Time for a Roast!

Don't worry Laurie - not a roast by definition of public comedic insults but a yummy edible beef roast.  I love cooking roasts.  They are the easiest way to prepare an entire meal in one pot.  It's something I can prepare when I am home for lunch or when the babes are down for a nap.  It does it's thing all day and by dinner time it's ready to eat.  I never really followed a recipe when cooking a roast.  I started cooking roasts by just throwing the meat and veggies in a crock pot with some water and letting it cook throughout the day.  That was ok, but always let me down a little.  It produced an easy, healthy meal, but always fell a little flat on taste.  Over the years, I have gained better knowledge on how to better develop flavors and I believe that the roast I prepared last night was a friggin delicious success!  Here's how I did it!


Ingredients:
3-4 lbs of chuck roast (use whatever roast cut you want - this was on sale at my market)
Bag of carrots chopped
6 -7 Potatoes (Yukon gold chopped in even pieces)
4 Onions medium, quartered
1 cup of beef broth
3-4 cloves garlic smashed and peeled
Fresh Rosemary (5 sprigs)
Salt/Pepper


To prepare:
Heavily season all sides of meat with salt and pepper.  Heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a large saute pan (enough to coat the pan) on medium-high heat.  Add 3-4 rosemary sprigs and meat to pan.  Sear meat on all sides - about 3-4 minutes per side.  Take meat out of pan and place in heated crock pot and add a little water.  
Add the beef broth to pan and deglaze, picking up all those brown bits sticking to the bottom of the pan.  Add veggies and smashed garlic to liquid.  Season with salt and pepper and cover and cook for 10 minutes or so.  
Discard rosemary sprigs.
Add everything to the crock pot.  Add enough water to cover meat and veggies.  Add remaining rosemary sprigs.  Cover and let those flavors get acquainted with each other for about 6 hours or so.  You may want to add a little more salt before serving.  This served 4 adults and 2 babes last night with enough leftovers for Nate and I tonight. 


Enjoy yo! 

(Full disclosure - this is not a picture of my roast.  I forgot to snap the picture!  This is close to what mine looked like though. I don't serve mine with so much liquid.)

    

Boo-yea Bean Soup!

Hey Laurie,

Cooking all my favorite winter comfort foods...even though today felt more like spring than January 17th.  No matter, comfort food is comfort food...comforting.  And I think this bean soup is super comforting.  Really warms the soul on these globally warmed days. 
I first came across this recipe in Food and Wine magazine a few years back.  The original recipe called for pink beans...I never ever can find those so I decided to use cannellini beans instead.  Also, I made a couple other tweaks here and there to make it more my style.  My favorite part of this soup is the croutons I make from corn bread muffins tossed in bacon grease.  Yummy!

Ingredients:

6-7 pieces of bacon, chopped
1/2 of a large, sweet onion, chopped
2-3 gloves of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
1 tablespoon maple syrup (real stuff Laurie - don't you dare use the fake stuff)
2 cans of cannellini beans with liquid
3 cups of chicken stock
salt
pepper

Optional: hot sauce (Nate and I use this in our individual bowls to spice it up but keep the big batch mild enough for the kiddos)

(Look - not too many ingredients up there....you should make this!)

To prepare:

Put chopped bacon in heavy saucepan (like your blue one) and cook on medium-high heat until fat is rendered and bacon is crispy.  Take the bacon out and set aside.  Drain off all but two-ish tablespoons of bacon grease.  (Save the excess for the croutons)

Put chopped onions and garlic in pan (season with salt and pepper) and cook until onions are soft and translucent, about 5 minutes or so.  Add tomato paste and maple syrup and cook until tomato paste has melted into onions and garlic.  Add beans with liquid and cook until thick and bubbly.  Add chicken stock and cooked bacon.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer for 10 minutes or so.

Croutons:
Jiffy corn bread muffin mix - prepare according to box and cool.  (I make mini muffins)
Half the mini muffins (or quarter big ones) and toss with a couple tablespoons of bacon grease (or I guess if you want to be healthy you could use olive oil).  Cook in 400 degree oven until crispy - 7 to 8 minutes.

Top soup with yummy croutons and enjoy yo!

What does unsweetened cocoa powder, jalepenos and Guinness have in common?

That's easy, Laurie, my chili recipe of course!  This time of year screams chili.  Everyone has their own version of chili, that's why there are so many chili cook offs!  I am not saying mine is the best by any means, but it's pretty good.  I mean - it's made with Guinness for crying out loud.  And did I mention the steak?  No?  I will below. 

Recipe:
Olive oil
2 onions, chopped
3 garlic gloves, chopped
1 lb ground beef
3/4 to 1 lb sirloin seasoned with salt and pepper, cubed
1 (14.5 oz) can peeled, diced tomatoes with juice
3/4 can of Guinness (oh yeah!)
1 cup strong coffee
2 (6 oz) can tomato paste
1 (14 oz) can beef broth
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3 1/2 tablespoons chili sauce
1 tbl cumin seeds
1 tbl unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp ground coriander
salt & pepper to taste
4 cans kidney beans
2 -3 fresh jalapenos chopped (it's up to your taste whether you leave the seeds or not - I use about half of the seeds)

1. Heat oil (use enough to coat the pan) in a large, heavy sauce pan over medium high heat.  Sear the steak cubes then remove from pan once all sides have a nice caramelization.  Then reduce heat to medium and add onions, garlic and ground beef.  Once beef is browned, add steak back to pan.

2. Mix in the diced tomatoes, Guinness, coffee tomato paste and beef broth.*  Season with brown sugar, chili sauce, cumin, cocoa powder, oregano, cayenne pepper, coriander and salt and pepper.  Stir in 2 cans of beans and jalapenos.  Reduce heat to low and simmer for 1 1/2 hours. 

3. Stir in remaining cans of beans (or not - today I actually skipped the last two cans) and simmer another 30 minutes.

4. Serve with grated cheddar cheese and tortilla chips.

5. Enjoy yo!

*I only recently acquired a large enough heavy sauce pan to cook this chili.  Before, I used to start with step 2 in a crock pot, then do step 1 in a saute pan.  I would then add the meat, onions and garlic to the crock pot to finish up cooking.  It tasted great that way too. 

Like Apples and Cheese? Me too - check out this apple pie recipe - it has a cheddar cheese crust!

Happy Merry Super Late Christmas, Yo!
So Laurie - this is my gift to you.  A little late for a Christmas gift, I know.  Maybe an early Birthday present?  You pick.  :)

I brought out an oldie but goodie over Christmas by request from Nate. It had literally been years since I had made this very unconventional apple pie - and I am not sure why. It is so yummy. It has a crust made with cheddar cheese and cayenne pepper for a little kick. 

Recipe

Cheddar Cheese Crust:
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (ok - i use 1/4 tsp...we like the extra kick. I really wouldn't go anymore though)
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter cut into small pieces (then placed back in fridge to keep cold until you need it)
3/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese (use the best cheddar cheese you can find - if you use the yellow already shredded, yucky, or the yellow block it will create a greasy crust)
3-4 tbl of super cold water


Filling:
3 lbs Granny Smith Apples - cored, peeled and thinly sliced
3 lbs Rome Beauty or Jonathan  - cored, peeled and thinly sliced
4 tbl of fresh lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest
3/4 cup sugar
2 tbl all purpose flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 salt
1/4 tsp fresh grated nutmeg
1/8 tsp allspice


Crumble Topping:
1/3 cup all purpose flour
3 tbl brown sugar
3 tbl cold unsalted butter cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese


1. Make the crust.  In a large bowl, combine flour, salt and cayenne.  Add the butter and using a pastry cutter or your hands, cut the butter into flour until mixture resembles course meal.  Add grated cheese and toss.  Add cold water one tablespoon at a time until a rough dough forms.  Gather dough into a ball, flatten into a 3/4 inch thick disk, tighthly wrap in saran wrap and chill for 30 minutes.  (any more then this and it will be difficult to roll out)
On a lightly floured surface roll dough into an 11 inch circle about 1/4 inch thick.  Transfer to a 9 inch pie pan - crimp edges.  Chill for another 30 minutes.  Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Line the crust with parchment paper and fill with pie weights or dried beans.  Bake until lightly brown - about 15 minutes.  Cool on rack and remove pie weights.
2.  Make Filling:
Add both types of cut apples to a large bowl and toss with lemon juice and zest.  In a small bowl, mix with sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg and allspice.  Sprinkle the spice mixture over apples and toss to mix thoroughly.  Spoon apples into prepared crust.
3. Make the crumble topping:
In a small bowl and using a fork, toss flour, brown sugar, butter and grated cheese.  Sprinkle the top of the pie with the crumble mixture.  Place pie in the middle of the oven and bake until the topping is golden brown - 50 to 60 minutes.  Cool on rack for at least 30 minutes.
4. Enjoy yo!