A POOR MAN'S BETTY CROCKER

I have started cooking since I arrived in L.A. and am quite enjoying it. And it only took a $100 trip to the grocery store to make what would have been a $40 meal in a restaurant. So what I really mean is that if I continue to cook for Gary, he is going end up a very poor man. Hmm :) I think it would actually be quite a riot to watch me cook but that is forbidden because I get embarassed. I have cutting boards spread over every possible surface including the stove burners and I use the sink for storage of whatever food is waiting to be used. So anyway, here is the meal I whipped up and the recipe to re-create it on your own.

London Broil
mix together 1/3 cup ketchup, 1/3 cup soy sauce and 5 or 6 cloves of pressed garlic
stab london broil with a fork a bunch of times to soften and allow the marinade to soak in
put london broil in ketchup/soy marinade and put in the fridge for at least 3 hours, longer is better
But in a broiling pan and cook at 500 degrees until god knows when or medium rare (be sure to use a meat thermometer so that you don't get food poisoning from my recipe)
slice thinly on the diagonal

Stuffed Mushrooms
1 large sweet yellow onion, very finely chopped (you will cry a lot during this)
12 portobello stuffing mushrooms
bread crumbs
soy sauce
dry cooking sherry
butter

melt 2-3 tablespoons of butter in a large frying pan on medium heat
remove stalks from mushrooms and chop very finely, set aside
add chopped onion to butter and sautee for 10 minutes or so
add chopped mushrooms to onions and continue to sautee, add more butter if necessary
remove from heat and add bread crumbs to soak up excess butter, stir as needed
in a small bowl, add 1/3 cup each soy sauce & dry sherry
dip each mushroom in soy/ sherry mixture & then stuff with dry mixture, place on baking sheet
bake mushrooms at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes or until they start to brown

Asparagus (this is the really easy one)
heat olive oil and 2 cloves of garlic in frying pan
after washing, take one asparagus stalk and break it on the thick end
wherever it breaks, cut the other stalks to the same length
add stalks to olive oil and sautee until slightly soft and browning
add a little kosher salt during cooking

Throw it all on a plate and enjoy with white wine, yum yum yum


Here I am looking very glamorous at the dinner table