Bife a Cavalo

Before Rachel Ray. my Mom was (and still is) the fastest cook I know. She would have my brother and I time her, just to prove that her making food at home was just as quick, if not quicker than going to a fast food place (which is what my brother and I usually wanted) This dish is as close as Portuguese cuisine gets to fast food; only tastier and I’m sure, healthier.

I’m pretty sure this is my brother’s favourite dish, second maybe only to Shepherds Pie. I’ve tweaked the recipe a bit, adding sauted onions and mushrooms to the plate, since they go so well with everything else in the dish. Bife a Cavalo, literally means “Beef Steak, Horse-style,” which makes not sense to me. The only thing I can think of is that it’s a meal for someone who is as hungry as a horse. That would make sense, since it is alot of food and is a quick dish to make. I’ll go with that interpretation until I (or you) hear different.

So as a tribute to my Mom who made this, and many other dishes in 30 minutes flat, and my brother, who convinced me to start this blog in the first place, I present ” Beef steak if you’re as hungry as a horse”

Ingredients (For 2)

2 thin fast fry beef steaks

2 cloves of garlic, chopped in quarters

1 onion, coarsely chopped

6 or so mushrooms, coarsely chopped

2 potatoes, cut for fries

2 eggs

salt & pepper

1. If you want to deep fry the potatoes (the traditional way) do it closer to the end so that they stay warm. I personally do not like deep frying so I chose to bake my potatoes on a baking sheet with some oil @ 400 F for 15 minutes. You could just as easily use pre cut french fries and bake them. Your choice.

2. Heat some oil in a medium sized skillet and add the garlic to infuse it. Add the beef steaks being sure to brown each side. Season with salt and pepper. The cooking time will depend on the thickness of the steak.

3. Remove beef from skillet and place one steak on its own plate and cover to keep warm.

4. There should be some juices left in the skillet to saute the onions and mushrooms in. If not, add a little more oil, then saute the onions for a minute and add the mushrooms. Saute until mushrooms have released their juices remove.

5. Divide half of the sauted onions and mushrooms and pile on top of the steak. Cover the plate again.

6. Still using the same skillet (did I mention I don’t like doing dishes!) add a little bit of oil to fry the eggs. Fry however you like it, although in this case sunny side up is perfect to dip your fries in

7. The potatoes should be ready by now, and you can arrange them around the beef piled with the mushroom onion saute.

8. Finally, add the fried egg on top of the sauted mushrooms and onion and check the clock…betcha it was less than 30 minutes!

Quiche

Thursday nights are hard days for me to cook since I usually go back home on Friday’s and don’t have a great selection of food in my fridge. But this week I decided to make ‘lemonade out of lemons’, and make something great out of what I did have: spinach, green onions and mushrooms. I remembered that I had a frozen pie shell in the freezer and voilà; I was struck with the inspiration to make quiche.
I used to think that quiche was a really complicated dish, but I’ve discovered that it really isn’t. It’s just a glorified omelet in a pie shell; that’s it. The recipe that follows is from George, a friend of a friend, and he got it from chefs at a culinary institute where he’s taking a night class, so it’s a ‘legitimate’ recipe :)
The recipe below includes the option of making the piecrust from scratch; I tried it once, and although it tasted great, it added a lot more time to the whole process. I’ve used frozen piecrusts since then, and it still tastes fabulous.

For the Pie Pastry from scratch

Ingredients

10 oz All-purpose flour
5 oz Non emulsified shortening (i.e. Crisco)
1/2 tsp. Salt
4 oz Cold Water

1. Mix flour and shortening together. Don't mash it too much; just use your fingers to break apart the chunks of shortening, until they are like small pebbles.

2. Slowly add the water. You may not need the entire 4 oz of water. Just add enough, so it's dough. The key is to keep the flour/shortening mixture cool by not mixing it too much.

3. Once you have dough, set it aside in the fridge for a while to cool down.

4. When you’re ready to make you’re quiche, roll out pastry on the counter with some flour to prevent sticking, and bake for ~10 minutes or less at 350 degrees. It's ready when the shell looks dry.

For the Quiche filling

3 eggs
6 oz Homo Milk (I used 1% and it tasted fine too)
1 cup(approx.) grated cheese (emmenthal , gruyere cheese, or whatever you want)

5 slices of bacon (pancetta or lunch meats would work too)
5 mushrooms, diced
½ medium onion, diced
nutmeg
salt
pepper

a few handfuls of whatever else you want to put in the quiche: spinach, broccoli, red and/or green peppers…be creative!

1. Saute the mushrooms, onion or any other vegetable you’re using in some butter and set aside. NB: If you’re using spinach, add it last so since it will cook quickly.

2. Chop up the bacon into little bacon bits and cook in a pan till slightly crispy

3. Break eggs in a medium bowl, beat well and season with salt and pepper

4. Scald the milk with a pinch of nutmeg and pour slowly into the beaten egg mixture. NB: By ‘scald’ I mean bring the milk to a near boil, stirring it so that no film forms.

5. Put some cheese at the bottom of the pie shell and spoon in the vegetable mixture and meat mixture.

6. Slowly pour in the egg mixture

7. Top with the rest of the cheese. The more cheese you put on, the longer it'll take to bake.

8. Bake at 375 degrees for ~ 30 minutes, or until the quiche is set and top is browned.