Asian-Style Pepper Steak

Here’s what I made for dinner last night:

Sear some haricot verts, remove from pan. Sear some velveted pepper steak (use the baking soda method), then combine with haricot verts. Hit with some sesame oil and bottled teriyaki or honey garlic sauce. Serve over rice.

—Michal Frischman

FT, help me!!

I know we’re a little past season here, but I’d love to have some advice for next year. For years I’ve been making a honey chiffon cake for Rosh Hashanah. It always came out light, fluffy, and moist. For the past couple of years, when I take the cakes out of the oven (I usually do them in loaf pans), they’ve been coming out high and then falling as they cool. They still taste good, but they don’t look pretty anymore. What am I doing wrong? 

—S.L. Weinstock, a reader

If it’s a chiffon cake with separated eggs, they bake best in a tube pan where the air circulates from within and without, and slowly the cake bakes to its intended height. The oven must be preheated for a while before putting the cakes in. Truthfully, if this was done, they shouldn’t fall even in a loaf pan. Maybe your whites weren’t beaten stiff enough to hold up?

—Brynie Greisman

Reader Feedback

I was pleased to see the cover of Family First promising frugal recipes, and I wasn’t disappointed. It was nice to see recipes calling for ground meat instead of oyster steaks, and tilapia rather than tuna steaks. As someone who has been living for over two decades in a country with one of the highest costs of living in the world, I’ve amassed a few frugal tips of my own, which I thought I would share with your readers.

First, cut down on the most expensive ingredient in your supper menu. The great advantage of ground meat, besides the price, is that it can be stretched. You could serve more rice and scatter the meat over it a bit more sparingly. I use about 3¹⁄₂ ounces of ground beef per person, and no one leaves the table hungry because there are plenty of vegetables and sides. The same goes for schnitzel, fish, and more.

Second, plan your meals so you have no or very few leftovers! A bit of observation will help you figure out how much your family eats, and that’s how much you should prepare.

Thank you again for offering recipes that the average woman trying to feed a family nourishing, inviting suppers in these inflationary times can happily use.

—Sarah Elias

Just Sayin’

How do you defrost margarine quickly without melting it? 

There are two ways to defrost butter/margarine quickly without getting it melty.

You can heat a glass of water in the microwave for 1–2 minutes. Pour out the water and place the cup over the stick — the residual heat will soften it. Wait a few minutes until it’s pliable.

Put the stick in a ziplock bag and place it in your waistband — your body heat will get it to the right temperature. Sounds funny, but it works!

—Sina Mizrahi

Ok, Quick:

Shameless favorite food?

Tomato-flavor Tradition soup!

—Chanie Nayman

(Originally featured in Family Table, Issue 819)