Steak Piperade

We've had such great luck with the Williams Sonoma What's for Dinner: 30-Minute Meals special recipe set! Really, these recipes are straightforward, unintimidating, and true to their quickness claims. Our next foray into the meal plan was Steak Piperade.

First, a flank steak is seasoned with salt and pepper, then browned over high heat with 1 tablespoon each of butter and olive oil. You have some freedom here in terms of doneness - the recipe instructs you to cook the steak for 4-6 minutes on each side. We found ourselves going a little over the time on each side, by about 2 minutes per side, to achieve the "medium-rare" doneness suggested by the recipe.

Just a side note: When preparing flank steak, we also like to make it medium on the ends and medium rare inside. Then we eat the outer edges for dinner and save the interior for lunch the next day, which, upon reheating, yields us a nice, medium-cooked steak lunch. So when we say our steak was "medium-rare", we're referring to the inside bits, and not the ends.

Once it's done, the steak can be moved to a cutting board and covered loosely with foil while the peppers are prepared. The remaining butter and oil are heated and used to sautee the red onion, garlic, and bell peppers along with the thyme. The wine and tomatoes are added, and the whole mixture is simmered for about five minutes. This process provides the steak with enough time to rest for cutting.

We really enjoyed the buttery flavor of the steak - it's not for every day, but it was a nice little treat! We probably should have sliced our bell peppers slightly more thinly, because they were still on the crisp side in our finished dish, compared with the tender, shaved-looking peppers in the recipe image.

We would definitely make this recipe again, and we'd recommend it to our readers, too, as a no-fuss weeknight meal. If you try it, let us know what you think in the comments section!

Cuban Beef Picadillo

It's time to try another offering from Williams-Sonoma's "What's for Dinner" 30-Minute Meals feature! Today, we're investigating the Cuban Beef Picadillo.

This dish appealed to us because of its straightforwardness and the number of potential serving methods. The recipe claims it can be served over rice, in tortillas, or over spaghetti. (Yeah, that last one didn't sound awesome to us at first, either!)

The recipe begins with an onion, sauteed for 4 minutes. To that, the ground beef is added and browned for 8 minutes, taking care to break up the clumps. The recipe instructs you to separate and discard any fat, but our beef was lean enough that the fat content was negligible.

Next, the spices and garlic are incorporated and cooked for 1 minute. After this, the remaining ingredients are added and brought to a simmer.

Williams-Sonoma's chefs claim that 15 minutes was enough to reduce the mixture to a "stew like" consistency, but it took us almost double that. Our canned tomatoes may just have been extra juicy, or we may not have had the heat turned up enough - either way, we'd caution you to leave a little extra time for preparation. After all, if you finish early, there's no harm in leaving it on low heat a little longer!

We thought this recipe was good, but not great. Because of the seasonings and the currants, the finished product had a slightly sweet (but not too sweet) taste. You guys know us well enough now that you can probably predict our refrain: We want more kick!

If we make this again, we're likely to add a dash of cayenne, and we may also throw in some chopped olives and diced bell peppers for more texture. The salty flavor of the olives, we think, would balance out the sweetness particularly well!

And one final note about serving: Our original plating was with tortillas, which was good but, due to the subtle flavor and liquidity, a messy, mushy combination. We found a winner when we served it over steamed white rice, and, having tried it, we actually can see it being served successfully over pasta. (We know, right?!) It just goes to show, sometimes it's nice to keep an open mind.

Williams Sonoma Slow-Cooker Meals

You sure can learn things from following Williams Sonoma on Twitter. Today, they alerted us to some new (and some old) slow-cooker recipes.

We already have our eye on Chicken Marsala. What should we try?

Chicken and Corn Chowder

Our first foray into Williams-Sonoma's Month of 30-Minute Meals feature is Chicken and Corn Chowder.

We had to make a few substitutions this time because our grocer had run out of required ingredients:

• We used chicken tenders instead of boneless, skinless chicken thighs


• We subbed in 1 tablespoon of dried thyme instead of fresh

We should also point out that the carton of half-and-half we used provided us with only 2 cups worth, whereas the recipe calls for 2.5 cups. We didn't notice anything wrong with the texture of the chowder, though, so it was a great way to save ourselves a few calories.

The recipe called for dry white wine, and because we're often at a loss for what that means, we did some research. Savignon blanc and chardonnay are the most notable of the dry whites; pinot grigio and riesling are considered "medium-dry" whites, and can also be used. We had two bottles of savignon blanc hanging out in our wine cabinet, so we went with that.

First, the bacon is prepared in a large stock pot or dutch oven and set aside. Three tablespoons of the bacon fat are retained in the pot and are used to sautee the potatoes, corn, and red bell pepper. (Those with an aversion to bacon fat could substitute an equal quantity of canola or extra virgin olive oil.) We happen to love all things bacon, so we stuck to the recipe there.

After sauteeing the vegetables at medium heat for 5 minutes, the broth and wine are added and the mixture is brought to a boil. Once boiling, the pot is covered and cooked for 5 more minutes.

Then, the chicken is added and cooked, covered, for 5-7 more minutes.

The green onions, half and half, thyme, salt, and pepper are added, and the mixture is brought to a simmer, at which point the heat is reduced to medium low and cooked for one last 3-minute segment. The chowder can then be ladled into bowls and topped with (delicious) bacon.

Although advertised as a 30-minute meal, this took slightly longer (45 minutes) to prepare. Still, it was a low-maintenance dish and perfect for a weeknight meal. It received rave reviews from our tasters, and is definitely something we'd look to make again (although not very often - it's so rich that we're sure it's not waistline friendly!). All-in-all, a solid, easy to prepare dish to fend off the winter blues!

Williams Sonoma 30 Minute Meals

Williams Sonoma just Tweeted an introduction to a new "What's for Dinner" 30-minute meal special! Some of these look fantastic and we can't wait to try them in 2011.

What on this list catches your eye? Let us know and we'll put it on our menu!

Mini Roast Beef and Horseradish Panini Triangles

First off, we'd like to apologize for the lack of pictures on this particular recipe. It was about this time that our first guests arrived, and in the midst of all the commotion, we simply forgot about blogging!

In search of hearty appetizers to prepare for this year's Christmas party, we ran across Mini Roast Beef and Horseradish Panini Triangles from Williams-Sonoma. We were enticed by the quick prep work, bulk quantities (we doubled our batch for even more), and flavorful ingredients - and our guests just lapped them up!

These tasty little sandwiches take very little work to assemble, but you'll be best served to prepare them assembly-line style, with 2 or more people. We broke up our workload by having Mrs. Yuppie prepare the sandwiches for the panini grill, and our new roommate, Tom, handle the pressing and slicing. Working in such a way, we cranked out about 40 of these suckers in less than half an hour.

A side note: Although the recipe says to serve these warm, they were still delicious at room temperature. Actually, the next time we make these, we may try to prepare and refrigerate them a few hours to one day in advance, then warm them up quickly in the oven before placing them on a tray for service.

Italian Sausage with Arrabbiata Sauce and Polenta

We're reaching back into the treasure trove of Williams-Sonoma tonight with an entrée: Italian Sausage with Arrabbiata Sauce and Polenta.

The recipe has two distinct phases: making the polenta and making everything else. The focus on grains is for good reason, because, as it turns out, real, Italian-style polenta is hard to make! The preparation requires 35 to 40 minutes and constant stirring. Unless you want to check "make honest-to-goodness polenta" off your bucket list or are looking for a good arm workout, we suggest substituting the 5-minute variety. Doing so will cut your cooking time by more than half and, if our experience is any indication, you won't miss a thing!

The next step is browning the sausage, which is a simple task. To avoid crowding our sausage links, we browned 4 at a time for 10 minutes (for a total of 8 links, or 20 minutes cooking time). This left a brown, spotty coating on the bottom of our pan, but not to worry if this happens to you - the next step will take care of the clean-up.

After moving the browned sausages to a plate, it's time to sautee the veggies! This recipe employs some of the more ubiquitous (and, thus, lower cost) vegetables in your produce section: onions and green bell peppers. The sautee is performed at a medium heat for 10 minutes, and the release of water from the vegetables makes short work of deglazing the pan.

In goes the arrabbiata sauce and the sausage, and together they simmer for another 10 minutes. (You'll notice from our ingredient line-up that we opted to use our own favorite bottled sauce, rather than make an extra trip to W-S.) Once the flavors have melded, remove the pan from the heat and serve on a bed of whichever polenta you decide to concoct.

This recipe was phenomenal, and a great departure from everyday Italian pasta dishes. Furthermore, there's a lot of room to make this dish healthier by 86-ing the cheese or the butter from the polenta or using chicken sausage.

Have you tried this dish? Tell us what you think in the comments!

Gingerbread Cookies with Confectioner's Sugar Icing

Our friend recently deployed to Iraq for a year. While he's gone, a group of us has committed to sending him care packages that represent the current season back home. We thought and thought about what we should include in the fall-themed package, and a trip through Hobby Lobby provided inspiration: gingerbread cookies in the shape of turkeys! It was obviously fated, so we snapped them up and ran home to bake.

The basis for our cookies is the Gingerbread Cookies recipe from Cooking Light's November 2009 issue. We made these for our annual Christmas party last year and they were a smash hit, so we were able to bake with confidence.

Before attempting these cookies, be aware that the dough requires an hour's worth of chillin' in the fridge. The good news, though, is that the cookies will keep for weeks in an airtight container, so you can make them several days ahead when you have time and ice them later.

We love the simple icing recipe that accompanies the cookies, but it's more for piping, and we didn't quite know how to pipe a turkey! That's why we headed over to Williams-Sonoma and snapped up a recipe for Confectioners' Sugar Icing instead.

The W-S icing requires 3 ingredients not pictured in our ingredient line-up - 1/2 stick of butter, water, and 1/2 cup of powdered sugar - and about 7 minutes to prepare (5 of which are cooling time). It results in a buttery, sugar icing that can either be drizzled or spread.

We chose the festive route and opted to drizzle the icing on our cookies, and they turned out looking very chic and modern! A tip for fellow drizzlers - lay your cookies out on a large sheet of saran wrap, leaving plenty of room on the top and bottom sides. Then, start the stream of icing before you get to the first cookie, and finish after you've reached the last one. That way, all of your cookies look perfectly uniform, with none of them looking like an obvious starting or ending point.

Our fingers are crossed that the desert heat doesn't melt these into a sticky, gooey mess! But hey, it's the thought that counts, right? And no matter how they look when they reach their destination, we know one thing's for sure: they'll still be delicious!

Crisp Chocolate Chip Cookies with Dried Cherries and Pistachios

Halloween is fast approaching, and what better way to prepare than with a sinful treat? (No tricks, we promise!) This one comes from our new favorite recipe destination, Williams-Sonoma.com, and they call these their Crisp Chocolate Chip Cookies with Dried Cherries and Pistachios.

First a warning - do not start eating this dough, or you will not be able to stop. Seriously, we clearly missed the part where it said we were actually adding crack to the dough. It must have been in the butter.

Let it be known that those pistachios and cherries came with a Williams-Sonoma price tag, but boy were they worth it! The cookies themselves were very easy to assemble. Beyond combining the powdered ingredients, the bulk of the recipe relied heavily on our old friend, the stand-mixer. Add, mix, add, mix, add, mix...you get the idea.

Placing the cookies on the prepared sheets was challenging, because the dough was a) sticky, and b) delicious. To save yourself a few extra hours on the elliptical, we recommend using two teaspoons to shape the dough into balls, flattening them with the palm of your hand, and quickly stashing both baking sheets in your oven. Then lick that mixing bowl clean!

Swapping the baking sheets midway through cooking creates a problem because those sheets are good and greased up. Your cookies will slide if you don't keep them level, so take your time!

We offer this caution because we, of course, did NOT take our time. Zombies must have eaten our brains last night, because one of us tried to perform the whole sheet-swapping task without setting down either baking sheet.

That's how we ended up with Mega-Cookie.

Most of Mega-Cookie was salvageable with a few quick cuts from the edge of a spatula, and one of us appreciated the excuse to sample some of our less attractive product.

The verdict? These. Cookies. Are. Delicious. In fact, we've already pulled the trigger and added them to our Christmas Party must-have list. They are so crammed full of delicious fall flavors that we could eat them all season. (And since W-S doesn't include nutritional information with their recipes, we just might!)

So make these. Make them now. This weekend, if you have to wait. And...have a tasty, treat-filled Halloween!

Pork Roast with Dried-Fruit Compote

As the weather cools off and daylight hours become scarce, there's nothing better than coming home to a delicious smelling roast. Last week, we decided to see whether William's Sonoma's Pork Roast with Dried-Fruit Compote would fit that bill.

The recipe comes from the retailer's "Food Made Fast" series (the "Slow Cooker" issue, to be exact), and while "fast" and "slow cooker" are certainly oxymorons, the prep for this roast was unbelievably quick. The ingredient list only necessitates one "fresh" ingredient - the roast itself. Everything else is either a pantry staple (brown sugar), something you could substitute with a pantry staple (dried rosemary) or something you could pick up and keep on hand for whenever the mood for a roast strikes (dried fruit).

The only time-consuming step was browning the pork. Set your alarm an extra 20 minutes early and check the weather or catch up on the news while you work. It's a quick 15-minute task to brown the roast, and with an additional 5 minutes, you've deglazed the pan and are ready to go.

When we arrived at home, we were greeted with some fabulous smells and a roast so tender that it literally fell right off of the bone. It was so good that we didn't even have enough left over for lunches the next day, so we regrettably can't give you the skinny on how well it reheats!

All in all-this was a solid dish for a day when you know you won't have the energy to slave over the stove. And now that we know where to find Williams-Sonoma's stash of online recipes, we'll certainly be back for more!