Cheyenne's Steak Tips, Cowboy Potatoes & Peppermint Ice Cream
I had a great Valentine's Day at home with the two best guys in the world! I was happy to receive another handmade card from them this year.....I added it to my collection. I absolutely love and treasure every single one of these cards!
I wasn't expecting anything special yesterday (other than my cherished card) because I had scored some awesome boots at the Black Hills Stock Show, which were my early Valentine's Day present (can't beat that)! I have been admiring these Corral Boots for some time now......I ran into a sale.....and well, I just couldn't say no any longer! If you know me at all you know that they boots are absolutely perfect for me.....I LOVE Stars....black.....and silver.....Yep, these were made for me! Plus, they are comfy and fit perfectly! :)
Since we stayed home on the ranch for Valentine's Day, it was up to me to show my love to my guys through my normal means.....by cooking! I rewarded my Valentine's with a supper fit for a king......or a cattle baron.....or cowboys.....heck, most any beef lover would have been happy! I whipped up my Steak Tips, Cowboy Potatoes, & homemade Peppermint Ice Cream! To say the least, supper was heavenly!
The first thing I started on was the ice cream (due to the fact that it needs to freeze for some time before it's ready to be eaten). I followed a super easy Vanilla Ice Cream Recipe from Cuisinart, but I improvised to turn it into a Peppermint Ice Cream recipe. Here's the recipe:
Peppermint Ice Cream
1 ½ cups whole Milk
1 1/8 cups Granulated Sugar
3 cups of Heavy Cream
1-2 tsp. of Peppermint Extract
¼ cup of Peppermint Sticks (ground)
I recently got an Ice Cream Maker attachment for my Kitchen Aid Mixer. Today, is the first chance I've had to use it. It was super easy.....I can see ice cream making being done regularly at our house from here on out (especially since my boys LOVE ice cream)! Here are some pics from the process I used:
I combined everything as the recipe calls for (substituting Peppermint Extract for the Vanilla) and let the ice cream maker do its magic. When it was almost finished, I added the ground up peppermint sticks and a dash or two of red food coloring. Here's how it looked coming out of the freezer.....and holy cow, it was amazing!! Now more long faces when the Schwan's man is sold out of this household seasonal favorite! :)
The next thing I started was the potatoes (because they take quite some time to bake).
Cowboy Potatoes
Red Potatoes
Garlic Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
Lawry’s Seasoning Salt
Onion Salt
Pepper Jack Cheese, Sliced
Parsley
Clean and slice the potatoes (making sure not to slice all the way to the bottom).
Place in a baking dish and brush each potato with garlic olive oil (if you don’t have garlic olive oil, you can use regular olive oil and sprinkle on some garlic powder instead).
Add seasonings (to taste).
Bake for 1 hour or until done in a 350 to 400 degree oven. Using a fork or knife, poke each potato in the middle to ensure doneness. If done, top with Pepper Jack Cheese (one slice per potato) and put back in the oven to melt (if the potatoes need more time put them back in the oven until done to your liking and then top with cheese).
Sprinkle on more salt and pepper if desired and top with parsley for added color.
And now....last, but not least.....my Steak Tips! Over the years, I have tried numerous "batter" recipes only to be somewhat disappointed in how they turn out. Some are too bulky and thick, some are too thin, some fall off when frying, some aren't tasty at all. I finally came up with a good one. I found the beginning of this recipe on Allrecipes.com, but took it apart and reworked it to my liking. Here is what my recipe consists of:
Cheyenne’s Steak Tips
4 Eggs
2 cup Flour
1 cup Milk
4 tsp. Lawry’s Seasoning Salt
2 tsp. Pepper
Garlic Salt (pinch)
Onion Salt (pinch)
Worcestershire Sauce (dash)
2 lbs. of steak cut into bite-sized cubes (I usually end up with about 2 lbs. of steak so you may need to start out with more depending on the cut of the meat)
Cut meat into bite-sized cubes and set aside. Believe me.....our dogs were delighted with the amount of bone and fat on these steaks! :)
Combine all ingredients and stir together until smooth (batter will be thick and glue-like).
Dip cubes of steak into the batter until completely coated.
Remove steak cubes, piece by piece and deep fry in hot oil (about 1 ½” deep or so). Turn when one side is golden brown.
Fry until the other side is golden brown.
Remove from oil and place on a paper-towel covered plate to drain excess oil.
Truly, these are the best Steak Tips ever......this is my "go to" batter for most anything and everything (onion rings are awesome too)!
So, as you can see.....we had a wonderful Valentine's Day supper!
We were stuffed......and enjoyed watching a few episodes of a new series I heard about....."Downton Abbey"......we are loving it....the fact that I just heard about it and it's several seasons in already.....makes me super happy and eager to watch until I get caught up. :) Hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day! Enjoy the recipes! ~Cheyenne