicken Roll Ups

After the appetizer try, the next day I went after an entrée and this one was good. Seriously, this one begins with 12 bacon strips, how can you go wrong?

12 bacon strips (partially cook in frying pan but do not let get crisp or there will be no rolling)
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (see, there is one thing healthy about this recipe) 8 oz. softened cream cheese mixed with ½ tsp. garlic powder
Salt and pepper

Flatten chicken to 1/8 inch thickness. Spread cream cheese down the center (I used about 2 tbs. for each breast) and roll up from long side, tucking in ends. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Wrap two bacon strips around each breast and secure with toothpicks.

Place in greased 13x9 inch baking pan and bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes until cooked through. These are pretty and good and I served them with glazed carrots!

The original recipe says to put sliced onions on top of the cream cheese, but who wants an onion stuck in the middle of a delicious chicken recipe? I also added the garlic powder to flavor up the cream cheese a bit.

My next try will be Bacon-Pecan Stuffed Mushrooms!

Dinner for You or for Guests

I am an avid watcher of The Food Network and the show "The Next Food Network Star". Last year’s winner, Melissa D’Arabian, is a home cook who specializes in economical dinners – but that is not why I watch her show. She just plain has good recipes. Tonight I made one of her best. I only tinkered with it a bit and I know you will love it. I will go through it step-by-step so you can prepare it for guests without making you or them crazy.

Skirt Steak with Carmelized Onions and Ginger Honey Carrots

The carrots are not her recipe but I thought they were a good changeup from potatoes or another starch.

Here is the plan:

To carmelize the onions, you need one large red onion (I like them better than white onions) cut in very skinny slices. In a medium skillet, melt 2 tsb. butter and 1 tsb. olive oil. Add onions and put on very low heat until they brown and carmelized. This will take a long time, like 15-20 minutes. When they are nice and brown, set aside.

Meanwhile, peel and cut into small sticks about 3 or 4 large carrots. Put in a pan and bring to a boil. Boil carrots for 8 minutes. In another medium fry pan place 2 tsb. butter, 3 tsb. honey and ½ tsp. ginger. As the carrots boil, toward the end of the 8 minutes slowly melt the butter and honey in the pan along with the ginger.

In another, large frying pan, melt 2 tsb. butter and 1 tsb. olive oil. When really smoking hot, add the skirt steaks. (By now the onions are carmelized and the carrots are almost finished cooking the 8 minutes). Add the skirt steaks – you have already trimmed the visible fat. These cook really quickly, about 2 ½ minutes each side. When you put the steaks on, drain the carrots and add them to the honey ginger mixture and toss to coat. They need about 5 minutes for all the delicious flavors to meld together.

Now, take the skirt steaks of the flame to rest and let’s deglaze the onions. I know it is a lot to juggle – skirt steaks on the cutting board, carrots in the glaze and NOW I need you to deglaze the onions. To the onions add 3 tsb. white wine and 3 tsb. sherry. Just use a rubber scraper and get up all the nice bits.

NOW we are ready! Steaks are rested and ready to be sliced, the carrots are glazed and the onions are super pretty and carmelized. We have a winner of a dinner!! Try this tonight. I think you will love it!