I have those frozen New York Strip Steaks and find that they usually don’t come out flavorful on the grill but come out much better if I put them in the Sous Vide and then pan sear them. Sometimes I sauté peppers and onions and or mushrooms In the same pan and serve that with the steak. Lately I find that I prefer a pickled vegetable with the steak. It’s very easy to pickle vegetables. I got the perfect recipe that you came boil up a couple hours or day before a steak and just pour it over your vegetables. As soon as a few hours latter you can have delicious pickled vegetables with your steak. My picture has roasted vegetables on the left side of the plate and on the right are the pickled vegetables. I took another photo of what I pickled. Yours will look different depending on what vegetables you use. I cooked 2 steaks that are around 4 meals in my house in your house this might be only 2 servings. Your idea of servings may differ as I like smaller portions of steak. The pickled vegetables make around 8 servings but they stay good for a few weeks.

Ingredients for around 4 servings

2 N.Y. strip steaks (around 1 lb each) – trim off thick fat

fresh ground sea salt to taste

fresh ground black pepper to taste

neutral oil to sear steaks

1 cup white vinegar

1 cup rice wine vinegar

1 cup water

2 Tablespoons kosher salt

1/4 cup sugar

3 garlic cloves chopped

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1 bay leaf

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

Assorted sliced vegetables like peppers and onions

You can use whatever vegetables you like.

This time I used a small red onion and half a white onion. I used 1/2 a bell pepper of yellow, orange and green. Part of a watermelon radish and leftover shaved leeks. I didn’t use a spicy pepper this time but sometimes I add a spicy pepper sliced paper thin and very thinly sliced carrots.

Directions

In a sauce pot on medium high heat add the vintagers, water, salt, sugar, garlic, pepper, coriander, bay leaf and oregano to a boil. After boiling pour over pickling vegetables and let sit out an hour on the counter to cool off some. Put in the refrigerator and can serve in about another hour but is best the next day.

When you are ready for the steaks.

Pull out the steaks one half hour before cooking to warm up slightly.

Add the water and set the Sous Vide to 130 degrees F.

Apply fresh ground sea salt and pepper generously to the steaks on both sides and vacuum seal the steaks.

The steaks go in the Sous Vide when the water is at 130 degrees F. They stay in for no more than 4 hours. Three hours is good.

Dry the steaks off as good as you can with paper towels.

Put a pan on high with a coating of oil. Sear a minute or slightly more on each side and serve.

I usually don’t like these steaks but when they are cooked in the Sous Vide and then seared with some pickled vegetables they are good!

I got inspired to make this recipe because I was thinking about making Sichuan Chili Chicken but needed a vegetable instead of chicken for dinner…So I thought I could make cauliflower taste like Sichuan Chili Chicken and I DID! I made a batter for the cauliflower and just cooked it off in the oven. The green beans got sort of fried on a pan. You can’t make substitutes here or it won’t taste right. The peanut oil and Szechuan peppercorns are essential.

Ingredients for around 4 portions

1 medium cauliflower – break down in florets

4 Tablespoons peanut oil

1 Tablespoon soy sauce

1 Tablespoon sugar

2 Tablespoons Szechuan peppercorns – crushed

3 garlic cloves -ground to paste or microplane

4 Tablespoons corn starch

1 egg white

6 oz green beans – trimmed

1 jalapeno – chopped

2 Tablespoons peanut oil

1 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce

1 1/2 teaspoon sugar

1 Tablespoon Szechuan peppercorns – crushed

2 garlic cloves – ground to paste or microplane

3 Tablespoons chili sauce like sambal – (or to taste)

non stick spray

2 Tablespoons fresh cilantro – chopped

Directions

Set oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a sheet pan with non stick spray and set to the side.

Ina large bowl mix together 4 Tablespoon peanut oil, 1 Tablespoon soy sauce, 1 Tablespoon sugar, 2 Tablespoons Szechuan peppercorns, 3 garlic, egg white and corn starch. Mix well. add the cauliflower and mix till coated. Lay the cauliflower on the sheet tray in a single layer leaving a little room around each floret. They go in the pre heated 375 degree F oven until cooked though and brown and slightly crispy. (in my oven on the middle rack this took 45 minutes but timing can differ)

While the cauliflower is cooking in a small mixing bowl mix together the remaining peanut oil, soy sauce, sugar, Szechuan peppercorns together and heat it up in a small fry pan on medium high heat. When the oil is hot add the green beans and jalapeño. Cover with some foil so it can steam the green beans tender. This willl only take a few minutes. Add the garlic and take off heat.

Stir the cauliflower and green beans with chili sauce and finish with cilantro. Serve immediately.

Delicious, spicy and tasty!

I came across a Tomato Chutney recipe and thought of it as an Indian flavored tomato sauce that is used like a salsa or condiment. I started researching different recipes for tomato chutney so I would know what ingredients I’d want to use. Of course tomato chutney is vegetarian and wouldn’t be used the way I’m using it here but it is really delicious this way. Tomato chutney is a sweet, sour and spicy tomato sauce. I didn’t add sugar but used golden raisins for sweetness. It’s something different and delicious that you might want to try. I really got the one pot dishes down and they come out Forking GREAT. However the chicken skin in these dishes is not edible but gives off amazing flavors to the dish. The chicken is always moist and flavorful and leftover heat up moist , tender and flavorful too. This recipe will make about 4 dinners with sauce of about 4 oz of chicken each with around 6 ounces of leftover moist flavorful chicken that you can use for maybe two lunches. I would suggest to serve with a salad or maybe some rice or potato.

Ingredients for 4 servings plus around 6 ounces of extra chicken

1 medium sweet onion – diced

13 garlic cloves – fine chopped

25 curry leaves (curry leaves are controversial in cooking. Some chefs pull them out like bay leaves and other chefs chop up…I chopped them up fine and they were very good in the dish) – fine chopped Or whole if you want to remove.

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper or to taste…you might want more or less depending on your tolerance for spicy food.

1 teaspoon gram masala

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

2 cups crushed tomatoes

1/2 cup golden raisins

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

4 1/2 los chicken thighs – (with bone and skin)

1 Tablespoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 Tablespoon granulated garlic

1 teaspoon paprika

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large baking dish or buffet half pan add the onion, garlic, curry leaves, cumin, mustard, red Chile, garam masala, ginger, fennel, tomatoes, raisins, vinegar and add the chicken thighs in a single layer on the top skin side up. Sprinkle evenly the salt, pepper, granulated garlic and paprika over the chicken. Cover the pan tightly with foil.

Put in pre-heated 350 degree F oven on the middle rack. Timing may differ but in my oven this was perfect in two and half hours. You must cook till the chicken is at least 165 degrees F to be safe to eat…but I prefer my dark meat chicken cooked at least 180 degrees…..I think that you will too if you try it.

When you take this pan out of the oven be careful not o burn yourself. You should remove the thighs so they will cool some so you can remove the meat from the bones and skin. The fat from the chicken does not mix with the sauce and you need to spill the chicken fat off. Either by letting it cool to room temp and chilling over night in the refrigerator and scrapping the fat off the top….OR you can just tilt the pan and let the fat run out.

If you enjoy sweet sour spicy and flavorful then you should enjoy this.