Chili Butter Steak & Parmesan Butter Potatoes

1 and a half pounds of good grilling steaks
1/2 yellow onion
2 baking potatoes
Parmesan cheese wedge
1 12oz jar of roasted red peppers
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp hot sauce
1 stick ofbutter
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp kosher salt
2 tsp chili powder
Aluminum foil

The most important part of this meal is the rub.  Mix the chili powder, brown sugar, and salt in a small bowl.  Coat the steaks in the olive oil and then rub the steaks with the mixture.  Let it sit and rest for a little while.  Go out and heat up the grill.  Meanwhile drain the peppers, and add the peppers the hot sauce, 1/2 teaspoon of chili powder to a blender and blend until smooth.  Dice up the onion and add all these ingredients to a small pan and allow to heat to a low simmer.  Add a few pats of butter to the pan.
Fork the potatoes and microwave until soft.  Slice the potatoes open lengthwise and then slice them into cubes inside the skin.  Add pats of butter in the slices and using the cheese wedge and a paring knife, cut off thin lengthwise slices of the cheese and lay across the potatoes.  Heat the oven to 350.
Go out and put the steaks on the grill, cooking the steaks to your desired doneness around 10 minutes.
Back in and put the potatoes on a baking sheet into the oven.  When the steaks are done bring them in and let them sit a few minutes (use a meat thermometer to check for doneness) and then check on the potatoes: when the cheese is melted remove from the oven and onto plates.  Place the steaks on the plates and pour the sauce over them and serve.

Broccoli Turkey Soup

I don't know how many turkey legs and wings are discarded after the holidays, but we've always turned those leftovers into soups or stews.  This recipe is by far the easiest and quickest and my granddaughters favorite soup!

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1 can of cream of celery soup

chicken stock

head of fresh broccoli 

1/2 large yellow onion

4 red potatoes

poultry seasoning

salt and pepper

thyme

corn starch

In a large crock pot or similar pot put the soups and turkey parts.  Fill the empty soup cans with hot water to loosen the remaining soup and pour into the crock pot.  Dice up the potatoes and place into the pot and cut the broccoli up leaving as much of the stems off as possible and add them to the pot.  Slice and dice the onion adding them to the pot and then season to taste.

Add two cups of chicken stock to the pot.

Cook on medium for the rest of the day and on low or warm overnight.

Next day, using a slotted spoon, scoop out the turkey and as the meat falls off the bone or you have to encourage to do so, separate it from the bone and anything that does not look or feel appetizing.  Once you've scooped out and separated all the meat, carefully edit the remaining meat for any stray bones or gristle and once satisfied cut the meat up into small strips or squares about the size of an M&M then return to the soup pot.

That afternoon fill a two cup measuring cup with one cup of chicken stock and add three heaping teaspoons of corn starch and mix.  Corn starch is my go-to gravy maker or stew thickener because you can use it with cold water or stock and it mixes easily as opposed to flour which clumps in cold liquids.  

Now for the taste test - this is where you check flavor, spices, and doneness.  Make sure you check the broccoli and the soup for thickness and seasoning.  Here's where I add some Ms Dash spicy seasoning to give the soup a little kick in the ass.