boerevors Archives - Mamma's Cooking

A good steak really only needs salt and pepper and a hot grill or cast iron skillet. A good steak however can be really expensive. I love to use more flavorful marinades or rubs when cooking some of the more cost effective cuts like top round or london broil. This is a wet steak rub and is reminiscent of the flavors that go into South African farmer’s sausage. It gives just a hint of flavor that most people here in the US have not had before, but reminds me of my childhood 🙂

Steak Rub (enough for about 3 pounds of steak)

Ingredients

¼ cup of olive oil

4 teaspoons of ground coriander

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1 ½ teaspoons of onion powder

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

1 ½ teaspoons of salt

¼ teaspoon of ground black pepper

3 Tablespoons brown sugar

2 Tablespoon red wine vinegar

Directions

Mix all ingredients together in a gallon storage bag. Place the steaks in and make sure to cover them with the rub. Allow to sit for at least 20 minutes before cooking. Cook to your liking. I like to cook it about 4 to 5 minutes on each side for a rare to medium rare finish for about a 3cm thick steak. Allow to rest for 7 to 10 minutes before cutting.

Serve with some easy polenta or grilled cheesy potatoes, like this one from The Recipe Rebel. I made a version of it last night, minus the bacon and it was so easy and delicious!!

Add some asparagus or grilled corn (shuck, rub with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper then grill, turning frequently) and you have a great barbecue dinner.

Make sure you check if the spices are gluten-free. According to McCormick, they will list it on the bottle if it contains gluten, usually in spice blends. Badia is certified gluten free and can be found usually in the international section of many grocery stores, but sometimes next to the other spices.

What is your favorite way to cook a steak?

As many of us parents know, brunch is often the best time to entertain. The kids are usually ready for snack and are in a good mood (most of the time), so parents can enjoy their coffee (or even a mimosa or bloody mary).

I’ve been practicing a frittata recipe that is super easy and tasty. Kids seem to like it too. Its a potato and cheese frittata I found on allrecipes.com. I like to use those websites to give me an idea on cooking time and amounts, but I have a hard time sticking to the recipe (usually because I don’t have all the ingredients in the house).

For four adults and two toddlers I use: 6 eggs, butter, salt, pepper, diced onions, garlic, fresh thyme (or any other fresh or dried herbs you have), shredded cheese (I used cheddar, mozzarella and parmesan once and substituted smoked gouda for cheddar another time), cream cheese or cottage cheese and potatoes (I used leftover mashed potatoes once and roasted potatoes another time). Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

First, melt about 1Tbs butter in a nonstick skillet that can go in the oven and add potatoes. After potatoes are heated through add onions + garlic. (I found a little tip on one of the comments on allrecipes.com to separate the egg whites and yolks for a fluffier frittata.) Beat the egg whites until soft peak stage. Beat the egg yolks in a separate bowl. Add salt, pepper, thyme, a Tbs or two of cream cheese or cottage cheese and some shredded cheese to the yolks. Then slowly add the yolk mixture to the egg whites. Sprinkle top of potatoes with shredded cheese then pour eggs over top and put in the oven for about 10 minutes (until top is light golden brown). I also sprinkled some more shredded cheese on the top. You can never have enough cheese 🙂

I’ve served this with turkey sausage or boerewors (a very tasty South African sausage that you can find at Uli’s in Pike Place Market) and some fruit. Today I also made my mom’s South African pancakes. Basically they are like crepes and then rolled with a cinnamon sugar.

We just got back from a trip to the East Coast. Travelling with toddler is not always easy, especially when there is a time change involved. Karina didn’t sleep much, but was always ready to eat. We even stopped at a Wendy’s one day and she wanted nothing to do with the jr. cheeseburgeer we got her. All she wanted was her turkey wrap (whole wheat tortilla with turkey cold cuts and havarti cheese. I was so proud! I’m sure this won’t last forever 🙂 She loved her Far Far’s grilled cheese sandwiches! Other than that, she basically only wanted to eat Craisins and goldfish.