Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Babe-O's Dacula Steak Sandwich ~ So Delicious!

This sandwich turned out even better than I envisioned in my mind! My dad LOVES cheese steaks and this one turned out G.R.E.A.T.!

It all started at the Super H Mart the other day. I bought a giant loaf of Barbari Bread. I wasn't sure what kind of bread it was, but I had bought a similar loaf from a European Bakery and made Reuben's.
I built my entire idea for these Steak Sandwiches around this loaf of bread. I immediately went back to the meat department and got some very thinly sliced ribeye steak. Then back to the produce for some mushrooms and peppers.

I cooked the meat, onions and peppers in my Dutch Oven. Start by slicing the onions and peppers and cooking them in the pan with a little bit of garlic infused canola oil. Once they were soft and cooked, I put them in a separate bowl for later. Cut the steak into strips and use the same pan to cook the meat. I put just a little more oil in the pan and cooked the meat until no longer pink. I added another sliced onion to the pan with the steak and cooked until done. Add the peppers and onions back to the pan with the steak, mix together, put the lid on the pan and turn off the heat. This is letting the meat rest and holding in all the moisture of the meat and veggies.

In a separate pan, I heated some oil and cooked sliced mushrooms separate from the onions and peppers to have as a topping for the sandwiches. Dad doesn't really like mushrooms, so that is optional if you don't want to cook them together with the onions and peppers.

I had pre-heated the oven to 350 degrees to get the bread nice and toasty. Slice the bread to make 5 or 6 LARGE sandwiches. I used sliced Pepper Jack cheese for the bottom of the bun and shredded Sharp Cheddar cheese for the top of the bun and toasted in the oven for 8-10 minutes.

When the bread was toasted, it was time to pile the steak high on the bun and serve!
Mom had hers with sliced tomato, fresh onion and jalapeno (just an overall sub sandwich). We all used the oil and vinegar Submarine Sandwich topping, which made them extra delicious!
I hope you are inspired to make your own Steak Sandwich and that it is as delicious as mine!

Enjoy!
Karey


Monday, March 5, 2012

Cravin' Coconut

I made a fabulous dinner last night! We were having Frank's mom over and she had mentioned that she wanted some fried shrimp. I decided on a menu of fresh teriyaki salmon, steamed broccoli, mashed sweet potatoes and fried shrimp and coconut shrimp as the appetizer.

Our favorite place for fresh seafood is the Super H Mart on Lawrenceville-Suwanee Road in Suwanee. They have a nice selection of fresh veggies and really nice selection of seafood. We bought 2 pounds of medium shrimp and a nice piece of salmon.

A few weeks ago we had Red Lobster for lunch at work and I ordered the Coconut Shrimp. It was really sweet and delicious. I wanted to make my own and searched the Internet for recipes. I found several methods and put a few ideas together in my mind and this is experiment #1.

Cravin' Coconut #1
1 lb fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails left on
1/2 to 1 cup panko bread crumbs
equal amount sweetened coconut flakes
2 eggs

Place the 2 eggs in a bowl and whisk well. In a separate bowl mix coconut and panko. Dredge shrimp individually through egg then dip in coconut mixture. Put shrimp on plate and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
I used my dutch oven to heat oil on stove top. Fill with enough vegetable oil for 2-3 inches in bottom of pan and heat to 350 degrees. The oil is ready when handle of wooden spoon bubbles.
Fry shrimp in small batches until all are golden brown. 3-5 minutes per batch.

Marmalade Dipping Sauce
3/4 cup orange marmalade
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon honey
sprinkle of red pepper flakes

Mix together in bowl and refrigerate. Definitely make this a little in advance so the flavors can come together.
Printable shrimp and sauce recipe HERE
It turned out really yummy, but I'm ready to try again. I want more coconut flavor. Frank really liked the texture that the panko crumbs add and he was really surprised how crunchy and delicious they were. Also, we were really impressed with the sauce. I didn't add the red pepper flakes to my sauce because his mom didn't want the added heat.

Now for the rest of my delicious dinner.......

This is the method I use to cook my salmon in the oven:

The salmon still had the skin, so I put a piece of foil on the bottom of my baking pan so the skin would stick to it and when I served the salmon, I would separate the fish from the skin. Place the oven on 400 degrees, cover the pan with foil, place the salmon in the pan, drizzle a little olive oil and crack some black pepper. Cook in the oven for 14 minutes. Remove the salmon from the oven and this is when I add the flavor.

For teriyaki: The best sauce is Kroger brand teriyaki wing sauce. Drizzle the sauce on the salmon and top with fresh pineapple pieces and pickled jalapenos.  Bake in the oven another 6-7 minutes until the pineapple is warm.

I served the salmon on a bed of butter and herb rice with fresh steamed broccoli and mashed sweet potatoes. It was delicious!

Have someone over to dinner tonight!

Enjoy,
Karey