Easy Swiss Steak - Super Good

I discovered a package of cubed steak in the freezer that needed to be used and our usual would have been to turn it into chicken fried steak or baked steak in gravy.  But in an effort to reduce calories, I opted to go with Swiss steak which we haven’t had in years – since I had no blog post about this dish, it must have been pre 2009.  I looked thru my saved recipes and finding nothing, I went to the web and selected the recipe for Easy Swiss Steak from the “Spend With Pennies” blog.  Factoid - "One would think the name comes from Switzerland, but it actually comes from the technique of tenderizing the meat by pounding or rolling, which is called “swissing” in England."  I adapted the recipe based on my larger meat amount.

Outstanding Fresh Tomato Tart with Dijon and Gouda

When Bev recently said she wanted to make tomato pie to use up some of our tomatoes, I searched my saved blog recipes and came across Lea Ann's recipe Fresh Tomato Tart with Dijon and Gruyere on her “Cooking On The Ranch” blog.  After looking at Lea Ann’s tart version, we decided to go back to Ina Garten’s original recipe and make it on a sheet pan – much like a pizza.  Then we decided to use Gouda cheese as we had it on hand and Bev is not a fan of Swiss cheeses.  Then Bev decided to go all out and make the dough as well.  And finally, rather than make one large one she split the dough and made two of them on different days.

Greek Chicken with Lemon Vinaigrette – My Grilled Version

Bev recently said she would like some sort of lemon chicken so I went to my file of meals we’ve made and rated highly.  The one I came across was Greek Chicken with Lemon Vinaigrette that we had made about 13 months ago using the recipe from Pam on her “For The Love Of Cooking” blog.  My blog comment about that meal was “OH WOW, this was one of the best chicken dishes we’ve ever had and we all oohed and aahed over it.”  But rather than make the same dish, I decided to see if I could adapt it for a grilled version but keeping the sauce the same.  Below is the recipe I came up with but this was the fried version.

Chopped Cheese Sandwiches

Our Friday group loves hamburgers and when I saw Kevin’s recipe for chopped cheese sandwiches on his "Closet Cooking" blog, I knew it would be a hit although I haven’t a clue as to how he named it.  It’s basically a cheese burger that is not formed into a patty – like a sloppy joe.  I wanted some leftovers so I doubled the recipe to get the ingredients list below and I changed the cooking instructions by precooking the meat and onions then adding them back to the pan for the sandwiches.  I've shown the original instructions below.

Pasta al Pomodoro Crudo With Pesto & Canadian Bacon

Two things happened this summer that resulted in this dish: 1. We made Pasta al Pomodoro Crudo and 2. Bev decided after all of these years that she liked pesto once she ate Ina Garten’s version at a friends house.  So after I suggested we make pesto pasta, she suggested we combine the two dishes and below is the result.

Pasta al Pomodoro Crudo With Pesto

The Ingredients:

1¼ lb. grape and diced tomatoes

3/8 cup extra-virgin olive oil

3 medium cloves garlic, finely minced by hand

18 fresh basil leaves, torn into small pieces

1 cup pesto – Link above, we made a half recipe

Kosher salt

16 oz. thin spaghetti

The Directions:

1. Make the pesto per the recipe below and set aside.

2. In a pot of salted boiling water, cook pasta until al dente.

3. Drain pasta using a colander and return to cooking pot.

4. Add pesto to the pasta and stir well until the pesto is evenly distributed.

5. Add pasta to bowl with tomatoes.

Delicious Balsamic Cucumber Salad & BBQ

Bev makes lots of cucumber salad over the summer and she uses both a vinaigrette and a creamy dressing, making both to taste.  Tonight she chose to go with a recipe for Balsamic Cucumber Salad that she found on "Taste Of Home."  We sided it with a marinated sirloin steak from Food City that we will buy again.  The salad called for a balsamic vinaigrette but it didn’t provide a recipe so I used the one for Balsamic Honey Vinaigrette, also, from "Taste Of Home."

Balsamic Cucumber Salad 

Ingredients:

1 large English cucumber, halved and sliced (we used cukes from our garden)

2 cups grape tomatoes, halved (we used grape tomatoes from our garden)

1 medium red onion, halved and thinly sliced (we used a Vidalia onion)

1/2 cup balsamic vinaigrette (recipe below)

3/4 cup crumbled reduced-fat feta cheese

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine cucumber, tomatoes and onion. Add vinaigrette; toss to coat. Refrigerate, covered, until serving. Just before serving, stir in cheese. 

Fried Pork Tenderloin and Fondant Potatoes

Bev has been wanting to have pork tenderloin medallions and I have been wanting to make Fondant Potatoes so we whipped them up for our Friday card group.

For the pork, I sliced the tenderloin into about 5/8“ thick rounds then used the Jaccard to flatten them to 3/8“. 

Random Summertime Meals And Tomato Soup

A classic summertime meal.