Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Mmmmm....Sesame Beef & the World's Most Delicious COOKIES!

I've found it. The perfect kid dinner -- straightforward and simple, yet nutritious, easy to prepare, and pretty on the plate (all priorities for me, of course!).

We started with a dish I've made before, the Sesame Beef and Scallion Kebabs. Something interesting: the original recipe calls for 'boneless shell steak'. Hhhhm....never heard of it before. Took that idea to my favorite butcher and he'd never heard of it either. He asked around the meat counter and one other butcher (a transplant from New York) said, "Oh yeah! A boneless shell steak is the same thing as a boneless New York Strip!"

Well, while my butcher friend was asking around, I had my eye on the boneless sirloin steaks in front of me that were 7.99/lb. I thought that sounded pretty darned reasonable! When butcher guy came back with the New York Strip idea, those suckers were 12.99/lb., and I had to draw the line. I knew I was going to marinade the meat for at least three hours, so I figured, 'how bad can it be?!'

Glad I went with my instinct and sided with my pocketbook. The boneless sirloin was outstanding; I even over cooked it a little bit past my favorite medium-rare stage, and the skewers still came out great. Three hours in the marinade bought me a little forgiveness I guess. Here's the link: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/12725

Next I made a favorite of mine - Orzo and Rice Pilaf with Vegetables. I know you guys are thinking, 'another rice dish?! Does this girl make other sides?!' I promise, this will be the last rice dish I blog on for another little while. Just want to share this one because I've made this many, many times and it never fails. It goes well with nearly anything on the grill, it's simple and yummy, but upscale enough to serve to guests (and believe me, I have!).


Another side: simple roasted asparagus. Not complicated, not groundbreaking, you've all done it before so I'm not going to attempt to wax poetic on my basic roasted asparagus. But, my kids ate it up and it looked gorgeous on the plate!

Lastly, the cookies. Oh lordy, the cookies! You all know by now that I am no baker. These cookies are probably the least daring thing a baker could possibly attempt! I'm not even that big of sweets fan, but I just loved these; so did my kids, and seven or eight neighbor kids as well! I'm only going to give you the link, because I followed the recipe to the letter, with the exception of adding 1 1/2 cups of M&Ms instead of 12 oz of chocolate chips.
All of the recipes can be found on Epicurious. They are titled as follows: Sesame Been and Scallion Skewers, Orzo and Rice Pilaf with Vegetables, and Chocolate Chip Cookies. Have a look!

13 comments:

Mr Pineapples said...

oh come on !!

the perfect "kid dinner" - is a bag of crisps and a can of coke

that will do them

Peter M said...

The sesame beef skewers look fab...I'm going to go to Epicurious and find them (although you should be nice and link them for your readers).

Leah said...

Peter, you're right. I'm going to go back and add the link. Truthfully, I was late for tennis and had to cut short the post!
I wish I knew how to have it so a reader can click on the name of the recipe and that takes them to the link. I only know how to cut and paste the whole link.....that's what I get for being computer illiterate I guess!

Melanie said...

Hey thanks for stopping by my blog! I'm adding yours to my Google Reader as we speak. Also it was fun to see you are a Wisconsin dweller - we just moved from there last year and I miss it!!

amycaseycooks said...

That pilaf looks really tasty. I like quick dishes that look like you spent a long time to make. My cookie jar is empty - looks like I'm going to pick up a bag a m&ms and make them inbetween working, lacrosse and softball tonight.

Georgina Ingham | CulinaryTravels said...

Those beef kebabs look gorgeous. So tasty.

Obsessive Foodie or Food Addict....You Decide said...

Looks yummy....my husband won't touch 'shrooms w/a 10 foot pole and I love them! He wouldn't touch scallions either! Sometimes he is as bad as the kids. he would however make up for it and eat all those cookies.

Prudy said...

The pilaf looks heavenly! Now I want cookies, too. Yum!

RecipeGirl said...

My kiddo would eat the meat but not mushrooms (sadly.)

Everything else looks great too!

Jan said...

Those kebabs sound delish. Will definitely be trying these on the grill this summer.

krysta said...

meat on a stick is always good. i just wanted to say i love that you sing along on my blog!

MrOrph said...

Well, I'm a big kid and those kebabs look very alluring to me, so what does that say? :-)

I love that rice dish. I may have to adapt a form of it, if you don't mind.

Vicarious Foodie said...

I really like the look of your pilaf. I've had a box of orzo in the pantry that's been waiting for the perfect recipe to come along...I think this might be it!