petite surf and turf

I love surf and turf as much as the next girl but it's a rare day when I can finish off a steak, a serving of seafood and whatever yummy sides are served up in one sitting. Sometimes I can pull it off but I generally regret it later. Solution: petite surf and turf. My beloved Korean market had some lovely little beef tenderloin steaks and tiger shrimp when last I went and last night I cooked myself up a fab little meal. I pan fried one of the little steaks and then four of the shrimp with garlic. Served with a green salad and a glass of wine, it was the perfect small meal after a long day. Even better, the whole deal only took about fifteen minutes to put together and cost no more than $5.

return of the sunday steak

Not so long ago I used to make myself a steak every Sunday. It was a great way to end my weekend and start the week and, really, who doesn't love a good steak? Since I'm not really supposed to use the grill (something about not knowing what I'm doing and being prone to burning myself) I usually pan-fry my steaks. I have a wee cast iron skillet that's just perfect for the job and a healthy sprinkle of salt and pepper on each side give a nice crust. The genius of pan-frying is that you can get the steak nice and crustily brown on the outside but still pink on the inside and the whole operation only takes about ten minutes. Paired with some potatoes and a simple salad or asparagus, it was definitely one of my favorite meals. Then disaster struck: Trader Joe's stopped selling the beautiful pint-sized (and cheap) angus steaks I had been eating religiously and the Sunday steak was no more. Then last week as I was perusing the aisles of Whole Foods I caught sight of a lovely pair of little round steaks and thought I'd give it a go. I didn't get around to cooking them till Monday and I broiled them instead of pan-frying so technically they weren't Sunday steaks but they were still pretty damn good. Next week: I'm breaking out the wee skillet and doing it right with a little help from Mr. Bittman. Joy.

a red letter day in foodie history

It is a fairly well known fact that I, Meg, really can't bake. Sarah's the baker. I'm the everything-elser. But, my new year's resolution for 2009 is to bake more, and I got started a day early today with an easy whole wheat pizza dough recipe from Everyday Food.

Makes 2-1 lb balls, or 8 individual pizzas: 20 mins. prep + 1 hour to rest

• 1 1/2 C warm water (I used hot water from my sink)
• 2 packets (1/4 oz each) active dry yeast
• 1/4 C olive oil, plus more to oil the bowl the dough will be resting in
• 2 T sugar
• 2 t course salt
• 2 C all-purpose flour, leveled
• 2 C whole wheat flour, leveled

1. Place water in a large bowl; sprinkle with yeast. Let stand until foamy (I saw a couple bubbles in the center of the bowl), about 5 minutes. Brush another large bowl with oil.
2. In the bowl with yeast, whisk sugar, oil and salt. Stir in flours with a wooden spoon until a sticky dough forms. Transfer to oiled bowl; brush top of dough with oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap; let stand in a warm spot until dough has doubled in size, about 1 hour.
   
3. Turn dough out (plop it out of the bowl) onto a well floured surface. (I just floured my counter top, it really wasn't a big deal to clean up.) With floured hands, knead until smooth, about 15 seconds. Divide into balls.

To freeze 2-1lb balls: set each ball on a plate and freeze for 1 hour until firm. Then freeze in a freezer bag for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge.

To freeze 8 individual pizzas: divide each ball into 4 pieces and stretch the pieces with your hands into 5-inch disks. Freeze shells on parchment lined baking sheets, then move to a freezer bag with a parchment sheet separating each disk. Here's a finished product, topped with basil and goat cheese, sprinkled with oregano, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes, plus the other guys sitting in my freezer. If I can make these successfully, rest assured anyone can.

we've moved!

Hello, former foodieduo.com readers, and new foodie friends!

We have moved. I broke our old site, or our domain registration expired or something, so we're going to restart here at Blogspot, for free. Good eats to come. Stay tuned.