B2 — THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2021
HOME & LIVING
Wine sauce elevates steak
By LINDA GASSENHEIMER
Tribune News Service
This steak cooked in red
wine is easy to make and
is great for a weeknight
meal. I also like to double
the quantities, invite some
guests and make it for a
weekend treat. The sauce
is made in the same skillet
used to cook the steak,
giving added fl avor and
body. To speed up the meal,
the potatoes are cooked in
the microwave and then
sauteed for a couple of min-
utes in the same skillet used
for the steak. They will pick
up some of the fl avor of the
sauce.
Shallots are called for
in the recipe. This member
of the onion family has a
milder fl avor. Their thinner
cell structure makes a
smoother sauce.
Helpful Hints
• You can substitute
onion instead of shallots.
• You can use any type
of quick cooking steak such
as sirloin, fl ank or skirt.
Cook less time for thinner
cuts. A meat thermometer
should read 135 degrees
for medium-rare and 145
degrees for medium.
• You can use any type
of red wine.
Countdown
• Microwave potatoes.
• Make steak.
• Finish potatoes.
Shopping List
To buy: 3/4 pound
grass-fed strip steak (sir-
loin, fl ank or skirt can be
used), 1 can olive oil spray,
4 medium-sized shallots, 1
package sliced mushrooms,
1 bottle dry red wine, 1
bunch fresh thyme leaves
or 1 bottle dried thyme, 1
bunch parsley (optional gar-
nish), 1 container unsalted
chicken broth and 3/4 pound
red potatoes.
Staples: olive oil, fl our,
ketchup, garlic, salt and
black peppercorns.
STEAK IN RED
WINE SAUCE
Recipe by Linda Gassenheimer
Olive oil spray
3/4 pound grass-fed strip
steak, about 3/4 inch thick
4 medium-sized shallots,
sliced (about 1/2 cup)
3/4 cup sliced mushrooms
1 tablespoon fl our
1/2 cup dry red wine
1/4 cup fat-free, no-salt-
added chicken broth
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
Salt and freshly ground
black pepper
2 tablespoons freshly chopped
parsley (optional)
Remove visible fat from steak.
Heat a medium-size nonstick skil-
let over medium-high heat. Spray
skillet with olive oil spray. Add
steak and brown 2 minutes on
each side. Move steak to one side
of skillet, lower heat to medium
and add shallots and mushrooms
to the open space of the skillet.
Cook for a further 2 minutes. Cook
1 further minute if you prefer
meat more well done. A meat
thermometer should read 135 for
medium rare and 145 for medium.
Remove steak to a cutting board
and let rest while fi nishing the
sauce. Add fl our to the skillet
and mix with vegetables until
dissolved. Raise the heat to medi-
um-high and add the wine. Cook
1 minute. Add the broth, ketchup
and thyme. Cook 2-3 minutes to
reduce liquid and thicken sauce.
Add salt and pepper to taste. Cut
steak into slices and divide be-
tween two dinner plates. Spoon
sauce over steak and sprinkle with
parsley (optional). Set aside skillet
to fi nish potatoes.
Yield 2 servings.
Per serving: 312 calories (20%
from fat), 6.9 g fat (1.9 g saturated,
3.1 g monounsaturated), 96 mg
cholesterol, 42 g protein, 12 g
carbohydrates, 0.6 g fi ber, 114 mg
sodium.
Linda Gassenheimer/TNS
Steak in red wine sauce with garlic potatoes.
GARLIC
POTATOES
Recipe by Linda Gassenheimer
3/4 pound red potatoes
(about 1 3/4 cups cubes)
1 tablespoon olive oil, divided use
4 medium cloves garlic, crushed
Salt and freshly ground
black pepper
Wash potatoes, do not peel
and cut into 1/2-inch cubes.
Place in a microwave-safe bowl.
Add 1/2 tablespoon oil and gar-
lic. Mix well. Cover with another
plate or plastic wrap. Microwave
on high 3 minutes. Potatoes
should be cooked and soft. Add
another minute if needed. Add
the remaining 1/2 tablespoon oil
to the skillet used for the steak.
Add the potatoes and toss in the
skillet for 2 minutes to add fl avor
and color. Add salt and pepper
to taste.
Yield 2 servings.
Per serving: 187 calories (34%
from fat), 7 g fat (1 g saturated,
3.3 g monounsaturated), no
cholesterol, 3.6 g protein, 29.1 g
carbohydrates, 3.1 g fi ber, 33 mg
sodium.
One night in Bangkok, and the world’s your taco
an-ish chicken, green chili puree,
aji amarillo aioli, salsa criolla,
serrano chile and crispy potato.
One of the best things
It’s good, but my absolute
about visiting my daughters in
favorite — and the taco I can’t
Arlington, Virginia, is that there
stop thinking about — is the One
are so many funky restaurants to
Night in Bangkok. Seared shrimp
choose from. One of my favor-
is paired with a spicy chorizo larb
ites is Taco Bamba, a chainlet of
inside a fl our tortilla and topped
fast-casual taquerias that dishes
with mint, basil, chiles and crispy
up some of the Washington, D.C.
onion.
area’s best tacos at surprisingly
Lucky for me — and you —
non-D.C. prices.
Chef Albisu agreed to share the
Each of its six locations fea-
recipe, so I don’t have to drive
tures two taco lists. Tradicio-
four hours to eat one.
nales are classics like carnitas,
The list of ingredients is
barbacoa, al pastor and birria
longish, but save for the lemon-
(here, goat), while the Nuestros
grass stalk, everything can be
menu highlights original creations found in your local grocery store.
with fun names inspired by the
To quick-pickle sliced Fresno
neighborhood.
chilies, simply bring 1 cup white
At the Ballston taqueria just
wine vinegar, 1/2 cup sugar and 1
around the corner from my daugh- tablespoon salt to a boil in a small
ters’ apartment, the El Pollo Rico saucepan, stirring to dissolve
taco pays tribute to the local Peru- sugar and salt, then pour brine
vian restaurant of the same name
over chiles and let cool.
(and Taco Bamba chef/owner
The recipe makes more larb
Victor Albisu’s Latin American
sauce than you’ll need for six
heritage) with a fi lling of Peruvi-
tacos, but no worries — you’ll
By GRETCHEN McKAY
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
BLOOM
Continued from Page B1
together eat better, enjoy
better relationships and do
better in school.
Eating together can
happen at any meal,
according to Jill Ladd,
MPH, a contributor for
HealthLinkBC, a British
Columbia website. If you
are not used to eating
together as a family,
start small. Maybe you
can only make one meal
once a week to start. It
might be Sunday break-
fast or Thursday dinner,
and that’s OK. You can
build on your successes.
Try to incorporate as
much healthy food as pos-
sible. Studies have shown
people who eat together
tend to eat more fruits and
vegetables.
Encourage family
members to get in on the
meal planning and prepa-
ration. Children who are
involved with meal plan-
ning and making a meal
are more prone to eat the
food they make and try
diff erent foods. Children
of all ages are capable
of doing tasks to help in
the kitchen. Young chil-
dren can wash lettuce and
other vegetables or set the
table. Older children can
grate cheese for a pizza,
roll out the dough or pick
herbs from the garden.
Meals do not have to
be made entirely from
scratch. Why stress
about preparing every-
thing you put on the table
from scratch? If all you
do is heat up some soup
and make toast, it’s still
dinner, right? The point is
spending time together.
Cooking is a great way
to connect with family
members, teach simple
cooking techniques and
food safety.
Everyone should wash
their hands with warm
soapy water before begin-
ning meal preparation. If
you have young or inex-
perienced cooks in the
kitchen supervision is key.
Cuts and burns are a sure
way to turn a fun activity
into a not-so-fun activity
really fast.
If some foods are new
to children, don’t force
them (or bribe them)
to try the food, though
gentle encouragement to
try something new is a
positive approach.
According to child
nutritionist Ellyn Satter,
author of “Child of Mine”
and “How to Get Your
Child to Eat ... But Not
Too Much,” children
generally make seven
attempts at touching, put-
ting a new food in their
mouth, chewing it and
spitting it out before they
get around to swallowing
it.
Parents are good role
models here. You can use
mealtime to teach your
children what you want
them to say when they
don’t want a particular
want to spoon it on top of grilled
and shredded chicken, beef or
anything that lends itself to Thai
fl avors.
ONE NIGHT IN
BANGKOK TACO
For larb sauce
1 serrano chile, minced
2 green onions, minced
1-inch piece lemongrass, minced
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons fi sh sauce
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 bunch mint, chopped
(about 1/4 cup)
4 Thai or Italian basil leaves, chopped
1/4 bunch cilantro, chopped
(about 1/4 cup)
1-inch piece fresh ginger,
peeled and grated
1 clove garlic, grated
1/2 tablespoon orange juice
food. For example, “no,
thank you,” or “I don’t
care for any, thank you,”
are good approaches to
try. “Yuck!” works, too,
but the cuteness factor is
short-lived.
Help children know
how much food to take
and when they have had
enough. Do not encourage
membership in the Clean
Plate Club. This teaches
children to overeat and
overrides their bodies’
natural cues that tell
them when they have had
enough food.
Eating together is
about connecting. This
means TVs, cellphones,
computers and all other
screens are turned off . It
is a time to teach children
about family values and
traditions, to hear about
everyone’s day. Keep the
conversations upbeat and
positive. Schedule the
tough or disciplinary con-
versations for a later time.
Ask open-ended ques-
tions (questions which
require more than a yes or
no or OK answer) as con-
versation starters to get
the table talk going. Ques-
tions such as, “What is the
best thing that happened
to you today and why?” or
“If you could have dinner
with anyone who would
it be and why? and what
would you eat?” may get
more of a response than
the generic: “How was
your day today?”
There are also social
and health benefi ts of
little salt and pepper, or whatever spices
you like and, once oil is hot, add to the
pan. Cook for 1-2 minutes per side,
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
12 medium shrimp, peeled and deveined until the shrimp is opaque all the way
through. Remove from pan and reserve.
Kosher salt and freshly
In the same pan, add chorizo and
ground black pepper
8 ounces ground chorizo
cook for about 5 minutes, breaking it
1/4 cup larb sauce
into crumbles until cooked through.
6-8 mint leaves
Spoon cooked chorizo into a bowl.
6-8 Thai or Italian basil leaves
Add cooked shrimp. Add 1/4 cup larb
6-8 cilantro leaves
sauce and toss together until meat and
6 corn tortillas
shrimp are well coated.
1 scallion, thinly sliced
Add mint, basil and cilantro leaves to
2 tablespoons pickled red Fresno
the bowl, gently tearing them with your
pepper or other spicy pickled chile
fi ngers and stirring into the mixture.
1 serrano chile, thinly sliced
Give it a taste. Add more larb sauce if
2 tablespoons crispy shallots or onions
desired.
Make larb sauce: Place minced
With a small amount of oil, toast your
serrano chile, scallion and lemongrass
tortillas
in a pan over medium-high
in a medium bowl. Add soy sauce, lime
heat,
on
both sides until the tortilla is
juice, fi sh sauce and sugar. Stir well to
hot
and
pliable.
incorporate sugar.
Divide chorizo-shrimp-larb mixture
Add chopped herbs, grated ginger,
evenly
between your tortillas. Top tacos
grated garlic and orange juice to bowl,
and mix to combine. Set aside while you with sliced scallion, pickled chile, sliced
serranos and crispy shallots.
make tacos.
Makes 6 tacos.
Prepare tacos: In a saute pan, heat 2
— Victor Albisu, chef/owner Taco
tablespoons cooking oil over medi-
um-high heat. Season shrimp with a
Bamba.
For tacos
eating together. For teen-
agers who participate in
family mealtime, there
tends to be less alcohol,
drug and cigarette use.
Teens do better in school
and there is less disrup-
tive behavior at school,
and less negative behavior
in general. Students get
better grades and do
better on tests.
For all family mem-
bers, eating together
establishes healthy eating
patterns and people who
eat together tend to main-
tain a healthy weight.
For all these reasons,
eating together is good
for your health and your
family’s health. For more
information, or ideas on
how you can start eating
together and eating better,
go to www.foodhero.org.
Ann Bloom has worked
for the OSU Extension
Service for 15 years as a
nutrition educator. She
studied journalism and
education at Washington
State University. She lives
in Enterprise.
PIE
Continued from Page B1
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon fl our
1 teaspoon cinnamon
For crumb topping
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup fl our
6 tablespoons butter,
cut into chunks
Preheat oven to 350
degrees.
Prepare crust: In large bowl,
combine dry ingredients. Cut
in shortening using a pastry
blender or until mixture is
crumbly. Mix in water a table-
spoon at a time to form dough.
(It should hold together when
pinched.) Shape into a ball,
fl atten with your palm into a
disc, then roll out on a fl oured
surface into a circle about 2
inches wider than the pie plate.
Transfer dough to pie plate.
Prepare fi lling: Peel, core
and slice apples, then place in
a large bowl. Add dry ingredi-
ents and mix by hand until all
apples are covered. Pour into
pie crust. (It will look like a lot,
but the apples will bake down.)
Prepare topping: Place sugar
and fl our into a medium bowl.
Rub the butter into the mixture
with your fi ngers until it’s
crumbly. Pat crumble mixture
on top of unbaked pie.
Place pie on a cookie sheet
(to capture any drippings) and
bake for 60 minutes or until ap-
ples are completely soft when
pierced with a knife. (My pie
took about 20 minutes longer.)
Transfer pie to a rack to cool
completely, then enjoy.
Makes 1 pie.
— Travis Harhai, Mount
Pleasant, Pennsylvania
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