"fresh approach cooking" news and stories

When I think of meats that are stuffed, I tend not to think of cuts like flank steak because of its shape. The relatively thin cut of meat always seemed best suited to grilling and slicing, but I had to admit that it never occurred to me to pound it even thinner and roll it up, stuffing it with other wonderful flavors in the process. The mouth-watering Prosciutto and Roasted Pepper Stuffed Flank Steak pictured here was cooked up by Rachael, from Fresh Approach Cooking. The name pretty much sums up everything you need to know flavor-wise about the dish, but this presentation is outstanding - especially considering that there was no special plating to do once the meat was cooked and no garnish necessary, although you can catch a glimpse of some mixed veggies in the corner of the photo that add a bit of extra color to the plate and round out the meal.

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This summery strawberry pie is one of the entries in this month's Does My Blog Look Good in This? photography competition (as are a couple other pictures that have been featured as food porn here). The pie is from Rachael, at Fresh Approach Cooking, and is an absolutely fantastic way to put fresh berries to good use. There are two tricks to making a pie with summer berries: (1) double bake the crust so it has a chance to firm up and (2) use a thick crust. No matter how much sugar you add to gel the berries together, good ones always create a juicy filling and the thicker the crust, the more of it will stay crisp and flakey. It will also be able to support the individual slices of pie, rather than falling apart on your plate. The pie will still taste good if it falls apart and, as a tip to file away for serving, a generous scoop of whipped cream will hide a multitude of sins.

Update: Bonus pie photo - the uncut version - after the jump!

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Rachael, the talented chef responsible for Fresh Approach Cooking, has started a “Kitchen Project” series. In installments, she is sharing some important kitchen basics with her readers. She began with Roasted Peppers, then Roasted Garlic and, most recently, Caramelized Onions. Possibly because I really enjoy raw onions in many dishes, I have usually favored the quick and dirty method of caramelizing onions, by cooking them over a relatively high heat until they are tender. This usually takes about 20 minutes and must be the preferred method of recipe writers, since the vast majority of recipes tell you that it takes 20 minutes to caramelized onions. The ones in my picture took about 2 hours. Rachael’s took nearly 3 hours and are a bit browner. It takes about the same time no matter how many onions you use, so you may as well do a lot. They taste meltingly sweet and just fantastic.

[Photo by Nicole Weston]

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