Barefoot Contessa's Omelet for Two - adapted

Isn't it right that sometimes the best dinners have breakfast food on the menu ?
We - for example, like hash browns with eggs and of course, pepper bacon as dinner on occasion....which is what inspired me to make this omelet for two for tonight's meal.
THIS is the link to Ina Garten's recipe on Food Network if you want o go look and see how hers is different.
I saw Ina making it and it looked not only very good, but also something we have not had in a while and here it is now, shared with you.
Jeff took it a step further and also topped his 2 pieces of omelet with fresh salsa.
It's hearty, meaty, cheesy, crunchy and very satisfying.
Oh, and I'll give you my shortcut trick to making this super fast.

Ingredients:
4 to 6 eggs
1/2 bell pepper, chopped

a few cheese sticks or just a nice block of cheese, cubed

1/2 onion
2 to 3 medium size potatoes, peeled and cubed small (I first cut them in 3 lengthwise, then each third in 2 and each long strip in roughly 4 pieces each)

a few sausage slices

3 TBSP butter

salt
pepper

Directions:
 Begin with the sausage, frying it sliced

and then brake it in bite-size pieces and have it ready for mixing with the rest of the omelet ingredients at the end.
In a non stick skillet or sauteeing skillet melt the butter, then fry the potatoes and onion for a few minutes
 

or if you are not too sure they taste or look ok, then just transfer them into a glass pie pan and cook them in your microwave for 1 minute at a time, until they look and taste perfect.
I cooked my potatoes for about 10 minutes on the stove, but wasn't too happy with the result and then moved everything over to the glass dish and used the microwave for 1 minute at first then 1 minute more and they were just perfect.
Preheat your oven to 375 or just use the microwave again.
While the potatoes are cooking, just mix the rest of the ingredients.

When the potatoes are done, top them with the egg mix

and either cook in your oven for 10 minutes roughly, or use the microwave to cook the omelet for 3 minutes total, using 1 minute increments.

Either way, it's very delicious !

Country Fried Steak

I've eaten it quite a few times, love love love the taste, but never cooked Country Fried Steak... that is - until now.
If any of you are familiar with German Schnitzel, then this recipe should not look at all foreign in concept to you. Even though many parts of this country may use different styles of cooking and also different meats or different cuts of meat, I stuck to my favorite sirloin and of course, cooked it in less oil than most recipes.
Just so moist and delicious and a clever twist at the end !

Ingredients:
2 pieces of sirloin or some other nice lean cut of beef
2 slices of Provolone or other cheese you like

1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 egg
1/4 cup oil for frying
4-5 inches long pieces of bread, split in half

Directions:
In a bowl mix the kosher salt with the pepper and flour and have it ready for coating the meat with the mixture.

Now beat an egg and have the bowl aligned next to the flour bowl.

Pound the meat on a cutting board until it becomes a bit under 1/4 inch thick and twice its size, then sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper on all sides.

After pounding the meat, coat it in the flour mix and then dip it in the egg and then again in the flour mix.

In a large enough skillet that would accommodate both meat pieces heat up the oil on medium for 3 minutes and place the steaks.

Cook them for roughly 3 to 5 minutes on each side until they turn golden and delicious !

If you think they might have absorbed some oil, just place them on a plate lined with paper towels.
While the steaks are cooking, toast the bread in your toaster oven

and when the meat is cooked and drained, just place the steaks on top of the bread.

Turn your broiler on low and have a small baking sheet ready.
Top with the Provolone slice

 and place them in the oven.
 Keep a very close eye on it as they cook in under 1 minute.

Take out of the oven, let cool 30 seconds at least and enjoy !

Back from Europe

My husband and I just got back from a 2 weeks long trip to Europe, mainly to visit family and attend one of my best friend's wedding and also to sight-see.
Marvelous time and such wonderful memories !!!
We went to Romania for about 1 week, then left for Italy for the rest of the vacation time - where we saw a few small towns, then Bergamo, Venice and Milano.
From Italy we also went to St. Moritz in Switzerland, which has to be one of the most beautiful countries scenery -wise.
And the 4th and last location that we had on our go-to places was Monte Carlo in Monaco, where we saw the famous Casino which appeared in one of the James Bond movies.
A true art masterpiece, but unfortunately we do not have pictures of the inside as we were not allowed to take our cameras or video cameras inside.
Here are a few pictures of the food items I brought back from all the vacation locations.

Semolina flour and alphabet soup from Romania...

From Italy I got some soup mix, truffle risotto mix...and authentic artisan pasta...

A bag of 500 gr (just a little over 1 lb) was 5 euros. 
In my mom's yard there was a rosemary bush and also brought a few rosemary sprigs - wrapped in a napkin and kept in a ziplock bag.



 

When I got home I put it in some cold water

to rinse it and now it is in the fridge wrapped loosely in another moistened paper towel.
It will keep green and fresh longer.
Do I see a rosemary chicken dinner recipe coming soon ? Maybe.
From St. Moritz, Switzerland bought some of the most amazing chocolate there is; the picture of the back wrapping also has their prices in Swiss francs, which are almost at the same value of US dollars.

 

Jeff chose this strawberry one as his favorite. Yum !

 
From Monte Carlo, Monaco we brought Cappuccino mix and sun dried tomatoes...

 While in Monaco, the country that is only spread on 2 square km, we found a chain store called Carrefour where among other oddities, other 5 bilion cheese specialties (literally) and other mouth watering pastries, there were morel mushroom sold in dry form, in 75 gr bags.
One bag that wasn't bigger than 1-2 handfuls cost $ 25....and the price tag also displayed the staggering per kilogram price : 750 EUROS !!
The sun dried tomatoes however, was reasonable: 2.5 euros per bag.

 And this is the first dish I prepared when we got back : sauteed garlic green beans with grilled turkey breast.

Finally, this is the chocolate covered marzipan I found in Frankfurt, at the airport, on our way back.

This is it for now, but as soon as we back-up the pictures and transform them from raw format to jpg, I will post some more.

Cannot wait to show you the fancy dessert I got at the restaurant Cafe du Paris in Monaco, right in front of the Casino.