Sincerely, Jacques Peppin: goodeats

The other night, Mr. T and I were chillin on the couch when this adorable little man popped onto the television screen

  It was Jacques Peppin! One of the most beloved French culinary masters of all time.  It's ok, at the time I also was an ignorant fool and had no idea who this bundle of joy was either.

Now, when I say adorable, think thick French accent muddled with a slight lisp...it's to DIE for.  Pair that with old man charm and mean knife skills, and yes... you've got yourself a serious bundle of joy

Last night's dinner was thanks to Jacques...and it was BOMB! 

Jacques' Lime Skirt Steak w/ sauted Mustard Greens

-Skirt Steak

-Fresh lime juice

-Garlic, chopped

-Scallions, chopped

Directions:

-Heat some EVOO in the good o'l cast iron pan Generously season the steak on both sides with salt and fresh cracked pepper and a bit of lime juice.   Cook the steak for a few minutes on each side depending on how rare you like your meat.  For medium-rare, it will be about 3-4 minutes on each side.  Remove the meat from the pan and let it rest.  Lower the heat and add in chopped scallions and garlic.  Deglaze the goodness from the pan with some lime juice and a few tablespoons of water.  Top the glaze onto the meat. 

 Sauteed Mustard Greens

-Fresh bundle of mustard greens

-Onions, sliced

-S&P

-Garlic, chopped

-Italian sausage, de-cased and torn into bite size pieces (optional.  This is for the side dish so the extra meat with the mustard greens isn't necessary)

Directions:

-Saute the Italian sausage in some EVOO and add in onions mid way.  Season with a bit of S&P and add in garlic.  After sauteing for a few minutes, add in the mustard greens.  It should be flowing out of the pan, but fear not...mustard greens is like spinach and it will shrink down significantly.  Put a lid on the pan to help the shrinkage move right along.

I had some big, beautiful portobellos left over from lasagna the other night, so we decided to throw some stuffed portobellos onto the menu along with the greens and steak.  Portobello mushrooms is like bread to a sandwich...you can literally stuff it with whatever combination you want, stick it in the oven, and it will be everything you imagined and more.  These particular mushrooms were just a mixture of what I had on hand in the fridge, and they came out pretty tasty!

Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms 

-2 Portobello Mushrooms

-Sundried tomatoes, chopped,

-Garlic, chopped

-Onions, chopped

-Fresh spinach (frozen works too if that's all you have)

-Low fat cream cheeese (or ricotta cheese, mozarella cheese, sour cream...anything white and creamy.  However, if you use ricotta or mozarella, you probably need to throw an egg in there to make sure everything holds)

-Parmesan cheese, grated

-Panko bread crumbs

-EVOO

-S&P

-Garlic powder

Directions:

-Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  De-stem the mushrooms and gently wipe clean with a damp papertowel.  Do not wash the mushrooms.  Mushrooms are super absorbent will soak up the water leaving you with soggy mush.  Generously rub with EVOO and throw on the grill pan, cap faced down first, for about 3 minutes. Meanwhile, saute onions and garlic.  Add in spinach until all of it wilts.  Mix together with cream cheese, S&P, garlic powder and parmesan cheese. Flip caps over and begin to grill the outside for another 2-3 minutes. Scoop stuffing into the caps and top with a little bit of panko and more parmesan.  Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes until panko is brown and stuffing is bubbling.

 Merci Jacques!