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Beer Braised Shredded Chuck Steak with Spaghetti

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Chuck steaks. Not always the most glamorous cut of beef. But, there are good and bad ways to treat this meat. While some might think to treat it like a sirloin and sear it off to a medium rare, or grind it into burger, I decided to take advantage of chuck's classic interpretation: braised and shredded, served with a starch.       Since I had some thin spaghetti noodles left from the weekend, I chose to use the last hoppy and citrusy IPA I had in the fridge (also a straggler from the weekend) and do a spin on braised beef pizziola. I got some olive oil and butter working in a hot dutch oven and seared off the steaks. Once they had a good sear, I removed them and set them aside to rest and added a pile of sliced onions and peppers. When those had cooked down about 8 minutes, I added tomato paste, whole smashed garlic cloves, Italian seasoning (herb blend), and the beer, in that order. Once the beer had reduced a bit and the floral and citrus notes came
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Roasted Tomato Basil Bisque and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

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I have never made tomato soup from scratch. Ever. My craving  today  for a cheesy gooey sandwich and the perfect soup to dip it in lead me to try it out and it turned out pretty good if I do say so myself!       I resorted to looking up a few recipes and with a combination of good ideas I found I came up with this version of a Tomato Basil Bisque. I roasted an assortment of tomatoes and used some Yukon gold potatoes for viscosity as opposed to any dairy. Believe me, it's creamy goodness. You won't miss the milk.       I started by preheating the oven to 425 degrees and arranged my tomatoes, garlic cloves, and a quartered yellow oven on a sheet pan. I tossed them with olive oil, salt and pepper then put them in the oven to roast for about 30 minutes. I then got my potatoes and scallions sauteing in a pot with olive oil, salt and pepper.   Once they were good and browned, I added 1 tablespoon tomato paste, 1 tablespoon dried oregano, and 2 cans of ve
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Mediterranean Spiced Quinoa Stuffed Roma Tomatoes

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Do you ever have those mornings where all you can think is "Gee, I really want some stuffed Roma tomatoes today." No? Yeah, usually me neither. However, this morning was an exception. A best friend's mom (cosmos bless her soul) used to make these absolutely delicious pesto and prosciutto stuffed Roma tomatoes. I could eat a hundred of them at any given moment...      So, with this in mind I set out to create a recipe similar to that. Another best friend of mine's mom makes pork gyros that are equally to die for, and my very best friend's mom recently went vegetarian. Inspired to capture these three amazing mothers in one dish, I came up with my Mediterranean Spiced Quinoa Stuffed Roma Tomatoes!   I began with roasting two small heads of garlic and a red bell pepper. I then quartered and diced a red onion and a zucchini, sauteed them for about 5 minutes before adding two heaping spoonfuls of gyro seasoning (a secret blend given to my friend&#
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Ramen with Caramelized Peppers and Onions and Poached Eggs

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  Aww, yes. Top Ramen. Now, I understand that I said in my initial post that I began cooking in order to stray away from these easy 'junk' foods, but this is not your college student's quick fix during study time. First of all, throw away that flavor packet. I know, the salty MSG-laden broth it creates can be a tempting offer, but I prefer to use canned or boxed broth (or home made if you got the time). So, really, I like using  only   the noodles and creating my own quick version of ramen. It is imperative to get all your ingredients ready before you begin the cooking process. This recipe goes pretty quickly so cutting an onion while your eggs poach will most likely result in over cooked yolks, and what exactly is the point in a poached egg if the yolk isn't runny? Right, might as well fry em'.  Caramelizing the peppers and onions takes little bit of time and care, so heat about a tablespoon of olive oil and add your peppers and onions. All I had in th
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