Steak Sandwiches

The Dijon sauce made with this is absolutely amazing! The recipe doesn't call for cheese- but you don't even miss it! If you really want cheese, I recommend Brie or Goat cheese.

Ingredients:

2 boneless New York strip steaks (3/4 inch thick; 1 1/2 pounds total), excess fat trimmed

Salt and pepper

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 large shallots, thinly sliced (2 cups)

1/3 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

4 sandwich rolls, split and toasted, Ciabatta bread highly recommended

2 cups baby arugula

Pat steaks dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper.

In a large skillet, heat oil over high. Cook steaks until medium-rare, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer to a cutting board and tent loosely with foil.

Reduce heat to medium, add shallots, and cook until softened, 8 minutes.

Add cream and 2 tablespoons water and cook, stirring, until slightly thickened, 1 minute. Stir in mustard and season with salt and pepper. Thinly slice steak against the grain.

Make sandwiches with rolls, shallots, steak, and arugula.

Recipe Borrowed From:

Everyday Food Magazine

Rissot

This is one of our family recipes that we made every winter when I was a kid, and still to this day we all get together to make it. In fact it can be interactive as everyone should take a turn stirring the pot! It is not a traditional risotto recipe, it is a meat sauce with rice cooked into it. So delicious and tastes like home,

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef

1 lb Italian sausage, cut up into small discs

4-5 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup red wine

28oz can tomato puree, plus ½ can worth water

4 small cans tomato paste, plus 3 cans of water per can

1 32 oz box chicken broth plus equal amount of water

1 lb long grain white rice or medium grain Calrose rice

2 bay leaves

Onion powder

Dried or fresh basil, to taste

Fresh ground pepper, to taste

In a short wide pot brown ground beef, sausage and garlic. Deglaze the pan with wine.

Add puree, tomato paste and water and stir to combine. Add seasonings and simmer on stove for 3 hours on low. Stir every 15 minutes.

In a separate saucepan heat chicken broth and water on medium to low heat.

Add all of the rice to the tomato sauce and add a couple ladles of hot chicken broth. Stir the rice constantly so it doesn't stick to the bottom. Once broth feels like it is absorbed into the rice and it is tough to stir, add a couple more ladles of chicken broth. Repeat process for about 45 minutes until the rice is cooked. (taste test for no crunch!)

Serve on a plate spread out with grated Romano cheese on top.

Recipe borrowed from: Francis Gremmo (my dad)

Baked Gruyère in Pastry with Rosemary & Garlic

The most delicious flavors melting into each other, I made this multiple times at Christmas time. However it is perfect year round! Half Baked Harvest is one of my favorite recipe websites.

Ingredients

1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed

8 oz gruyere, cubed

8 oz fontina, cubed

1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary

1-2 cloves garlic, grated

2 teaspoons honey, plus more for serving

1 egg, beaten

coarse sugar, for sprinkling

1. Preheat the oven to 425° F.

2. Lay the puff pastry flat on a parchment-lined 10-12 inch baking dish/pie plate. Pile the cubes of cheese in the center of the pastry. Mix the rosemary and garlic together with your fingers, then sprinkle over the cheese. Drizzle with honey. Fold the corners of the pastry over the cheese. Brush the pastry with beaten egg and sprinkle lightly with sugar.

3. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the pastry is deep golden brown and the cheese bubbly.

4. EAT and enjoy with extra honey, black pepper, and your favorite bread or crackers...or just with a spoon!

Recipe Borrowed from: Half Baked Harvest