Dec 6, 2012: Montreal Seasoned Grilled Steak, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Steamed Green Beans and Candy Cane Pop Rocks White Chocolate Mousse Parfaits

TODAY'S MENU

Montreal Seasoned Grilled Steak, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Steamed Green Beans and
Candy Cane Pop Rocks White Chocolate Mousse Parfaits

 

Main Entrée

MONTREAL SEASONED

GRILLED STEAK

 

I love to shop the marked down meats at Smiths and I got these sirloin tip steaks for cheap - almost 3 lbs of steak for just over $7 yesterday. So I decided we'd do a classic steak and potatoes dinner.

 

I found this steak marinade a couple years ago and it makes the steaks so tender that it's like biting into butter. I like to marinate over night so this part I did yesterday. First I pricked the steaks up and down both sides with a fork (this lets the marinade do its job of tenderizing the meat better). Then I generously coated both sides of the steaks with McCormick's Montreal Steak Seasoning  (it's really good and they sell a big container of it at Costco for an amazing price). Then I individually wrapped the steaks in plastic wrap and pressed the sides really well to let the seasoning sink into the meat. Then I put them in the fridge to rest for a couple of hours. While the steaks rested, I mixed up the marinade. 

Pricked meat seasoned with Montreal Steak Seasoning

Then I put the steaks in the marinade in a deep dish and covered the dish with plastic wrap and let them marinate over night in the fridge.

Marinating steaks

 Then today, when it was time for dinner, I pulled the steaks out, fired up the grill and grilled them until they were done.

 

MARINADE for MONTREAL SEASONED GRILLED STEAK

Ingredients:

1 c. vegetable oil
1/2 c. soy sauce
1/3 c. red wine vinegar
1/4 c. fresh lemon juice

3 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp. freshly ground black pepper

2 Tbsp. Dijon-style mustard
1 onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced

In a medium bowl, combine the oil, soy sauce, vinegar, lemon juice,
Worcestershire sauce, ground black pepper, mustard, onion, and garlic.
Mix together well, and use to marinate meat.

 

Side Dishes

I decided to go traditional and do potatoes with our steaks. Potatoes are cheap and easy to keep around so I usually have a bag. This is by far the best and easiest way I have learned to make homemade mashed potatoes. Peel the number of potatoes you want to cook and cut them into chunks. Unwrap 4-5 chicken bouillon cubes and place them in the crockpot. Dice a large onion and throw it in in the crock pot. Pour the potato chunks on top. Sprinkle a heaping scoop of minced garlic over it all. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Pour in enough water to come almost to the top of the potatoes. Cook on HIGH for a few hours or LOW for longer (you can put them in the crock pot around breakfast time - before work- and let them cook until dinner this way). Then when you are ready to eat, put in a few Tablespoons of butter or so and mashed it all up. It should mash very easily. You can add sour cream, garlic salt, shredded cheese or whatever for more flavor.  

 

GARLIC MASHED POTATOES

Potatoes cut up into the crockpot ready to slow cook all day

I had a couple of sweet potatoes that someone gave me and decided to throw them in with the russet potatoes. Should give a richer slightly sweet flavor to the potatoes.

 

GARLIC MASHED POTATOES

6-8 potatoes

5 c. water

5 chicken bouillon cubes

3 Tbsp. minced garlic

1 large onion, chopped

1/2 cube of butter

1 small carton sour cream

salt and pepper

2 c. shredded cheese

1 bunch chives, chives

8 strips of cooked bacon

 

Cook the potatoes, water, bouillon cubes, onion and salt and pepper per instructions above. When ready to eat, cut the butter up and let it melt into the potatoes. Then mash really well first with a large fork and then with a hand mixer. If they seem a bit watery you can strain out a little liquid, or what I usually do is add a few shakes of instant potatoes into them to soak up the extra liquid.

 

After they are mashed, stir in the sour cream and mix with the mixer again. Then stir in the cheese, chives and bacon.

 

STEAMED GREEN BEANS

STEAMED GREEN BEANS

Clip the ends off the green beans, and arrange them in a casserole dish. Pour a thin layer of water into the dish and then salt and pepper the beans. Cover with plastic wrap. Put in the microwave and cook for 5-7 minutes. Check the tenderness of the beans. If they seem close to tender, then replace the plastic wrap to let them continue to steam for a few minutes. If they aren't close to tender, cook for another few minutes or so. 

Dessert

CANDY CANE POP ROCKS WHITE CHOCOLATE MOUSSE PARFAITS

Candy Cane Pop Rocks White Chocolate Mousse Parfaits

CANDY CANE POP ROCKS WHITE CHOCOLATE MOUSSE PARFAITS

Ingredients: (Makes 4 parfaits so I doubled it all to make 8 for my family)

10 egg whites

2 tsp. sugar

200 g. white chocolate chips (about 1 cup)

4 pkgs Candy Cane flavored Pop Rocks

 

Melt the chocolate in a medium sized glass bowl in the microwave. (Or in a double broiler on the stove over low heat, but I prefer the microwave). Use a lower power setting. I use 50% power for one minute, then check to see if the chocolate is melted, if not I try 30-45 more seconds. DON'T OVERCOOK! It'll ruin it. Chocolate keeps its shape when it is just melted this way, so when you check, check by trying to stir the chips. once they stir easily into a melted mixture they are the perfect temperature. While it cools, whip the egg whites with the wire whisk attachment of a mixer - or by hand. Once the egg whites begin to grow, add the sugar. Continue mixing until soft peaks form.

 

Add one spoonful of the whipped egg whites into the cooled, but still melted, chocolate. Whisk it in. Gently fold in the rest of the egg whites by scooping spoonfuls into the chocolate, and using a rubber spatula to bring the chocolate from the bottom and sides of the bowl up and into the top of the mixture and gently stirring it in. Continue until it is all incorporated but do so gently - do not overmix. Cover and refrigerate until it begins to set into a solid.

 

Get out 4 parfait cups. Scoop a few spoonfuls into each cup. Then put a good layer of the candy cane Poprocks in each. Then scoop some more mousse, another layer of pop rocks and end with the mousse. top with whipped cream and sprinkle a few more Pop Rocks on top of each. Refrigerate.

 

They will stay good for several hours - but don't wait overnight, the Pop Rocks may become soggy or actually end up "popping."