Super Chef Sandy is back today with a truly timely recipe chock-full of money- and time-saving tips.

It involves beef. Need I say more?

Does she rock or what?

Check it out . . .

Seems everywhere you go, from every corner of the Internet, newspaper and even at the local coffee shop people are talking about cutting back.  It’s enough to make you crazy, even if the downturn hasn’t hit you personally.  I was reading some magazines at the dentist’s office today and even some of the movie stars interviewed said they are cooking at home more and eating out less. 

What are you doing to reduce your food budget?  Seems many more people are cooking at home, and one of the questions I often get asked is how people can make their budget stretch farther and reduce the time and effort to cook meals.  And have some variety. 

4 days ago we had pot roast for dinner.  It was fabulous.  Two nights ago we had strip steaks, and they were delicious too.  We do enjoy our beef, but we had leftovers of both, not enough for a meal composed of either.  Rather than have an arm wrestling match over who gets what, or going out for takeout, here’s what I did:

Enchilada Steak Pie

About 1 pound of beef, cooked and chopped

1 cup enchilada sauce (your favorite jarred enchilada sauce)

1 cup leftover gravy (or just use more enchilada sauce)

1 cup frozen corn

1 fresh tomato, chopped

1 cup shredded Mexican cheese, mixed (I used 2% milk Kraft cheese), divided

1 package cornbread mix

1 egg (separate white from yolk)

1 egg white

½ cup milk

1 cup tortilla chips, crushed

Preheat oven to 400. Spray non-stick cooking spray onto sides of deep casserole dish or glass baking dish, then add beef, gravy (if desired), sauce and vegetables as desired.  Stir and top beef mixture with cheese.  Place meat mixture in oven while you prepare the cornbread (below) to get the meat and the dish hot. 

In a separate bowl, beat 2 egg whites until stiff peaks form.  In a small bowl, mix dry cornbread mix, egg yolk, milk and ½ cup cheese until combined.  You may add an additional 1 cup of vegetable to the cornbread mix, such as diced zucchini, more frozen corn, diced tomatoes or peppers for color.  Stir in ½ of beaten egg whites to lighten the mixture, and then gently fold in the remaining egg whites.  Gently spread this cornbread mixture over the meat mixture.

Bake for 15 minutes until cornbread is solid on top and beginning to brown.  Remove from oven and sprinkle with crushed chips and additional cheese.  Return to oven and bake until cornbread is cooked through, about an additional 10 minutes.

Serve with a green salad, maybe with some chopped avocado and tomato and a simple vinaigrette, some chips and hot sauce and voila — dinner (again!)

To make this meal even faster to put together, assemble all of the base ingredients the night before (as you clean up,) and just prepare the cornbread right before serving.  Prepare your salad while the casserole cooks and you will still have time to enjoy a cerveza or margarita while your family’s dinner cooks itself in the oven.  Don’t you just love casseroles?

So go ahead and enjoy cooking your favorite meals, especially when you can be creative and repurpose your protein.  Even those of you who claim not to like leftovers will be hard pressed to recognize them when they are so well disguised!  Who can argue with saving money and time in this day and age?

It’s always fun to see other people’s ideas of what makes a great steak. There are so many possibilities and there really are no WRONG answers.

I wish school had been that easy.

So here are some thoughts from Kathy Maister’s StartCooking.com.

3 Ways to Cook a Great Steak

Dry. Raw. Charred. Chewy. Why does cooking a decent steak give us the willies? For one, there are a number of different ways to cook steak. You can grill, broil or fry it, depending on your preference.

Kick things off with a steak that is at least 1-inch thick (strip steak, t-bone, porterhouse, etc.) — anything thinner will likely dry out, and anything thicker makes it difficult to gauge doneness. No matter which cooking style you choose, start by sprinkling the meat with a good dose of salt and pepper. I also like to take a crushed garlic clove and rub it all over the beef. If you’d like, try marinating the steak, but this isn’t necessary for any of the techniques below.

Now, let’s review our cooking options:

1. Fry: Simply put, you’re tossing a hunk of beef into a frying pan. Fire up a pan on medium heat, and warm up a teaspoon of oil for a minute, and then lay your steak in the pan. (Make sure you turn on your stovetop fan and keep your pan covered because this tends to be a smoky job.) A 1-inch thick steak should cook for about 4 minutes on each side, depending on how you like it cooked.

2. Oven Roasting: Restaurants often use this method of cooking steak, but it requires two steps:

Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees F and grab a heavy frying pan that’s oven-safe (like one of those black cast iron skillets your mom used to use).
Turn the burner or element on high heat, and warm up that skillet until it’s piping hot.
Drop a teaspoon of oil in the pan and let it heat up
Using tongs, gently put the steak in the pan and sear it for about 90 seconds on each side. This locks in the juices.
Now, place the pan in the oven to finish cooking. Roast the meat for 6-9 minutes, depending on how you like it cooked.
If you don’t have an iron skillet, all hope is not lost. Use a regular frying pan to sear the steak, and then transfer it and all the juices to an oven-safe pan to finish the roasting process.

3. Grill: This tends to be the method of choice for meat-lovers. Make sure your barbecue is piping hot (at least 450 degrees F). Pour a little olive oil on a paper towel or a small brush and rub the grill slats before you lay the steak down. Once it’s on the grill, reduce the heat to medium and keep the lid down (and quit peeking!) After 4-5 minutes, it’s time to turn the steak over and let it go another 4-5 minutes on the other side.

5 Tips for Cooking a Great Steak:
Decide before you start cooking on how you want the steak done. A few people like “blue” (near raw!) but most tend to prefer their steaks from medium rare to well-done. If you decide in advance, you’re more likely to pay attention to it and remove the meat in time.
Try to avoid turning the meat too many times. Ideally, you should have one flip — two at most. Resist the temptation to touch the meat too much.
Use a set of tongs to turn the steak. Poking it with a fork puts holes in it and allows the juice to seep out — and then you’re just asking for dry beef.
Don’t mash on the steak with your tongs. That’s just as bad as poking it with a fork, and presses out all the juices. If you’re testing for doneness, just gently press with the flat part of your tongs. The harder the meat is, the drier it will be.
Don’t just gobble up the steak the moment you stop cooking it. Put it on a plate and let it rest for a few minutes. You’ll notice that a lovely juice oozes out as it settles.

Quote and photo courtesy of StartCooking.com.

You be the judge.

Okay, you know if there’s a product out there called the “Perfect Steak System” we’re going to have to talk about it here. That’s just a fact.

I mean, really? It makes them perfect?

See for yourself. . .

The package includes a steak pan with integrated temperature gauge and something called a Digital Steak Pod Measuring Stick.

A quote:

Perfect Steak is the complete system that takes all the guess work out of cooking the perfect steak. Giving you control over the three T’s to perfect grilling; Temperature, Time, and Thickness. . .

With just a press of a button you’ll control when your steak is rare, medium, or well done, grilled perfectly every time.

Well, I’d certainly like to just press a button and have my steak come out perfectly. Totally.

But I’d miss those charred ribeyes we sometimes end up with when we forget about the steaks for 5 extra minutes.

If YOU’VE tried the Perfect Steak System, let me know what you thought!

Have a steaky weekend!!!!

Photo and quote courtesy of bestdirect.tv.