Island-Style Beef Tomato

Beef Tomato is one of my favorite dinner dishes. When I was a kid, I could have done without it, perhaps because of the tomatoes, green peppers and celery I always found in it. Y’know me, typical kid that finally grew up to appreciate good food.

I’ve found delicious beef tomato in just a few Chinese restaurants, most notably the Joy Luck Bistro in Cupertino, California. The Joy Luck beef tomato is the best I’ve ever tasted … everywhere else was either “just okay” or didn’t measure up.

I’m happy to say this recipe comes pretty close to the Joy Luck Bistro offering.

Ingredients

• BEEF SIRLOIN, 1 pound, thinly sliced
• ONION, 1 medium, 1-inch pieces
• GREEN BELL PEPPER, 1 seeded, 1-inch pieces
• CELERY, 2 stalks, peeled, 1-inch pieces
• TOMATOES, 2 large, wedged
• GREEN ONIONS, 3 stalks, 1½-inch pieces

Marinade

• GARLIC, 1 clove, minced
• GINGER, 1 teaspoon, grated
• ALOHA SHOYU, 3 tablespoons
• SHERRY, 1 tablespoon
• CORNSTARCH, 1 tablespoon
• SUGAR, 1 teaspoon
• SALT, ½ teaspoon
• WHITE PEPPER, pinch

Sauce

• CHICKEN BROTH, ¼ cup
• CORNSTARCH, 1 tablespoon
• KETCHUP, 1-2 tablespoons
• WORCESTERSHIRE SAUCE, 1 teaspoon 
• BROWN SUGAR, 1 teaspoon

Directions

1. In a mixing bowl; combine marinade ingredients. Marinate beef 10-15 minutes.
2. In a small mixing bowl; combine sauce ingredients. Taste for seasoning, adding more ketchup as desired. Reserve.
3. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a large skillet. Brown the beef, and remove from the pan.
4. Add more oil to the pan, and sauté the vegetables until "crispy tender."
5. Add beef and tomatoes, and cook 2 minutes.
6. Add green onion and sauce mixture, then bring to a boil, stirring until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and serve immediately over hot steamed rice. Serves 4.

Apple Slab Pie

Yeah, yeah, I know. It looks like a banana convention
in a sea of milk.

This delicious recipe was posted on Facebook; it looked simple enough, so I copied it.

However, I made a mistake: When I laid out the pie crust in the baking pan, I had run out of parchment, so I lined the pan with aluminum foil. Forgot to spray it with Pam and when I tried to cut the cooked slab, I kind of tore up the bottom crust because it had stuck in places to the foil.

Next time, it’s parchment paper for me … which it should have been this time, had I not been so lazy and to buy a roll first

To get the crust square when prepping with the rolling pin, you can do what I did and trim off the curved sides, adding them to the right and left side to extend it.

Or, do it the easy way and just roll it out into a bigger circle, flatten it with the rolling pin, and bend the circumference upward before arranging the apple slices.

Also, I made the glaze in a Zip-Loc bag and cut off a piece of the corner so I could make fancy dribbled onto the finished slab. I needn’t have bothered, I could have just spooned it on, because the glaze just settled into the spaces between the apple slices.

Ingredients

• PILLSBURY PIE CRUSTS, 1 box, softened as directed on box
• GRANULATED SUGAR, 1 cup
• ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR, 3 tablespoons
• GROUND CINNAMON, 1 teaspoon
• GROUND NUTMEG, 1/4 teaspoon
• SALT, ¼ teaspoon salt
• LEMON JUICE, 1½ tablespoons
• APPLES, 9 cups (9 medium), peeled and thinly sliced
• POWDERED SUGAR, 1 cup
• MILK, 2 tablespoons

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450°F.
2. Remove pie crusts from pouches. Stack on a lightly floured surface, unroll and then roll to 17 x 12-inch rectangle.
3. Fit crust into 15 x 10 x 1-inch pan, pressing into corners. Fold extra crust under, even with edges of pan.
4. In a small bowl, mix granulated sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and lemon juice.
5. Add apples, stirring to coat, then spoon or arrange the apple mixture into the crust-lined pan.
6. Bake for 30 to 33 minutes or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly.
7. Cool in pan on cooling rack for 45 minutes.
8. In a small bowl, mix the powdered sugar and milk until well blended. Drizzle over pie.
9. Let stand until glaze is set, about 30 minutes, then slice and serve.

Sumthin’ ‘n’ Grits

Grits are great stuff, for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or a snack.

The first time I had grits was in October, 1988, at Dallas’ Hilton Anatole Hotel buffet. "What’s that cream-of wheat-looking hot cereal stuff, anyway? Oh, it’s cheesy grits,” I muttered to myself. Well, why not? It was delish. Tres delish.

I tried to order it in restaurants after that, but the only time I found it offered was with breakfast, and when I had restaurant breakfasts in Hawaii, only Denny’s had it. And then, the Pearlridge Center Denny’s we frequented closed down, so that was that.

Just last year, I went to the House of Blues in the Las Vegas Mandalay Bay. Lo and behold, they had Shrimp and Grits on the dinner menu. Bingo! That’s what I ordered. When I got home, I sought out grits at the supermarket, but only two chains carried it in Hawaii – Safeway and Whole Foods. Not just any Safeway, one has to go to one of the bigger ones. And Whole Foods is an adventure as the wife and I end up buying too much good stuff, wiping out our budget.

I bought a box, made the grits regularly, until one day I couldn’t find my stock. They just disappeared. So I had to go on a safari again until I found some. Today, I have two big jarfuls of grits in my pantry.

Grits are good any way you make it. Here’s my Bacon and Maple-Cheesy Grits recipe; you can substitute any breakfast meat for the bacon if you want to (but why anyone want to is beyond me). If you have left-over shrimp scampi, that’s perfect on top of the grits.

Bacon and Maple-Cheesy Grits

Ingredients

• GRITS, ½ cup
• WATER, 1 cup
• MILK, 1 cup
• MAPLE SYRUP, ½ cup
• BUTTER, 2 tablespoons
• SHARP CHEDDAR CHEESE, ½ cup, shredded
• BACON, 4 slices, cooked and crumbled
• GARLIC SALT, a shake

Directions

1. Bring the water+milk+salt to a boil in a pot, then pour in the grits.
2. Lower the heat to low, and when most of the liquid has been absorbed, stir in the maple syrup, butter and cheese.
3. Remove the pot from the heat and cover, letting the grits thicken at least 5 minutes.
4. Serve in bowls (makes 2 servings), sprinkle with crumbled bacon.