This was a lot of fun, and something I definitely want to keep doing. Having some ingredients put in front of me that I didn’t choose, and trying to come up with something edible was a great exercise for my brain. And I surprised myself. Not only did I come up with something edible, but it was delicious, too!
Here’s what I started with…
First, I rubbed the steak with one of our favorite rubs. (Remember, in Chopped, you get full use of the pantry!) Let that sit for a few minutes.
Trader Joe’s sells boxes of frozen, cooked Jasmine rice. I pulled one of those packets out and heated it up—I think there’s about 2 cups in each packet. Then I took about 4 or 5 of the figs and chopped those up with kitchen shears. I roughly chopped about 1/4 (maybe a little more) of the sweet and spicy pecans, and tossed both of those things into the rice. Then I threw in a couple handfuls of gorgonzola—about 1/2 cup. A little salt and pepper, about 1/4 tsp cumin, and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar were added next. This is the mixture I stuffed the sweet peppers with.
Those baked at 350 in a slightly oiled pan for about 15-20 minutes. Turn on the broiler for an extra few minutes for some color on the peppers.
Now for the gorgonzola garlic butter. Get some butter to room temp, toss in some crumbled gorgonzola. Heat a little olive oil in a pan, add a couple cloves chopped garlic and let it slowly sauté. When that’s done, spoon it into the butter, leaving the oil behind. But looking back, I could have easily added that oil to the butter as well.
Broil the steaks for about 11 to 12 minutes. Turning them over every couple of minutes, and when they’ve reached the desired doneness, remove from oven and let them sit for about 5 minutes.
Serve the steaks with the gorgonzola butter and the peppers on the side. 
I’m definitely going to keep this up. It’s good to get the creative juices flowing, and leave the safety of recipes behind. Even more fun when you’re presented with ingredients you may not necessarily choose yourself.
The next time I do it, I’ll see what my husband picks up for ingredients, and then post them just like I did here. If any of you want to participate, let me know, then when you post what you came up with, I’ll link them in my post. Sound good?
32 comments:
That sounds fun to do at home. We will have to try it. Looks like you did a great job!! I think you won:)
Nice job!!! That looks fabulous!!!
This looks amazing!
This looks delicious!! You did really well, and it sounds like it was fun too!
Wow, fantastic job! It looks amazing!
Elle!!! SO impressive! I absolutely love it! And it sounds delicious!!! Way to go!
Sounds like fun, let me know the next time you try this.
How fun for you Elle! I think I may want to try this!
There are those pecans I love! Looks good Momma! I would love to try this one.
Oh what fun & looks delicious. Thanks, now my stomach is growling and no steak :( bummer
Looks great! We have to do this!
Wow! This looks like fun. I actually like what you came up with more than what the pro chefs cook on Chopped! Kudos!
Very nice! And, I'm glad both the figs and the steak got some gorgonzola!
You really did a great job. For some reason it never dawned on me that you would add other ingredients. I kept thinking those were it other than you know salt & pepper.
That butter reeeeally sounds good!
~ingrid
Way to go!
i think this is a)a great idea--we must all keep challenging ourselves, especially if no one's there to do it for us-- and b)an awesome result. bravo, elle!
Awesome! All of it sounds great and creative. What a fun challenge!
Incredible !!!
Oh man! That looks sooooo good Elle!!!
Wow, the gorgonzola butter just puts this over the top - delicious!
It looks wonderful!
I like what you did here. I'd love to participate. Let me know the next time.
Holy crap that looks great! Nice job w/ it. I love the plate too :)
That looks so good! Very impressive.
I love your blog! If you are interested I tagged you for a meme.
http://www.lifeisstillsweet.com/2009/03/way-we-were-and-my-first-meme.html
What an amazingly fun idea!
Nice work! I can tell from the flavorful pics and writing that you're energized from the challenge. :)
Back in the early days of Food Network, there was a show called "Doorknock Dinners". Gordon Elliott would bring a chef into your home to cook a meal for your family using ingredients you already had in your fridge and pantry. (We loved that show.)
I think you should come over and cook for us! I swear I have some pretty good ingredients, I just lack inspiration. ;)
Nice! I love mystery basket cooking! Gorgonzola-garlic butter sounds like the perfect steak accompaniment, too:) And @Shaye I loved Doorknock Dinners--one of the best shows ever on FN, in my opinion.
Great looking dish! This sounds like fun. I'll keep an eye out for your next set of ingredients.
Would not have known what to do with all those. Pretty impressive, and glad to see that I'm not the only TJ obsessed person around :)
Great job! I'm not good at coming up with recipes, so I'd be horrible at this!
This looks gorgeous, and so summery. I want to wrap it up in a sandwich and take it with me! Great stuff.
Will
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