day 31, recipe 31: Steak with Sauteed Mushrooms

Woo! One whole month of no repeats down and eleven more to go! It's been a fun month, but I digress..I'm starting to struggle a wee bit. I guess I'll just have to learn to think outside the box a little more.
We all love a good steak. It's easy to find bottled steak marinades, or rubs that'll ensure you'll have a tasty steak but it's more fun (and flavorful!) when you make your own. This was by far one of the best marinades I've ever used!

Marinade

1/4 C            extra virgin olive oil
1/4 C            soya sauce (low-sodium if you prefer)
1/4 C            Worcestershire sauce
1/8 C             balsamic vinegar
1/8 C             dry white wine
2 T                Keg steak spice
1T                 dijon mustard (shhh, this is my "secret" ingredient; mainly because the bf HATES mustard. hehe)
                     salt & pepper

In a large shallow dish, lay your steaks down & sprinkle with salt, pepper and steak spice. In a separate bowl, combine remaining ingredients & stir well. Pour overtop of steaks, cover dish with cling wrap & place in fridge to marinate for a minimum of 3 hours.

Preheat your grill or bbq. I've got an indoor counter top grill that's super handy for winter days when you just don't want to stand around bbq'ing. I set the temperature at "3"- using a medium-low setting allowed me to cook the steaks long enough to achieve a medium-rare without burning or charring the outside of the meat.
Add your steaks to the heated grill & brush top side with remaining marinade. Cook for 7 minutes on the first side; turn over and cook for 5 minutes on the second side, once again brushing top with marinade. Discard remaining marinade. Allow steaks to sit for 1 minute when they have reached desired doneness & serve with sauteed mushrooms and oven roasted potatoes!

Sauteed Mushrooms- Easiest & Tastiest : )

You can use fresh or canned mushrooms for this. In a strange way, I almost prefer the canned mushrooms when I'm cooking them up like this. To each their own, right?

1 can                   sliced mushrooms
2 T                      butter or margarine
2 T                      soya sauce
2 T                      Worcestershire sauce
1 onion                 cut in half, then into thin rings
1 T                       garlic salt
                            pepper to taste

Melt butter in a small frying pan & add mushrooms. Saute just until soft; add mushrooms to pan & mix well with onion. Cook for 3-4 minutes then add soya, Worcestershire, garlic salt & pepper. Continue cooking until all the liquid has evaporated & been absorbed into the mushroom mixture. Remove from heat & serve over or on the side of your steak!

day 18, recipe 16; Unstuffed mushrooms

I've always thought of mushrooms as an additive to any dish, a vegetarian meat (portabello), or a condiment for steaks (seriously, haha). Yesterday I started thinking that I've never made a side dish where plain old button mushroom are the star. I came across a few options but this one stuck out seeming to be the easiest. Of course, I used my slow-cooker again to make a honey glazed ham & served with cheesy scalloped potoatoes, but the mushrooms were the definite fave of the evening. Because this recipe is kind of a "look & feel", you can play around the with amount of each ingredient until you get to your desired consistency.

1-2 packages            fresh button mushrooms, roughly chopped
                               fresh parsley
3 cloves                   garlic, minced
1/4 C                       bread crumbs
                               extra virgin olive oil
2 T                          parmesan cheese
                               salt & pepper to taste

Bring a pot of water to a boil, and toss mushrooms in for two minutes.
Meanwhile, mix together parsley & garlic, finely chopping both together.
Arrange mushrooms on a baking tin and sprinkle in olive oil, stirring to ensure all is covered.
Add garlic mixture, bread crumbs and parm cheese to mushrooms. Add more olive oil and stir around until coated. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F for 40 minutes. Season with salt & pepper and serve!

If the mushrooms are too dry, add more olive oil. Too wet, add more breadcrumbs. Voila!