Rosemary Garlic Butter Steak

While I really love a tender juicy well seasoned steak, it's just not something I eat often. When I saw this recipe on Pinterest for Rosemary Garlic Butter Steak, I knew it was worth a shot. I like rosemary; I like garlic; and I like butter. How can it get any better? And the gamble paid off! This steak is very tasty and most definitely worth a shot!

4 rump steaks (or one or two larger cuts) (1 to 1.5-inches thick), room temperature
2 or 3 garlic cloves
2 Tbsps fresh rosemary leaves
3 Tbsps butter
1 Tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper
A splash of white or red wine

Dice the rosemary and garlic and mash together with the salt in a mortar and pestle.

Rub mixture on both sides of the steak. Allow to rest for 15-20 minutes.

Heat a skillet over medium/high heat and melt butter. Add oil to prevent it from burning too much. Add steaks, season them with pepper and cook 1 or 2 minutes on each side.

Turn it over. Cook it 2 or 3 more minutes and add the wine (you can add extra garlic and rosemary now too to the skillet). It will steam furiously. Cook the steak 2 or 3 additional minutes for medium rare, remove steaks and let rest for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, cook the wine until reduced and a kind of sauce is formed. Slice the steaks and pour the sauce over it.

Peanut Butter Fudge

There's not much more satisfying then finding a creamy melt-in-your-mouth fudge recipe. I have just such a recipe. For years, all the way back to childhood, my father made Chocolate Fudge for Christmas. That was the only type of fudge he ever made. I've had samples at candy stores I've gone to over the years, but it never occurred to me to make anything other than chocolate fudge at Christmastime... until 2014. I decided to give Peanut Butter Fudge a try, so I searched Pinterest and read a number of recipes to get ideas. While reading one of them, I realized that it was identical to my traditional chocolate fudge recipe, and the lightbulb in my head went off. So that's what I decided to try - my go-to recipe swapped out with peanut butter, and it was a major success. I made it again this past Christmas and put it in tins and brought some for the holiday party at work, and it clearly came out on top as one of the favorites. In 2014 I made a single batch of this, but in 2015 I ended up making a quadruple batch. Be warned, if you make this, then you'll probably be making it every year for years to come. It is worth it though. You can switch it up just a bit if you'd like at use crunchy peanut butter or add chopped peanuts to it. However you try it, I promise that this will be a big hit.

1 1/2 cups butter (plus more for the pan)
6 cups sugar
1 1/3 cups evaporated milk
2 cups creamy peanut butter
13 ounces puffed marshmallow cream
2 tsp vanilla

Butter the sides and bottom of two 9x13 pans. In a large soup pot, add butter, sugar and evaporated milk.

 

Bring to a boil over med-high heat. Boil until candy thermometer reaches 234 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter until incorporated. Stir in vanilla and marshmallow cream until incorporated and smooth. Pour into prepared pans. Once it has begun to set, cut the fudge. Chill it to help it set faster. It is a candy and can set at room temperature, but I find it lasts much longer and I enjoy the texture better when I store it in the fridge.

Squash Casserole

It took me years to get around to eating squash. I mean, literally, years. I was in my 30s before I tried it. I'm still a little limited in how I eat it. I either like it raw and sliced or this casserole. This casserole is so flavorful. I'm sure you'll enjoy it if you give it a try. I got this recipe from my mom, but I'm not really sure where she found it from all of those years ago.

2.5 to 3 lbs of squash (cubed)
1 large onion (diced)
1 stack saltine crackers (crushed)
3 Tbsps melted butter
1 egg
1 cup milk
add salt and pepper to taste
1 to 2 cup shredded cheddar cheese (save 1/4 cup of cheese for later)

Cut squash and dice onion.

Cover with water and boil squash and onion with salt and pepper until squash is fork tender.

Drain water and mash squash until you reach the texture you prefer - I do not like large chunks of squash, so I mash mine quite a bit.

While squash and onion are cooking, gather remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Start with the crackers - a trick I've learned when you need to crush a whole pack of crackers is to push the crackers down to one end and then force them into a slant with your fingers. Then start crushing. Do this over the bowl you're using to catch any crumbs. When it feels crushed enough, then just open one end and pour the crumbs in the bowl.

 Add the egg, milk, melted butter and most of the cheese to the crackers.

When squash is cooked, drain water and mash squash and onion.

Combine with other ingredients and mix well.

Pour into a greased casserole dish, and bake at 400 degrees about 45 minutes or until top is golden brown.

Sprinkle remaining cheese over hot casserole.