What's Cooking: Steak & Carrot Top Chimichurri, Kielbasa Soup, Mirliton Casserole, Grapefruit Bars & More!

Since we ate Friendsgiving leftovers all last week, there was a point where I wondered if I’d have enough content for a full “What’s Cooking” blog this week. And then I had a marathon of cooking on Saturday and Sunday and changed that!

Cooking is like therapy and mental rest to me, so even when it’s been a long week and there’s a lot on my mind, I feel way more grounded and sane when I spend a bunch of time in my kitchen making delicious food.

Picanha & Chuck Eye Steaks with Carrot Top Chimichurri, Cauliflower & Potatoes

With herbs like cilantro and parsley back in season it’s chimichurri time!

I had a little bit of cilantro that didn’t end up being useable by the time I went to make the chimchurri, but I did have a beautiful bunch of parsley and plenty of carrot tops.

And I brought home a bunch of extra picanha and chuck eye steaks than we would eat in one sitting because these are both perfect cuts to slice thin for steak sandwiches and tacos and that’s what I plan to use the leftovers for all week.

For the chimichurri, I have followed traditional recipes before, but like to do my own riff based on my tastes and what I have on hand. So the main change I make is using coriander seeds instead of cumin seeds. I think the bright citrusy notes work much better with the herbs than the sometimes overpowering earthy taste of cumin.

Typically chimichurri has red wine vinegar, but I had tons of Meyer lemons on hand, so I used lemon juice, a splash of balsamic vinegar and a little bit of garlic fermented honey to balance the acidity.

Red onions are not traditional either, but I did pulse those in the food processor first with the garlic and I added some smoked paprika along with the red chili flakes. The onions and smoked paprika give it a little brownish undertone versus bright green, but it was absolutely delicious anyway.

For the steaks, I defrosted them and then patted dry. Then I thoroughly salted them and let sit in the fridge for a few hours to further dry out, which helps to get a nice sear.

And then we did some roasted Yukon gold potatoes and a whole head of cauliflower to go along with the steak. For the cauliflower, I boiled in a brine of salt water and white balsamic vinegar first, then finished with Smokey Shiitake and Black Garlic seasoning under the broiler.

Kielbasa Soup with Turnips & Greens

I made way too many packs of kielbasa for our Friendsgiving party last week, so to make them more interesting, I made soup with them.

I sliced the already cooked sausage and browned them in a soup pot and cast iron pan, then cooked onions, kale and chard stems and frozen pink celery in the fat from the sausage.

I had cooked the sausage in beer, so I used some of that to deglaze the pan frequently, then added diced hakurei turnips and a pint of chicken broth.

I also added a pack of frozen pureed pumpkin I made last weekend to add some bulk and for the sweetness to offset the saltiness of the sausage. At the end, I added in the kale and Swiss chard leaves and then some milk to add creaminess and further offset the saltiness. Even though we are getting sick of the kielbasa, the soup came out really good!

Shrimp Mirliton Casserole

We didn’t end up making any really traditional Thanksgiving food last week, but I had already taken home some gumbo size shrimp and mirlitons to potentially make shrimp stuffed mirlitons.

And I finally got around to that a week and a half later!

I also had two eggplant to use up and plenty of peppers, so I decided to do more of a casserole route than stuffing the mirlitons individually.

This also meant that I could just roast the mirlitons in cubes instead of doing the boiling and cooling steps, which I find tedious.

Like any vegetable, roasting tends to intensify flavors and make them less watery than boiling does. So I cubed and roasted both the eggplant and the mirlitons and then started sautéing the other ingredients.

I started with onions and then added purple bell peppers and bullhorn peppers and then pink celery from my freezer supply. Then I added minced garlic and the shrimp and seasoned with garlic and onion powders, thyme and paprika.

The roasted veggies were ready by that point so I added those, cubes of toasted country loaf, a little broth and four small eggs to bind it all together. Then I topped it with parmesan and panko bread crumbs and a drizzle of olive oil and baked for 15 minutes or so until the eggs were set and the top was golden. It came out delicious and much quicker and easier than individually stuffed mirlitons.

XL Baby Back Ribs & Sweet Corn Grits

I had a pack of large baby back ribs from a breeder boar we had processed for ourselves awhile back, so that was the main protein to go with the mirliton casserole.

A friend had given us a batch of homemade artichoke miso, so I slathered that on the ribs along with some elderberry honey. I’m sure it sounds like a strange combination, but I was really just going for a quick umami-loaded sweet and sour flavor combination as that’s what barbecue sauce delivers! And it came out exactly like that. Salty, savory with a little acidity and sweetness.

I also made a batch of corn grits and added frozen sweet corn my parents grew at the end. And then we had it all with a salad with Granny Smith apples, fermented radishes, pistachios, goat feta and a dressing with tahini and nutritional yeast. So much protein, so many veggies, so much deliciousness, just the way we like it!

Roasted Pumpkin Mac & Cheese

There were speckled hound pumpkins and blemished butternut squashes to use up, not to mention some beautiful blue and tan pumpkins from the donated pumpkins calling my name.

So I did my annual big pumpkin roast before Friendsgiving and then pureed it all down. I froze several packs of it, but first used quite a bit of the puree in a big batch of pumpkin Mac and cheese.

I started with onions and garlic sautéed in butter and seasoned with mushroom thyme seasoning, dry mustard, nutmeg and rosemary. Then I added flour to make a roux. I then slowly added milk and then cheddar, gruyere and parmesan cheeses. For traditional Mac and cheese, you’d stop there and add your cooked pasta.

But with the addition of a bunch of pumpkin puree, you can use way less dairy. So for this, I did a whole three pounds of orecchiette pasta.

I cooked it pretty al dente because I knew I’d be baking it with a breadcrumb topping so I didn’t want it to get too mushy. I forgot to get the final picture after it was baked, but it came out delicious and now we can have multiple more pumpkin pasta dishes in our future this winter with all the pumpkin in the freezer.

Pink Grapefruit Bars

This is the second time I’ve made these and with all the rich food and decadent desserts at Thanksgiving, I thought they were a welcome tart contrast! Think traditional lemon bars but with grapefruit instead.

The recipe is from the New York Times and I followed it almost exactly, but I am too lazy and can’t handle the waste of straining out the grapefruit zest. I love grapefruit and think they come out delicious without that step, but if you want to tame the bitterness a bit or want a smoother texture, don’t skip that straining/sifting step.

Last time I also cooked the crust for as long as directed and it was too long, so I shortened the cook time based on the color this time.

I also love this recipe because it uses eight eggs, something that we always have an excess of in our house (even in times of lower egg production there’s somehow always too many cracked eggs to keep up with!).

The topping is powdered sugar pulsed in a food processor with freeze dried strawberries. I can’t bring myself to buy those because who knows where the strawberries come from, but I did dehydrate and then freeze some Louisiana strawberries this spring, so I pulsed those in the food processor with powdered sugar. Of course, the dehydrated strawberries have a chewier texture and don’t get as fine in the food processor, but I sifted through a strainer and got the same effect! (And saved the bigger pieces for making strawberry frosting or something at some point!).

I will absolutely be making these again during citrus season — they’re such a rich, yet refreshing dessert.