Flank Steak with Onion and Tomato

Brown/sear flank steak in 3T vegetable oil in a large pan.  Lower the heat to medium and toss in 2-3 large thinly sliced onions, 3 chopped garlic cloves, 2 bay leaves, a whole datil pepper, 1 1/2 tsp cumin, cracked pepper, sea salt, and a large can of stewed tomatoes with juice, plus an additional 2/3 can water (or beef broth if I had some).  Cook on a very low boil for 30 minutes, add a good slosh of red wine and simmer for an hour.  Thicken slightly with corn starch and serve over white rice.

I didn't have a recipe...I just put together what sounded good to my taste.

Simple Trick to Separate an Egg Yolk

My high school friend Jacques owns Dixie Egg Company.  He posted a FaceBook video today with a cool new trick he just learned on on how to separate an egg using a water bottle. Of course the FB post won't work here, so directions are:

Break an egg into a small bowl. Squeeze some air out of a clean, empty water bottle,  hold the mouth of the bottle against the yolk and release the squished bottle gently to suck up the egg yolk. Voila. Now pop that yolk into the recipe you're working on.

Here is a link to a news article about a recent donation to Second Harvest.  Jacques is a good egg!

Garden Dinner

Chicken Thighs, baked (not from garden, but I could hear a rooster crowing while I was there)
2 small Eggplants from my garden, cut in half and baked face down in the pan with the chicken
Okra from my garden cooked with stewed tomatoes (canned)
A few slices of the most perfect avocado, purchased from the fruit stand.

A piece of chicken, half an eggplant, a scoop of okra and tomatoes, plus a couple of slices of avocado and I was so full.  Mark liked it too.

Tomorrow morning we are having avocado spinach apple smoothies.  Yum!

Italian Limoncello

Today I started a batch of limoncello.   I used a dozen lemons that I peeled with a potato/apple peeler, taking off the yellow in long yellow strings, but leaving the pith intact on the fruit.  Peeling was a breeze!

The lemon skin strings, a split vanilla bean, 1.75 liters of vodka and a pint of Everclear all went into a one-gallon glass container that I bought at Target.  Because the lid doesn't fit tight, I put a sheet of plastic wrap over the top and then lidded the container.

Now we just have to wait 40 days (Sept. 11th), giving the jar a swirl every now and then.  The next step will be to make a simple syrup: mix 3 cups of sugar into 4 cups of water, boiling for a few minutes in a saucepan to melt the sugar.  After the simple syrup has cooled, this will be added this to the mix in the jar.  

After another 40 day rest (Oct. 21st), separate the solids with a strainer.  I plan to bake a lemon cake with some of the infused lemon zest, saving the rest in the freezer to use in mixed drinks.  Strain again, this time through a coffee filter before bottling them as gifts.  Most people keep their limoncello in the freezer, but I've read that it won't go bad at room temperature.

I had a bowl of skinned lemons after the first step, so I cut them in half and juiced them with my hand held lemon squeezer.  It goes quick if you have a husband with big strong hands to do the work.  The juice from a dozen lemons filled one ice tray.