Recipe #77 - Flank Steak Salad with Jalapeno Poppers

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Recipe idea courtesy of Chuck Hughes from the cooking show Chuck's Day Off.

For the steak salad:
Rub the flank steak on both sides with salt and pepper. Heat the vegetable oil in a heavy skillet on medium-high heat and cook the steak on one side for 6 minutes. Flip and cook on the other side for 6 more minutes.

Meanwhile combine the red onion, cucumbers, tomatoes, avocados, cilantro, mint and lime juice in a bowl and mix well. (Side note: this step called for 2 tablespoons olive oil, but I left it out and it tasted just fine with just the lime juice.)

Season the salad with salt and pepper, to taste and set aside.

For the jalapeno poppers:
Heat oil in a deep fryer or a heavy-bottomed skillet to 350 degrees F. Carefully slice down the side of the peppers and remove the seeds. Set aside. In a bowl combine all the grated cheeses, season with pepper, to taste and stuff the peppers.

In a separate bowl, mix the flour, egg, and beer to form a batter. Dip the stuffed peppers in the batter.

Fry in the deep fryer or in a heavy skillet for about 5 minutes or until golden brown and crispy.

Slice the flank steak into thin pieces.

Pile the salad on a plate with slices of flank steak, and top with 1 popper, sliced in half.

This recipe turned out really well. The colors where bright. It had a very fresh, summer taste to it. I've never tasted mint and cilantro together, but it was a memorable surprise pairing perfectly with the lime juice. It has been raining all day, so it's was a nice, uplifting, healthy lunch that brought some sunshine back into the dull house today.

Rating: 9
Time: 1 hour (there's a lot of cutting involved)
Serves: 6
Ingredients:
For the Steak Salad
2 pounds flank steak
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 red onion, sliced
2 cucumbers, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 tomatoes, diced
2 avocados, halved, pitted, peeled and diced
1 cup torn fresh cilantro leaves
1 cup torn fresh mint leaves
Juice of 2 limes
2 tablespoons olive oil, optional

For the Jalapeno Poppers
6 jalapeno peppers or milder peppers (which I recommend)
1/3 cup grated Cheddar cheese
1/3 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese
1/4 cup grated Gruyere cheese
1 cup flour
1 egg
3/4 cup beer
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Vegetable oil, for frying

Recipe # 41 - Cream Stuffed, Bacon Wrapped Jalapenos

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Let's add some spice to this blog! And by spice I mean friggin' hot jalapenos! 

Now I wanted to serve some hor d'oeuvres to my friends and family on the 4th of July. After a little research, I found this recipe. However, it only had three ingredients: jalapenos, cream cheese and bacon. Talk about blah! I took the idea and added a few of my own ingredients. 

If you try making these, one thing I recommend (actually, I insist upon) is using gloves when preparing the jalapenos. I did not. For the rest of the day every time I put a finger up to my mouth it started burning. Then it spread to my upper and lower lips and was amplified by the sun - it was miserable! Thanks to my clever aunts, I learned that if you apply either lemon or lime juice to the jalapeno burn it recedes almost immediately. 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Set out cream cheese and bacon to soften.

Start by rinsing the jalapenos and cutting them in half. Take a spoon or knife and remove all of the white membrane and seeds. Seeing as the seeds are what gives the jalapenos their main punch, you can leave a few inside to spice it up. I wasn't that daring :-/ Seeds be gone!

Mix the cheddar, mozzarella, cream cheese and sour cream in a medium bowl. Then stir in the green onions and chives. 

Next, cut the package of bacon in half. Wrap each jalapeno in a half strip of bacon. You can use more if the pepper is larger. You may also secure the bacon with a toothpick if needed. 

Place the peppers on a grilling rack and pop them into the oven for 20-25 minutes (until the bacon is crispy). They put off a lot of juice so I placed the grilling rack on a cookie sheet pan to catch the juices. Serve immediately or at room temperature.  

When I told people that I was going to be making these, I got a lot of "yucks" and "uh I think I may skip that one". But when these came out of the oven, I literally couldn't stop people from eating them! They smelled and tasted better than any of us had anticipated. I had to smack a few hands to make sure everyone had the chance to try at least one. 

I would definitely recommend these as an easy, tasty and fun to make hor d'oeuvre for any time of the year.

Rating: 10

Time: 40 minutes 

Serves: 20 (you know, unless everyone loves them, then about 10!)

Ingredients:

20 jalapenos

2 - 8 oz. blocks of cream cheese

1-2 pounds bacon (I used a little over 1 pound)

2/3 cup sour cream*

1 1/2 cup cheddar cheese*

1 cup mozzarella cheese*

3/4 cup green onions, diced*

1/3 cup chives*

*You can eye these measurements, if you feel like it needs more or less, then by all means!