Monday, September 11, 2023

Pot Roast

Beef chuck or tri-tip

One can diced tomatoes

One packet onion soup mix

Potatoes

Carrots

Sliced onion

Cabbage or Brussels sprouts (optional)

Cornstarch and water (optional)


Preheat oven to 350°. Place the meat in a deep large dish/baking pan with lid (or could seal with foil). Pour the tomatoes on and around and sprinkle the onion soup mix over. Arrange potatoes, carrots, onion slices, and optional veg on top. Put the lid on, put it in the oven and bake for 3 hours. 

Retrieve the meat and veg from the pan. Pulverize the remaining tomato bits and liquid with an immersion blender. Or regular blender. Or leave chunky if you desire.  

You may wish to thicken the gravy mixture with a bit of cornstarch (mix a slurry with a bit of water).  


Dad’s Achiote Chicken

Chicken

Aciote paste

Olive Oil

Lemon juice

Minced garlic. 


Marinate in a ziploc bag overnight. 

Grill. 

Thursday, June 15, 2023

Greek Octopus Salad

So I don't forget...

lettuce
Octopus (pre-cooked from Costco)
feta cheese
cucumber
tomato
tapenade (or chopped olives)
picked red onions
basil 
oregano
olive oil
lemon juice
white balsamic vinegar


New Jambalaya

After years of making things one way, things sometimes get shaken up.

Husband and elder son had Jambalaya at Cajun Kitchen. It was a saucier melange, served over a scoop of rice rather than having the rice cooked in.

I hunted a few recipes, and Rachael Ray's Everything Jambalaya fit the bill. I left out the chicken, because shrimp and sausage are just right, in our opinions.


1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, once around the pan 
1 tablespoon butter 
1 pound boneless, skinless white or dark meat chicken 
3/4 pound andouille, casing removed and diced 
1 medium onion, chopped 2 ribs celery, chopped 
1 green bell pepper, chopped 
1 bay leaf, fresh or dried 
several drops hot sauce or 2 pinches cayenne pepper 
2 to 3 tablespoons (a handful) all-purpose flour 
1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes in juice 
1(14-ounce) can or paper container chicken stock or broth 
1 teaspoon (1/3 palmful) cumin 
1 rounded teaspoon (1/2 palmful) dark chili powder 
1 teaspoon (1/3 palmful) poultry seasoning 
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 
1 pound medium shrimp, raw, deveined and peeled (ask for easy peel at fish counter) 
Coarse salt and black pepper 
Chopped scallions, for garnish 
Fresh thyme, chopped for garnish 
2 cups enriched white rice  

Cook rice to package directions. Place a large, deep skillet over medium high heat. Add oil and butter to the pan. Cube chicken and place in hot oil and butter. Brown chicken 3 minutes, add sausage, and cook 2 minutes more. Add onion, celery, pepper, bay, and cayenne. Saute vegetables 5 minutes, sprinkle flour over the pan and cook 1 or 2 minutes more. Stir in tomatoes and broth and season with cumin, chili, poultry seasoning, and Worcestershire. Bring liquids to a boil and add shrimp. Simmer shrimp 5 minutes until pink and firm. Remove the pot from the heat and place on a trivet. Ladle jambalaya into shallow bowls. Using an ice cream scoop, place a scoop of rice on to the center of the bowlfuls of jambalaya. Sprinkle dishes with salt, pepper, chopped scallions, and thyme leaves. 





Æbleskiver

Tuesday, July 21, 2020

New Peach Cobbler

You make something the same way for years and then all of a sudden you find a new way of doing it.

Peach cobbler used to be sweetened peaches topped with biscuit dough.

This is even more awesome. The batter starts on the bottom and percolates up through the peaches, taking on delicious peach flavor.  It's from Southern Living, June 1997. 

PEACH COBBLER

1 cube butter. melted
1 cup flour
2 cups sugar, divided
1 T baking powder
pinch of salt
1 cup milk
4 cups peach slices
1 T lemon juice
ground cinnamon or nutmeg (optional)

Preheat oven to 375.  Pour melted butter in 13x9" baking pan. (Yes, that big. It gets puffy.)

Combine flour, 1 c. sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Add milk, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Pour batter over butter. Do not stir.

In a saucepan, bring remaining 1 c. sugar, peach slices, and lemon joice to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly.  Pour over batter. Do not stir.

Bake at 375 for 40-45 minutes our until golden brown.

Aperol Spritz and Negroni

I fell in love with Aperol Spritzs and Negronis on my trip to !taly.

Aperol Spritz
1 part Aperol
2 parts Prosecco
Dash of club soda (I skip this! why dilute?)
Orange for garnish


Negroni
1 part gin
1 part Campari
1 part sweet red vermouth
Orange for garnish