Bison Cheese Steak with Broccoli & Sweet Cherry Peppers

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Recently, I came across an intriguing recipe in Bon Appetit Magazine for Skillet Cheese Steak with Broccoli Rabe that I knew I had to try; though, I did have to modify the ingredient list a bit. The original recipe calls for peppadew peppers and pepper jack cheese (two things Jacque is not a fan of), and features a New York Strip, of which I had none. I did, however, have some bison Ribeye Steaks in my freezer from The Honest Bison that I used instead.

 

 

Jacque and I have become big fans of The Honest Bison and I am happy to endorse the company. I love what they say on their webpage:

 “Food you can trust. Naturally. The Honest Bison was founded on one very simple truth: we believe everyone deserves access to food they can trust. When we realized just how hard it was to find unprocessed, humanely raised, quality meats in today’s markets, The Honest Bison was born. We started out with just 100% grass-fed bison but have since branched out to include a curated selection of other high-quality meats as well. As we continue to expand, our mission still remains the same – to bring trust back into today’s food system.”  

We have ordered from them several times and they have always exceeded our expectations.  According to this WebMD article, when compared to beef, bison meat is richer in protein; it has higher amounts of micronutrients like vitamin B12, zinc, iron, selenium, and omega-3 fatty acids; and of the two, bison has less saturated fatty acids (SFA) and more polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA).

On top of all that…it tastes really good!  

*Note: I still love beef, the above endorsement does not detract from a good old angus T-bone.

 

As for wine, we opened a 2019 bottle of Caprio Cellars’ Eleanor to accompany our meal. Jacque and I found Caprio Cellars last year on a tour of Walla Walla wine country and it was easily one of our favorites from the trip. We liked their Eleanor bottle (a bordeaux blend) so much that we had cases shipped not only to our home in Omak, Washington, but also to our place in Scottsdale, Arizona so we’d be able to enjoy it on a night like this.

This meal was absolutely delicious and easy to make, I hope you love it as much as we did!

 

Recipe

 

Ingredients from Bon Appetit (Doug Substitutions) Serves 2

 

1 lb. boneless New York strip steak (9 oz Bison Ribeye), patted dry

Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper (Montreal Steak Seasoning, one of my go-to favorites)

1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, plus more

3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 bunch broccoli rabe (I used normal broccoli), about 1lb, cut into 1"–2" pieces

⅓ cup thinly sliced drained Peppadew peppers (Sweet Cherry Peppers) in brine 

2 tsp. finely grated lemon zest (I forgot to buy fresh lemons, so I omitted this)

3 oz. pepper Jack (Monterey Jack), coarsely grated

1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice (Bottled lemon juice *see previous comment RE: fresh lemons

Directions (Prep-time 2 hours, Cook-time 25 minutes):

 

Pre -Step: 

Remove steaks from the refrigerator at least 1-2 hours before preparing; the meat should be room temp or just below room temperature before beginning.

*Note: Don’t forget to turn the cooking fan on at the beginning, this pro-note is brought to you by an amateur’s experience.

Step 1: 

Season steak with Montreal Steak Seasoning then gently rub olive oil onto steak.  Heat a large cast iron skillet (or any oven-safe pan) over medium heat until rare, about 115-120 degrees (remember you will be putting the sliced steak under the broiler).  Cook all sides, including the fat cap, about 5-7 minutes total. Remove the steak from the skillet and set aside for later use.

Step2:

Add more oil to the remaining fat in the pan and reduce heat. Add the garlic, stirring often until golden brown, about 1 minute (this is a good time to add any other aromatics to the dish that you would like).  Add the broccoli, season with  Montreal Steak Seasoning and/or possibly some garlic powder.  Keep moving the broccoli in the pan occasionally and cook until wilted, about 3 minutes. Add the sweet cherry peppers (I opted to add them about half-way through, though the original recipe calls for adding them later).  Add  ¼ cup water and cook for about another 3 minutes.

 

Step 3:  
Adjust your oven rack to the high and heat the broiler. Retrieve the steak and cut into  ¼ -  ½ inch thick slices to lay over the broccoli.  Take any juices from the cutting  board and drizzle over the steak. Sprinkle cheese (as much as is to your liking) over the dish and place under broiler until for about 3 minutes for medium rare. Squeeze lemon juice over vegetables and serve.   

 

Links of import 

Recipe: https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/skillet-cheesesteak-with-broccoli-rabe

Meat: https://thehonestbison.com/shop-meats/ribeye-steak/?v=e2ae933451f4

Wine: https://capriocellars.orderport.net/product-details/0165/2020-Eleanor-Estate-Red-Wine

Pumpkin Turkey Chili - The Perfect Fall Dish

 Fall is time for Pumpkins and Chili

So why not 

Pumpkin Turkey Chili 

(Photo credit to Larissa Sklar)

Greg my youngest son and his wife Larissa called me late this afternoon and wanted to know how I made my Turkey Pumpkin Chili (picture above is their rendition of my recipe. I texted  it to them from memory)

Cut two pie pumpkins in half and clean them out reserving the seeds for later.

Spray or rub olive oil on the inside of the pumpkin.

Sprinkle with garlic salt, cumin, and cayenne pepper.

Place flat side down on cookie sheet and roast at 400 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes until soft.

When pumpkins are ready, brown one package of ground turkey meat with olive oil.

When browned add one chopped onion and a diced jalapeño to the turkey and continue browning.

Add more cumin, garlic salt, and cayenne pepper.

Scoop pumpkin meat into pot on medium to low heat.

Add a can of: cannellini beans, garbanzo beans, and stewed tomatoes.

Add one box of low sodium chicken broth

Simmer!!!

While simmering take the reserved pumpkin seeds and toast them in a pan with cumin and cayenne pepper.

To task the seed, clean them and pat dry them.  Heat a pan over high heat, and spay a little bit of olive oil on the seeds prior to placing them in the pan.  Place the seeds in the pan and lower heat to medium.  while cooking sprinkle cumin and cayenne pepper on the seeds.  Keep the seeds moving in the pan and you may have to spay a little more olive oil.

Once golden brown, chop the seeds and use them to garnish a over guacamole when serving the Turkey Pumpkin Chili.

(Larissa said she enjoyed the seeds on their own.  So make enough for future snacking)

(photo credit to Larissa Sklar)

Ingredients

Two Pie pumpkins

cumin

garlic salt

Cayenne pepper

1 box low sodium chicken broth

1 yellow onion

1 can cannellini beans

1 can garbanzo beans

1 can stewed tomatoes

1 jalapeño

Guacamole for topping

Olive oil 

olive oil spray

Scotch, Steak, and Cigars

(As I get ready to reignite FoodByDoug, I have found a few blogs that I wrote years ago and never published.  These are unedited, and not polished)

My intentions as a blogger are better than my blogging itself.  I take pictures, download them to my computer and write several blogs in my head -- but getting them actually on FoodbyDoug is another issue.

Lets start off with Scotch, Steaks, and Cigars.  Last year and again this year I auctioned a night of scotch tasting, steaks, and cigar off as an live auction item at the Okanogan Omak Rotary Wine and Cheese.  Jacque and I put similar night up for auction at the Loup Loup Taste of Three Valleys.  This

year I had the privilege of having my friend Chuck Ladouceur join me in the kitchen preparing and serving our guest.

Chuck and I started the night before with making three different Creme Brûlée's.  Knowing the number of course our guest were going to have, we opted to make them bite size using chines soup spoons-- this was an experiment that will return.

 We also did the grape leaves the night before.  We learned an important lesson that when using fresh grape leaves you want to pick them earlier in the season.

The grape eaves were on the table waiting for the guest as their foist course when they came up from enjoying appetizers and scotch downstairs by the wood-oven and fireplace.

 Scotch Gravlax is so incredibly simple to make, and is incredibly impressive.  To make Gravlas you place a salmon filet in  your freezer until it is stiff not frozen (this allows for thinner slicing).  You then drizzle a generous amount of the scotch of your choosing, some salt, sugar, and dill, as well as some lemon juice.  Let it sit for over night.  I will turn it over after several hours and repeat the above process.

The gravlax was served on top of a Latkah (potato pancake, a dollop of sour cream, and fresh chive for garnish)

Chuck created an incredible mac and cheese that we cooked in the wood-oven.  This was a last minute idea, but was one of the favorite appetizers of the night.  Knowing that the tasting was going to include 15 different scotches, we thought a little mac and cheese on empty stomachs might do well before dinner...we were right!

 Marmalade onion and gorgonzola pizza with balsamic reduction has become one of my favorite pizzas to serve.

The night was broken into four tastings, giving our guest the opportunity to enjoy appetizers and the fellowship of friends.

No celebration is complete with the sabering of a champagne bottle.  

For the main course after the grape leaves, pumpkin soup, gravlax on latkes,

our guest enjoyed steaks with port butter.

(Port butter has now become a required condiment in my household after making it for this dinner and having left-over butter.  In a future blog, I will have my friend Chuck share how he makes this great addition to any steak or prime rib.

The final course before dessert was a simple salad of charred hearts of romain