End of Summer Grilled Beef Skewers and Pineapple Salsa

 Here is a recipe that would be great for this Labor Day weekend.
It is made with Five-Spice powder. If you aren't familiar with
Five-Spice, it is used often in Chinese cuisine and consists of,
you guessed it, five spices: Star Anise, Cloves, Chinese Cinnamon,
Black pepper, and Fennel seeds. It can be purchased in the
spice aisle along with all the other spices.

I wanted to marinate beef in a Five-Spice marinade,
then skewer and grill the beef for dinner.  I was at Costco 
looking for flank steak or skirt steak that I could thinly slice 
for the skewers. I didn't have luck finding one of those two 
and had to settle on Flap Steak. 

Flap Steak is a thin cut of meat that comes from a bottom sirloin

butt cut of beef. It differs from Flank Steak because it comes from a more 

rear portion of the beef.  Likewise, Skirt Steak is even more forward then

then Flank Steak.  Flap Steak is sometimes confused with Hanger Steak

but it is not.  Both Hanger Steak and Skirt Steak are cut from the

diaphragm of the beef.  I think Flap Steak gets a bad wrap but I

have to admit it usually isn't my first choice either.

 

BUT as a thin piece of meat, it works beautifully

for skewers. It marinates nicely, and grills quickly.
The finished dish shows how thin the meat is.
I only cut it width-wise for the skewers.

The original five-spice marinade recipe came from 
 Better Homes and Gardens and the recipe I used as
modified can be found on BHG Delish Dish.
On this site, it is served with a yogurt sauce,
but I wanted to go even lighter and chose a pineapple salsa.
 
I, unfortunately, don't recall where this recipe for the pineapple 
salsa originated.  You can use these amounts listed in the recipe
below and at the end, give it a taste and make adjustments to
to your liking. The flavor improves as it sits in the refrigerator. 

This pineapple salsa is delicious and is also great as a side dish
for chicken or just served with tortilla chips (and a margarita!).

It's also great with these Five-Spice beef skewers.

Enjoy!

Pineapple Salsa

Source: Unknown

 

Serves 6

1 fresh pineapple, cored and diced

3 green onions, chopped

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantry

2 teaspoons fresh squeezed lime juice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cumin

Combine. Cover and chill. 

Please join me as I link up with

Rattlebridge Farm's Foodie Fridays

 

 

Thank you for visiting my blog!

Fondly,
~Karen

A Bird's Nest Napkin Fold and Dinner!

 Lucky me! 

Continued outdoor dining at my daughter's!

Previously, I enjoyed a lovely dinner on her balcony.

If you missed that post, you can check it out HERE

 

Tonight, dinner was originally for four but dwindled down to two.

That's okay. It happens... and it means more leftovers!

I like to include one or more wow-factors when entertaining

and often a napkin fold does just that.  I found this fun napkin 

fold in the shape of a bird's nest on You Tube HERE demonstrated

 by Denise Vivaldo. She has authored a book named 

"Top 100 step-by-step Napkin Folds." 

I decided to go with a bird theme and thought it coordinated

 well with this Morning Glories tablecloth and matching 

cloth napkins from Target.

My dinner for two began with an easy appetizer.

On a skewer, I added a cube of cantaloupe melon, a small fresh mozzarella

ball, and thinly sliced prosciutto.  I placed two each in margarita glasses,

drizzled each glass with a balsamic reduction sauce and chopped parsley.

The sweet melon goes beautifully with the Italian dry-cured ham

and the mozzarella ball has great texture and adds to the overall flavor.

They are pretty and were very nice to nosh on with a glass of wine.

For the entree, I made an Artichoke Chicken and Spinach Lasagna and served it

with a Caprese Summer Salad with Cannellini Beans. The salad had a

Basil Pesto Dressing that was really good.

Instead of a garlic bread traditionally served with lasagna, 

I tested a bread made with pizza dough stuffed with a soft herb

cheese, sprinkled with parmesan and topped with sliced zucchini 

and red onion.  You can find that recipe HERE.

Dessert was a wonderfully simple Lemon and Pistachio 

one-layer cake. Check back and I'll share the recipe with you.

I will be linking up with these following blog parties:

The Tablescaper's Seasonal Sundays

Between Naps on the Porch's Tablescape Thursdays 

Rattlebridge Farm's Foodie Fridays

 

 As always, thanks for visiting me!

 

Fondly,

~Karen

Red Pepper Dip For Memorial Day

Like Independence Day, we all like to come up with foods

representing either red, white, or blue, or a balance of all three.

This Memorial Day was spent on my mother's patio and an

appetizer I prepared, in keeping with the RW&B, was

this Red Pepper Dip. Known as Muhammara in

Turkish cuisine, it is made throughout the Middle East.

It is typically made with red bell peppers or hotter peppers

and includes coarsely ground walnuts, bread crumbs,

and pomegranate molasses, which can be purchased

in Middle Eastern markets (while you are there,

also pick up some Rose Water!).

I intentionally left out the walnuts from my version

because I have family members who cannot eat nuts.

My version also remained on the sweet side with

hardly any heat.  If you have never eaten or made

Muhammara, do give it a try. I think you will be

pleasantly surprised how nice the flavor is.

It is typically served with toast or bread and can also be served

with kebobs.  I enjoy it drizzled over grilled vetetables.
I decided to serve it with a really cool bag of

red, natural, blue, and orange potato chips I found at the

market which provided the perfect color for my color theme.

Give this a dip a try!

 

Muhammara - Red Pepper Dip

My Version

 

1 lb. red bell peppers (I used 4 medium)

1 medium onion, diced

1 tbsp. neutral oil

1 1/2 Tbsp. pomegranate molasses (Taste as you go!)

Fresh lemon juice, to taste

1 tsp. red wine vinegar

a couple quick sprinkles of red pepper flakes

1 head of roasted garlic

2 tbsp. bread crumbs (or more)

Salt & pepper, to taste

 

1.  Roast and char each bellpepper on the open flame on the stove top.  (Can also be roasted in a 500 degree oven - lightly rub in neutral oil).  Place in ziploc and steam.  Remove skin and seeds.  Rough chop and place in food processor.

 

2.  Heat neutral oil in skillet and cook onion until translucent.  Add to the food processor.

 

3.  Add remaining ingredients except for the bread crumbs, salt & pepper.  Give the processor a good whirl.  Give it a taste and adjust any of the ingredients as you wish. 

 

4.  Add bread crumbs.  Depending on how much liquid the bellpeppers let off will determine how much bread crumbs you will need.  I added them until I got the dip the consistency I wanted.  Add salt & pepper to finish.

 

Enjoy!

 

I will share this recipe on 



 

Have a great week and thank you for visiting!

 

Fondly,

~Karen