It has been awhile since we have had beef, so I figured since the weather has finally been improving that I would fire up the grill, splurge on some steaks and get to town. This time instead of just salt and peppering the steak, I decided to go with a Thai steak. It was a great decision on my part. This marinade would be fantastic with any protein, but it goes really well with beef.
If you want to use leftovers, try making my Thai steak McMuffin sandwich, that is if you have any leftovers (I’m surprised I did).
Grilled Thai Steak
Ingredients:
2-3 New York strip steaks, or t-bone steaks
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp shaoxing rice wine
2 tbsp dark sesame oil
1 tsp cracked black pepper
1 tbsp sugar
4 cloves garlic, minced or roughly chopped
1 tbsp minced ginger
2 pinch of salt, to taste
1 shallot, minced
Combine all of the ingredients, excluding the meat, in a large bowl.
Grilled Thai Steak
Add in the steak, mixing to coat all of the beef. Let this marinate for 1-4 hours. When you are ready to cook, heat up your grill and grill to your liking. We go medium for the most part on the steaks. Serve with rice and vegetables. Enjoy!
The weather was so nice this past weekend in the Milwaukee area. When I say nice, let’s just say it around 60 degrees. You don’t know what that did to us. It lifted us up, we opened windows, we were smiling, and I could probably keep going on and on. It’s funny what a change in weather can do for you to lift the spirits. With that said, my first instinct, instead of going (or making) a Friday night fish fry was to fire up the grill, and with beef being on sale, I decided to splurge and buy some steaks for the family. I knew exactly what I was going to do with it, and that was to make some Thai beef.
I was surprised to say the least that we had leftover beef after dinner, but that actually drew some excitement within me because I knew that was going nowhere to waste. So the following morning I figured I would make a Thai steak mcmuffin. I know that mcmuffin is trademarked and all, but anything I put on a n English muffin becomes a ‘mc’ something!
Thai Steak McMuffin Recipe
You can make this easy breakfast sandwich without going Thai style, and that recipe will be coming shortly, but the combination of tender steak with creamy eggs and cheese really makes a great weekend morning.
Let’s get started.
Ingredients:
2 whole eggs, beaten until frothy
1 tbsp water
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cracked black pepper
steak, cooked medium, thinly sliced
1 slice cheddar cheese
English muffin, sliced and toasted
1 tbsp unsalted butter
Start by heating a skillet on medium-low heat. Add the butter and let it come to a bubble. Swirl that butter around. Season your eggs with salt, pepper, and water. Mix that up.
Add the sliced steak to warm it up (or warm it through via a microwave). Remove the steak from the skillet and set it aside.
Add the eggs to the skillet, and using a spatula, move it around. Swirling if you will.
Thai Steak McMuffin Ingredients
Once the eggs are nice and fluffy, add the steak back into the skillet and top it with a slice of cheddar cheese.
Toast your English muffin, and once toasted, slide the egg, steak and cheese onto the base of the English muffin. Top with the remaining muffin, push down a bit (get excited) and dig in.
The result is a great, and subtle punch of the Thai steak along with the creaminess of the egg and cheese as well as the crunch from that toasted muffin. I could probably eat one of these every day (or week), and is something that should be made by all of you. Yes, it’s that good. Enjoy, and have an amazing week!
It’s starting to ramp up to comfort food season. Not like that has stopped me year round to make most any type of comfort food, but this fall season in particular has already yielded a variety of soups and casseroles. This is one of those recipes. While thinking of a warm recipe for a cool day, I thought of what my wife and kids would eat, and eat well. Nachos! But how could I turn a simple, or complex plate of nachos into something warm and comforting?
I looked around to check on my inventory, and granted I was looking at pie dough and thinking of chicken pot pie, a thought I had to quickly shake out of my mind, and then again back to the nacho thought. How about a riff on chicken pot pie but go nacho style? How about a nacho pot pie?!
Nacho pot pie it was, and not only super easy to throw together, but everything you love about nachos in a luxurious pot pie style, sans the pie crust.
Nacho Pot Pie Recipe
Granted this is not the prettiest of all dishes, but again what pot pie is when you plate it? This is forkalicious delicious.
Let’s get started.
Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef, or chuck, cooked and fat removed
1 cup onion, diced
15 oz can diced green chilies
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup of taco seasoning
1/3 cup water
6 tbsp unsalted butter
4 tbsp all purpose flour
1/2 cup of milk
2 cups of water or stock
1 cup of canned black beans, drained
1/2 tsp salt, to taste
1/2 tsp cracked black
1 bag of tortilla chips
2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
1 head of iceberg lettuce, shredded
sour cream, optional
hot sauce, optional
salsa, optional
black olives, optional
any other favorite nacho toppings
Think nachos. Think pie. Good, let’s go.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Get a large skillet on your burner over medium-high heat. Add the ground meat and cook until browned. Drain any fat, and then add the taco seasoning, green chilies, onion, garlic, and 1/3 cup of water. Give a good stir, and cook until the onions are softened, about 5-7 minutes.
Place the meat mixture into a casserole dish and return the skillet to the heat.
Add the butter and let it completely melt. Once melted, add the flour and stir (and keep stirring) until all of the flour is incorporated. Cook this through for a few minutes.
Slowy stir in the milk, and use a whisk if you want to ensure that the mixture gets nice and smooth. No clumps needed here.
Once smooth, add in the remaining water or stock, and stir again. Season with salt and pepper, and let the mixture come to a boil, stirring frequently. The goal here is to make a thicker sauce.
Nacho Pot Pie Ingredients
Once the sauce thickens, add in the black beans, and return the meat back into the skillet. Stir well and cook for another 5-7 minutes.
Add shredded cheese to the top, then crumble a generous amount of tortilla chips over the top.
Place the skillet (if it is oven safe, otherwise put everything in the skillet before adding the cheese and chips) into the oven and bake for about 15-20 minutes.
Now you are ready to serve.
Nacho Pot Pie Recipe
Scoop out your desired amount onto your plate and top with your favorite toppings. In my case it was black olives, shredded lettuce, avocado slices, sour cream, and hot sauce. Feel free to have a bowl of chips on standby for any additional scooping!
The result is spectacular. It is so comforting and everything we loved about a pie or a plate of nachos, all bundled together! Hope you enjoy!
I’m always looking for something to do with my leftovers and to be honest I am a bit surprised I had any leftovers from a recent Thai/Lao larb fest. I will also be honest and state that larb is probably one of my top 10 things to eat. There’s something about the medley of flavors and the interaction when grabbing a bit of sticky rice and nubbing it down into the herbaceous larb. I’ve done a bunch of different things outside of the standard larb recipe, of which includes leftovers. Everything larb fried rice, larb bao, and larb quesadillas to name a few. This one on the other hand goes right up there with an excellent use of leftovers, still has that great heat (depending on how you make the larb), and is filling to boot. This one is larb stuffed loaded baked potatoes. I can probably chalk this one up with all of the potato skins I’ve made in the past as well.
Thai Larb Stuffed Baked Potato Recipe
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups of leftover larb (feel free to use beef, pork, or chicken)
1 baking potato
1/2 tbsp olive oil
pinch of salt
That’s it. Granted you may thinking making larb takes a bunch of time, but seriously, it takes about 5 minutes, or as long to cook your protein
Start by preheating your oven to 400 degrees, or use your microwave if you want to roll that way, and poke some holes into the potato with a fork.
Take some olive oil and lightly coat the exterior of the potato, and season with a bit of salt. I love a crusty, salty potato, and yes, I eat the whole thing.
Bake or microwave the potato until it is knife tender in the middle. This takes about 8-10 minutes in the microwave, or about 45-60 minutes in the oven.
Once the potato is fully cooked, remove it from the oven, take a butter knife and make a long slit through the top, then carefully using your fingers give it a pinch to make a nice open pocket.
Warm your leftover larb in a skillet, or microwave, then generously load the larb into the baked potato. You can see the extra Thai chilies I added (nice boost for vitamin C), and how loaded it is. I also wanted some extra heat. Did I mention that I find myself eating a Thai chili a day? For whatever it’s worth, it hasn’t kept the doctor away, but I do love them.
If you are looking for a great and interesting take on a loaded baked potato, give this one a shot, but by all means, if you have not had Thai/Lao larb you must make it. It’s addicting. Hope you enjoy!
