Beef and Eggplant with Miso

I nerdily tape (among other things on NHK) “Your Japanese Kitchen Mini,” these little five minute cooking segments on the Japanese channel. I basically want to make practically every recipe Harumi makes on it. And this was a great one – a lovely sweet/salty balance and a good way to use up in-season eggplant.

The instructions given are a little on the vague side, but I made it work. The fry step is a bit of a hassle, but the texture of the eggplants was really nice, and I’m guessing that had something to do with it. I’d totally make this again, as I have trouble thinking of things to do with eggplant that get me excited.

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Steak Asparagus Skillet

Everyone I know is making this dish lately. It was quite good, if not a total knock-out (I also overcooked the meat a bit, to be fair). I used less oil than the recipe called for but I don’t remember precisely how much, so writing the recipe as is.

Beef Bowl

Mmm, beef bowl. Not sure if I prefer this recipe or the one I made previously, but both are great. And I still am not good at poaching eggs.

Lomo Saltado

I made this when my friend Amy came over for dinner and we liked it a lot. It’s basically a Peruvian beef stir fry (John orders it frequently) with french fries mixed in. Loosely based off of this recipe with variation.

Cubed Steak, Cuban-Style

Cubed steak was one of my least favorite meals growing up (keep in mind it’s a cheap cut of meat, and my parents didn’t help by grilling it to a char and serving it with my childhood nemesis, ketchup). Regardless, I haven’t really seen it much in the grocery store around here. When I spotted it in the store recently, and saw a recipe blog that I generally like also had a recipe for it, I figured I’d give it a try. I thought this recipe was quite good – John liked the flavors but not really the cut of meat, which I get. Pictured with a parmesan wedge, recipe to follow.

Note: I’ve been traveling, and I’m a few weeks behind on recipe uploading, to the point where I’m having trouble remembering specifics for a couple of made-up recipes. We’ll see how it goes catching up.

Pressure Cooker Meatloaf

I don’t know that this meatloaf was anything to write home about, but it was perfectly fine and made for solid sandwiches when we had leftovers. I wanted to try out the pressure cooker on meatloaf, though. I substituted HP sauce for the ketchup since I am not a fan of the latter.

Pressure Cooker Corned Beef and Cabbage

I was happy that I actually made corned beef for St. Patrick’s Day this year (I had intentions to do so last year and had to go into emergency back surgery). The pressure cooker was an easy way to approach this. I am never super into the cabbage/vegetable portions of this dish, but these sure make amazing sandwiches the next day.