Looking for spice...in steak tacos with cucumber-avocado salsa

Ladies and gentleman, I attempted a romantic gesture. That's right, I can be romantical.

He'd had a rough day at work, and what better way to feel better than football and red meat? Football is totally lost on me (I just cheer when they cheer.) However, the red meat part was easy for me: steak tacos with cucumber-avocado salsa. He's a foodie and loves lots of flavor and spice, so I knew the steak would have to carry some serious kick...and it did. Combined with the creaminess of the avocado and the crunchiness of the cucumber, I'd say this deserves a "best girlfriend of the...day" trophy.

For the cucumber-avocado salsa:

2 cups English cucumber, seeded & diced

2 firm, ripe avocados, peeled, pitted & diced

1/2 red onion, diced

1/4 cup lime juice

1/4 cup cilantro

3 jalepeno peppers, seeded & finely chopped

salt to taste

Combine all of the above listed ingredients in a mixing bowl and gently combine to mix. Serve within an hour of preparing. 

For the steak tacos:

1-1/4 lb. top sirloin steak

1 Tbs. chili powder

2 Tsp. minced fresh garlic

1/4 Tsp. cinnamon 

1/4 Tsp. salt

pinch of cayenne pepper

12 6-in. diameter corn tortillas

3 cups shredded red cabbage

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro 

1 lime cut into wedges

In a small bowl, stir together chili powder, cinnamon, salt, garlic and cayenne.

Rub the spice mixture into both sides of the steak. And in the meantime, coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and allow to preheat over medium-high heat 

Grill the steak for five minutes per side, turning once, for medium-rare. My boyfriend practically likes his steak still mooing so this was perfect for him. I, however, like my steak medium-well, so my steak took a bit longer than his. Remove from the skillet and let the steak sit for at least five minutes before carving into thin slices.

Moo.

Since I was using a gas stove, I had the luxury of toasting the corn tortillas directly on the fire. If you're using a grill, you can do the same by putting the tortillas on the grill. If you're using an electric stove, just place corn tortillas on a nonstick skillet and allow the tortillas to toast that way. Have the steak prepared by the time you are toasting your tortillas, so that they can be served while hot. Toss some red cabbage on the tortilla, then top with steak and salsa. I plated with a wedge of lime, and some cilantro on top. 

To be honest, I actually ended up liking my boyfriends tacos better than mine. Turns out sirloin is a bit chewy when grilled for too long. Although his were far more rare than I'd prefer, they actually ended up tasting way better and the meat was more delicate. The flavors were phenomenal, and the salsa really cut down the spiciness of the steak. I made a quick side dish by throwing snap peas, a bit of sesame oil, panko bread crumbs and salt into a wok and tossing it around for a few minutes. Quick, healthy, crunchy and delicious!

Until my next adventure...

xx,

ronit

Looking for spice...in raspberry linzer cookies

It's cold. 

And I mean not like kind of chilly, I mean IT'S COLD. Since I refuse to bring out my winter clothing just yet, I've been walking around shivering for days without a warm coat. In fact, on my way to work this morning, I'm pretty sure I got a how-are-you-not-freezing-in-that!? look from a homeless women. Whom, might I add, was dressed far warmer than me. 

Back to the things that really matter: raspberry linzer cookies. Now, if you're thinking "what the hell does this have to do with spices?" well, let me tell you something. First off, it's my blog and I'll do what I want. Second, there are spices in these cookies! And they're delicious. And holiday-y and they make you(me) feel warm and fuzzy. 

Raspberry linzer cookies:

1/2 Cup sliced almonds

1/2 Cup coarsely chopped hazelnuts

2 Cups + 1 Tbs. all purpose flour

3/4 Cup granulated sugar

1/2 Tsp. baking powder

1/2 Tsp. table salt

1/2 Tsp. ground cinnamon 

1/4 Tsp. ground cloves

14 Tbs. chilled unsalted butter

1 large egg

1 Tbs. cold water

1/2 Cup raspberry preserves 

Confectioners sugar for dusting 

In a food processor, process almonds, hazelnuts and a 1/2 cup of flour until fine textured but not powdered. Avoid over-processing by occasionally stopping the machine to feel the nuts; (haha, I just said feel the nuts on my blog) they might still look chunky because they're bunching together. Add the remaining flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and cloves. Pulse to combine ingredients. Chop up the butter into small cubes and add to the flour mixture. Pulse to combine until the mixture looks coarse and flaky.

Transfer the flour mix to a large bowl. Mix the water and egg together and then combine with the flour mixture. Mix gently to combine, and once combined - the flour should hold together when pinched. If it seems too dry, add a tiny bit of water. Gather the dough into two balls and knead for about a minute, just to blend. Wrap both balls in plastic (stop it, don't make me laugh) and let chill for about 2 hours. 

Once your dough is firm, remove from the fridge and generously cover your working surface with flour. Leave half of the dough in the fridge so that it doesn't get too soft to work with. Place the dough on your floured service and use a rolling pin to flatten the dough to about 3/16 inch thickness. Then, cut out as many 2 inch rounds as possible, re-rolling scraps to make more rounds. Shit got real when I realized I didn't have circular cookie cutters for the large rounds as well as the middle rounds. So, what did I do? Well, I used my measuring cup as a large round cookie cutter and the lid from a chocolate syrup for the little rounds. Aren't I resourceful? 

I can't stress enough how important it is to have a good amount of flour on your working surface when rolling/cutting the dough. Once you've cut your rounds, line them on baking sheets and place in the oven for 15 minutes at 325 degrees. Once they've baked, remove from oven and dust with confectioner's sugar. 

While the cookies are baking and then cooling down, remove the other ball of dough from the fridge and repeat the same process. However, since you're now making the bottom of the cookie, you won't need to cut a smaller round in the cookie. So just cut out an equal amount of 2 inch rounds and bake for 15 minutes. 

Once the cookies are baked and cooled, place about 1/2 tsp of raspberry preserves on the whole cookie rounds. Top with your sugar dusted cookies, bottom sides against the preserves. 

I ended up with 20 cookies, and will most likely make the cookies a bit smaller next time. The taste of the hazelnut and almonds with the raspberry preserve was absolutely delicious. The butter gave these cookies a bit of a shortbread texture, which I absolutely love. The cookies are warm, nutty, sweet and awesome for the holidays! If you're feeling in the baking spirit like I was, these would make a great dessert for any holiday dinner. Or in my case, an office meeting.

Until my next adventure...

xx,

ronit