Well we made it to Michigan, and I unpacked the kitchen. You all know what that means!
After 2 weeks of eating pantry and freezer items and take out and restaurant food, it was time for Iron Chef!
The last freezer item from the old place was two venison steaks from a deer that was lovingly shot by our friend Mash. The first item in our new freezer was a package of frozen corn left by the girl who lived here before us. The dish was inspired by Allison. I cut the steaks into medallions and coated them with flour. Then I seared them in a pan to medium rare. I set the steaks aside and sauteed onions and mushrooms and added some chicken stock and cream to make a sauce. I served the steaks and mushroom sauce over mashed potatoes with corn on the side and a squeeze of lemon. Instant mashed potatoes, but shhh. dont tell.
I managed to snap a photo with my phone before Dan devoured everything.
For battle pecan, I may have gone overboard, but it was good. :)
I made a pecan caramel corn that was just the right balance of savory and sweet. I normally hate caramel corn because its just sugary and gets stuck in your teeth, but the salt on this was just right. I also got Dan some whole pecans in the shell to snack on before dinner. There is something nice about freshly cracking, peeling, butchering, or picking your own food. I think working for it makes it taste better.
Dinner was Pecan crusted chicken Kiev, with broccoli pecan casserole and a green salad with a cranberry pecan vinaigrette. Chicken Kiev, while delicious, is one of those things that should only be made rarely. The amount of work it takes is RIDICULOUS. One of the recipes I saw called for making like 8 servings, and it makes sense now. They freeze really well uncooked, and you only mess up the kitchen once. The broccoli casserole was tasty and easy, it had a cheesy creamy sauce with horseradish in it. The pecan vinaigrette was really great, and Ill be making that again. I blended some dried cranberries and pecans together to make a pasty mealy consistency, just before it would have turned into nut butter. Then I added red wine vinegar and olive oil and some honey and herbs.
Dessert was individual Chocolate Pecan Pies (recipe stolen from Paula Dean) and we never even got to them last night because we were so full.
No photos of this dinner either, I can't seem to find the camera in all this mess. :o\
I'm off to empty another box!
