Steak Oreganato

"Excuse me? Did you just call me a cheap date? Because I definitely am."

Steak Oreganato is a baked meat sauce dish served over pasta. It’s one of those dishes that you throw into a pan, place in the oven and forget about for a few hours. Perfect for those short term 3 hour deadlines. By the time you’ve finally finished calling your bank and refuting those overage charges or caught up on three weeks worth of game of thrones you’ve got a wonderful hot meal waiting for you. An Italian favorite, most Steak Oreganato recipes ask for expensive cuts of meat like sirloin. But like many kids fresh out of college, I can't afford to be throwing top rate beef willy-nilly into pots and pans hopping that it will come out well. As with most of my cooking I try to take the least expensive ingredients and taper my method of cooking them to what will make that particular ingredient work the best. Steak Oreganato sounds fancy and complicated and i don't know, maybe its the Italian that makes it sound like you'll be spending over 40 dollars on ingredients alone, not to mention the slaving in the kitchen, but this just simply isn’t true. Believe it or not, you can complete this entire dish on about 10 dollars (I'm also cheating because we just planted a fresh herb garden). This wonderfully rich meaty and filling dish will have a hard time making it to the leftover stage so make sure you haven’t eaten in a few days. You’ll be glad you did.

Steak Oregano:

2lb Chuck Steak (5.50)

2 Large Cans Whole Tomatoes (2.00)

2 Medium Onions (0.75)

8 Cloves of Garlic (.50)

Olive Oil

Fresh Basil

Fresh Oregano

Fresh Parsley

Salt and Pepper to taste

1lb Spaghetti (1.00)

 *Preheat the oven to 375 degrees*

1. Slice the meat into 2 inch thick by 5 inch long slices, season them lightly with salt and pepper and place them into a lightly oiled baking pan. 
2. Roughly chop the garlic and onions and toss them into the pan along with the meat.
3. Crush the canned tomatoes into the pan using your hands being sure to not leave large chunks.
4. Lightly chop the herbs together and add them to the pan adding more salt and pepper if necessary.
5. Cover with tin foil and place in the center rack of the oven. Let it cook for 1 1/2 to 2 hours covered. (If the liquid level looks low, go ahead and add a cup or so of water.)
6. Remove the foil and continue to cook for another hour or until the meat pulls apart effortlessly. Don't take it out before this happens. You will be happy that you waited!
7. Serve over spaghetti, eat and lick the bowl.

Yeah the person who's dish is on the lower right side is no longer allowed to come eat.

- Juju XOXO

Escarole and Beans

 "Yeah I would totally be vegan too if it wasn't for cheese."

I haven't been very nice to my vegetarian friends so far on this blog so I figured I'd throw them all a bone and share one of my favorite "la cucina povera" recipes. Escarole and Beans has always been a staple food for the Italian side of my family. It's filling, inexpensive and pretty damn impressive looking not to mention freakin' delicious. And get this, it's made out of STALE BREAD. I feel relatively lame buying fresh Italian bread to purposefully let go stale for this recipe but I've done weirder things in the pursuit of a good meal. Best part about this dish is that it really is incredibly easy. I promise you can do it, you vegi-phobic college students. You won't even notice the nutrients sneaking into your diet under the white blanket of parmesan cheese.

Escarole and Beans:

1 Large Loaf Stale Bread (Cubed, hold on to those crumbs and throw them in too!)
2 Heads of Escarole (Not all supermarkets have this, but call ahead a check!)
1 8oz can Cannellini Beans
3/4 Quart Vegetable Broth (or chicken or mushroom, depending on who's coming to dinner)
5-7 Cloves of Garlic (sliced)
1/2 cup of Parmesan Cheese (or more, I won't say anything if you don't)
Olive oil
Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees
2. Heat olive oil on medium/low in a large pot and throw in sliced garlic. Let cook for a few minutes until the oil becomes aromatic.
3. Chop up the escarole into 1 inch long strips and toss in a pot. Add broth and stir until the escarole is wilted
4. Add a few shakes of red pepper flakes (depending on how spicy you'd like it). add salt and pepper
5. Remove from the heat and add bread cubes and cheese, toss together.
6. Transfer the mixture to a lightly greased rectangular baking pan (metal or pyrex both work fine.) 
7. Place in the over for about 40-50 minutes, or until the top is sufficiently browned.

- Juju XO

Homemade Beef Stew with Egg Noodles

 "Whatever she did, it wasn't as bad as this is good. Right?"

Beef stew is one of those dishes that is deceptively temperamental. A little time, effort and patience are what separates a good Beef Stew from a great Beef Stew. This recipe, originally from my great grandmother is one that doesn't require so much effort as it does the ability to LEAVE IT ALONE. Beef Stew is a dish of mind over matter, the longer you cook it, the lower the temperature the more time you give it to sit and stew is directly related to just how good it will come out. Perfect for rainy days, dinner parties, a make up dinner after a fight with your significant other, or for those nights where nothing goes right, this beef stew has a magical quality to just kind of "make everything better". As a huge fan of chuck steak, this dish really makes this otherwise tough cut of meat the star of the show, and not to mention cuts down on the price of being one of those poor young adults who can't bare with the idea of not having meat because of its expense. So fret not young carnivores! You can have your fresh meat and afford it too!

Homemade Beef Stew with Egg Noodles:


1lb chuck beef (cubed)
2 cups baby carrots (halved)
7-8 red potatoes (diced)
1/3 cup red wine
1 1/2 onions (sliced)
4 cloves garlic (optional, but like, c'mon, duh)
15 baby bella mushrooms (halved)
2 quarts beef or mushroom stock
flour
oil
salt pepper to taste

1. Add cubed beef into bowl and add about 1 cup of flour, about a tsp of salt and tsp of pepper. Shake and coat the meat with the flour until it's covered.
2. Heat oil in a large pot and add the meat and flour mixture. (don't worry about excess flour, just add it to the pan!) toss in the pan until browned, let some of the flour stick to the pan and get crispy.
3. Once the meat is browned, but not fully cooked through, add wine and allow the alcohol to burn off. Next add the stock, carrots, potatoes, onions, crushed garlic and mushrooms. You may want to add water here to see that the contents are submerged.
4. Bring to a low boil and then let simmer on low for 2 to 3 hours, covered or uncovered depending on the thickness you'd like. As always, You can also added sifted flour to thicken the stock.
5. Serve over lightly buttered egg noodles or with fresh bread. But honestly, wherever can add noodles to any recipe, do that.

The best part about this dish is that just like the soup, the longer it sits in the fridge, the better it gets. So if you can save a little bit so you can see what I'm talking about.

-Juju xo

Chicken and Lentil Soup or "The Soup"

"EAT ME FOREVER AND YOU'LL NEVER BE LONELY"

This dish is not only one that is dear to my heart but one that pleases my crowd. First taught to me by my mother, the dish itself has a long standing within my family and now my friend group. The first time I made this soup in my house it automatically became a monthly tradition. Within these walls it is commonly referred to as "The Soup". It's a homey mixture of Italian ingredients married with a south of the border twist. "Medeterainiam-mex" if you will (HAR).
This soup is one of those dishes that not only fills you up, but warms up your soul (not to mention how good it is the next day, cold, spooned directly from the fridge into your mouth). It produces leftovers that are "fight-over worthy". You know, those few dishes that once they hit the glass shelves in the refrigerator suddenly create an open gauntlet where if you don't immediately start eating it, there will be no leftovers to be had. Racking in at about 14 to 15 dollars (depending how much chicken you decide to use) a pot of this colorful goodness will go along way. And if served with a loaf of bread, it quickly becomes an endless vat. This dish is perfect for a party, convincing the boyfriends parents that your a good cook and serving you all week without driving you crazy.

Chicken and Lentil Soup:

2 chicken breast halves
1 cup lentils
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 can black beans
1 med. Onion, chopped
1- 12oz jar salsa (medium)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb. spinach, rinsed and chopped
1/3 cup pearl barley
2 quarts chicken stock
½ cup minced parsley

1. In a large pan, heat olive oil. Add onion, garlic, and barley. Cook, stirring until onion is soft and barley is toasted (about 5 minutes). Be careful here not to burn either the garlic or the onions. Take your time! This soup is not a race, unless it is a race. Okay, in the event that this soup becomes a race PROCEED WITH CAUTION ON THIS STEP.
2. Add broth, parsley, chicken, and lentils. Bring to a dull boil over high heat.
3. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until meat is no longer pink. (about 30 minutes)
4. Remove chicken from pan and let cool. Discard skin and bones; shred meat with two forks (this is a good way to freak your vegetarian friends out) and return to pan. Add beans and salsa.
5. Bring to a simmer, stir in spinach (which is unarguably the most fun part).
6. Serve with bread, or better yet, garlic bread. You can never have enough of that potent clovey goodness.

- Juju xo

The hands behind the range

So who am I? Julia Hershonik: a 21 year old college student, in my 4th year at Boston University studying Cultural Anthropology. I am passionate about food, cooking, travel and people and is the combination of these interests that has lead to the creation of this blog.

As a young girl, I learned to cook at a very early age. Being surrounded by a village of Italian and Ukrainian women in floral house smocks throughout my childhood I took to, if not was forced into, the art of cooking. For my mentors, recipes were just guidelines. Measuring cups and teaspoons came second to pinches, handfuls and splashes. When they cooked, they were creating this relationship with their food. The experience was more emotional than mathematical, it was more about feel than technique. As a result each time every dish was different. Their food, for me, was less about the recreation of flavors and more about the merriment of ingredients. It is that lovingly holistic approach to cooking that I take on for myself.

With this blog, I hope to not only share some of my favorite dishes with you but also offer some of my stories about food, restaurants, ingredients. Dare I say that this is much more than a cooking blog, it's a devotion written in hopes of inspiring others to cook with their guts, trust their tongues, take risks and never, ever go easy on the garlic.