Steak wrap

We had some extra steak and I really was not sure what to do with it. So I decided what ever I did I needed to cut it up. So I started there, I cut the steak nice and thin. From there I just kinda went with it. I have been reading a lot about sauces and so I knew I wanted to try out a new balsamic dressing. So I thought what goes with steak and balsamic. With that I put together this steak wrap. Steak is one of those meats you really don't want in-between two slices of bread. At least I don't I have never been fond of a hot sandwich.

As you can see I sliced the steak thin. Then I decided it was to large to eat without a fork and knife. I decided to Julianne it. This is just the French way of saying I cut it into strips. I figured this way I could eat it in one bite or with out a fork. Once you have your protein ready then decide what you love eating with that protein. If you use chicken maybe add asparagus. If you don't eat meat and want to use tofu well anything pairs with that.



After  thinking about what I would want to eat in a wrap. I came up with carrots and apples. This may sound odd to have apples in a wrap. In the past months I have come to love apples and balsamic. Since I wanted to have color I added carrots peeled. The apple gave the wrap a nice crunch as well.





In the end the wrap was pretty good. Everything blended really well together. When it came to the balsamic it is just a simple olive oil and balsamic vinegar. All in all it worked out well and turned into a fresh way to eat a sandwich. Plus we all eat a ton of carbs so cutting them out of one meal won't kill us. I know its crazy talk but someone had to say it sooner or later. Until next time do something amazing with the food you love.

Madeline

I made Madeline's this week, these little cookies are SO freaking good. I don't think I have ever had a bad madeline. They are usually lemon flavor or half dipped in chocolate. I myself just kept it simple and made a yellow madeline. A lot of people wonder if these are cookies or cakes.
To clear this up let me tell you, madeline are indeed both, cake and cookie. These first were seen in France and the base is made from an almost sponge cake batter. Which makes it a cake. It is then put into shell like tin to give it, its nice shape. The tins hold around eight madeline each depending on the size you want. The size alone is what I think makes it a cookie. Plus you don't frost madeline's.



The first thing you want to do is make sure that you whisk your eggs enough. No matter your recipe you want fluffy eggs. This will give the madeline's their light fluffy texture. Once the eggs are nice and light add the rest of the ingredients. In the end your batter should be a little thick. Just like sponge cake. For those of my cooks out there batters are all different consistency. You want the madeline's to be a cake batter thickness. Not a pancake consistency. What you don't want is a cookie consistency. Also like most baking you need to chill this batter before you start cooking it. My recipe said to chill for six hours. I did it for one hour and it was fine. I think that as long as its cold it should be fine.

So make sure you have sprayed down the tin really well. Then spoon in the batter making sure you don't fill it all the way. Since the batter will expand and will fill in the rest of the tin. These will take only a few minutes to cook so don't walk away from them.



As you can see in the left picture the madeline's are flat. That means they are not ready. As you can see on the right the madeline's have a nice dome on the top. This means they are done. Once they are done you should be able to just flip the tin over and they will fall out. Unless you have half a dozen tins you will need to repeat the spray down, fill, and bake process. This will happen until you run out of batter. I have the large tins and the batter made about thirty. With the small tins I would say it would make double the amount. Make sure you don't double stack them or they will stick together. Then you can add a little powder sugar on top. These little cookie like cakes will be the hit of any gathering.

Kitchen Gadget

This week I was looking in my kitchen cupboards and trying to figure out what I should make. I realized I have a lot of kitchen gadgets. Not mixers and such but odd trinkets. Have you ever seen those trinkets that say, "as seen on t.v."? Well over the years I have collected my fair share either as gifts or I thought they might work. Well I was looking at all of them thinking, I had never tried any of them. Well a few months ago my aunt let me borrow one of those very same gadgets she had bought but never used. Thinking that maybe I would use it. So I have decided to try this gadget.

What I received was a "bread maker" it is more of a bread holder. What the instructions say is to take bread dough and put it in the tin. Then seal it and bake it vertically. Supposedly the bread will bake into what ever shape the tin is. Well I have decided to test it out. Lets see if it not only works but is worth the hassle.


So I have made the bread. I let it rise for about two hours. As you can see it has doubled in size. When you let bread sit to rise make sure to cover it with either a light towel or cling wrap. This will help in the rising process. Then I did what the instruction said.

 I split the dough in half. I decided to see not only if the tin works but if the dough was not in the tin if it would be good bread in general. So as you can see I did half and half. Spray the tin nice and good so nothing gets stuck and I went for it. I'm surprised to say it kind of worked. When ever I see things like this I think they can't possibly work but this one did.

 As you can see both breads look pretty good. The one in the tin did not brown as the other one did. It also did not rise enough to hit the other side so the last piece will be rounded on the end. But that could change if I had added more dough to the tin. I think with a little practice it would work. This little tin came from pampered chef. It has other shapes as well. I'm not sure what other than decorative looking it can do to decorate the dinner table. Though if you have little children it might be fun for sandwiches.

As for next week maybe you have a kitchen gadget in your cupboard. Why not trying to see what you can do with it?