Crockpot beef with tomatillo

The weather is getting colder and tomatillo's are in season.  I was looking for a dish that I could use up the beef stew meat I had put out to thaw and just stick in a crock pot to sort out later for dinner.   Google being my friend, I found a lot of dishes that seemed to fit my needs but didn't quite fit what I felt like eating.   I wanted something with a warm, Mexican and almost taco-esque feel to it.   So, I took a few different recipes and came up with this shredded beef with tomatillo recipe.  Also, I do not like the taste of onions after it has been in the crock pot all day.. so I do not put them during the cooking.  You are welcome to do so if the taste doesn't bother you. :)

Shredded Beef with Tomatillo

• 1 to 1.5 pounds Stew meat 
• 1 quart tomatillo puree (you can make this by blending tomatillo's in a blender)
• 4 tomatillo's - quartered
• 1 tablespoon ancho chili powder (give or take to taste)
• salt to taste
• 2 teaspoons cumin seeds (these were an accident, the plan was to put in coriander powder - but it was morning.  *grin*)
• chili powder, to taste

Toss all the above into a crock pot in the morning and set on low. 

When you come home, separate the beef from the liquid.

• 1 sliced onion 
• 1 cup cilantro leaves, chopped

In a pan, heat some oil/butter toss in the onion and brown. Add the liquid and simmer to desired thickness.  While sauce is thickening,  shred the beef.  I do this by hand, but you can use two forks.  Once the sauce is at the desired thickness, toss in the beef.  Stir.  Taste for salt.   Add cilantro.  

Serve.

Yemeni Style pot roast

I'm not really sure of the authenticity of this Yemeni spice blend - but I'll take my book's word that this is a Yemeni Spice blend.  In looking up origin, it seems from the flavors that this is a Mughlai-style Indian than a Middle Eastern style blend.   Either way, real or made up, it's a tasty dish and a new flavor for pot roast.

The original recipe was a bit peppery - so I've cut down the amount of pepper.  You are more than welcome to add more  - if you wish for that pepper pop.   And be warned, the next day - if you have this as left overs - the pepper flavor comes out more intensely. 

This site had some great pictures of Yemeni food and even though I just ate, my mouth watered looking at the pictures!

Speaking of pictures, I didn't take any.  It looks like a pot roast - just tastes different.   We shredded ours so that we could use up more of the sauce.  But, if you eat bread - I think this would taste great as a sandwich with a bit of cheddar cheese and some onions.

Yemeni Spice Blend

• 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground caraway 
• 1 teaspoon (a good pinch) saffron threads
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric (be careful of this spice as it dyes everything yellow)

Pot Roast

• a nice size pot roast, mine was about 2.5 pounds
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 cup beef stock (or chicken or water)
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 small green chili (optional)

Rub the spice blend on your meat and cook.

If you are using a crock pot/slow cooker - you can just put everything in the pot in the morning.  Set it to low and when you get home - just shred / cut and eat.  If you are motivated, you can even brown your meat before placing it in the crock pot.

If you do this on the stove, please follow your normal cooking process for pot roast.  I sometimes will do mine up in the oven at 275F for 3 hours or so, depending on size. But, now that I've discovered the crock pot - well, the oven seems like a waste of fuel.  And, I don't have to mind the crock pot!

GF country fried steak

I had some round steak that was thawed and I needed a quick meal.  Normally, with round steak, I do a braise as it is a bit of a tough cut.    But, late nights at work - do not make for braising recipe.  So, google to the rescue.

I found this recipe from Pioneer woman.  I've done a few recipes from her site and they have turned out well.  So, this recipe has some unusual ingredients - but you can sub with what you have.

The unusual ingredients:

• garbanzo bean and fava bean flour  - I used Bob's Red Mill
• water chestnut flour - I bought from the Indian store in Chicago's Devon neighboorhood

Country Fried Steak

• 1.5 pound round steak, tenderized
• 1/4 cup  garbanzo/fava flour
• 1/4 cup water chestnut flour
• salt to taste
• pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/3 cup fat - I used olive oil (not extra virgin) but would suggest you do your research due to conserns about overheating oil

Trim and tenderize your steaks. I added a bit of salt and pepper at the tenderizing (read pound the heck out) stage.

In a small bowl, mix your flours, salt and pepper.  Set up a plate, flour it.  Place a steak on the plate, flour the other side.  Flip and make sure it's well coated.  I usually do a bit of flour at a time so as not to waste the mixutre.  As long as it doesn't have meat juices on it, you can use the flour at another point. Perhaps for more steaks? :)

heat oil to temp (I went up to about 350 - due to the Olive oil).  When hot, place steaks in to cook.  Do not crowd.  Have a plate to the side - and if you want a paper napkin to place the steaks after they cook.  Cook up.  About 5 min to each side.

Serve while hot.

Note: cut into pieces - you can put it on the top of a salad and it is very yummy cold and crunchy.

A nod to Boliche

I was thinking of Boliche (Cuban pot roast) that I read on 3 Guys from Miami but I really didn't want to take the time to do up a full pot roast. 

While the picture doesn't capture the yummy-ness of this dish.  You can see that it could dress up nicely - if one put a bit of effort into it.  I didn't because we were hungry. :)   But, how can you go wrong with Spanish Chorizo and beef?

Stuffed steaks with Chorizo

Ingredients:
4 Round Steaks or similar cuts of steaks
1 package Spanish Chorizo
6 cloves garlic (I like garlic, you can reduce but it really gives a great flavor)
1 onion, sliced
1 can tomatoes, diced
1 tablespoon oregano
2 potatoes, small cubes
1/2 can of water (just to get out the tomato juices from the can)
salt and pepper to taste
butter - about a tablespoon or so

twine or tooth picks

Directions:
In a food processor, blend chorizo and 3 cloves of garlic until ground meat consistency.

Take steaks, salt and pepper both sides. Take chorizo mixture and spread even amounts on the steaks. Roll the steaks and either tie with twine or stick through with tooth picks so that you have meat rolls.

Place a knob of butter in a pan (some what deep dished) and once heated place steaks in and allow to brown. turn and brown all sides (it's worth it, honest!) Toss in onions, tomatoes, garlic, water and potatoes. Bring to boil, simmer and cook covered with slight opening for about 20 min. Until potatoes are done.

Pull out steaks and cut into bite size pieces so it is easier to eat. Otherwise, you can serve the rolls (removing tooth picks / twine) and let the person cut it. Put sauce with some potatoes. Serve.

Picadillo - Cuban (ish) style

I think I've shared that we are in a Meat CSA.  Have I said that I am now the CSA coordinator for said CSA? Yes! I am the first ever Meadow Haven CSA coordinator.  whoohoo!  Of course the CSA only started out about six months ago, so it's not like there was a lot of coordinating going on.

Anyway, in our meat share we get a lot of ground beef.  No complaints, I love ground beef because it is so versatile and there are so many ways to cook it.  And, you can get a flavor of a country just by adding spices or other ingredients to create a whole new dish.  We've had South African, Italian, Spanish, Indian and so on. Aside from the not so basic burgers that the BF makes for us, as he makes great burgers.

Picadillo is a fairly common name for a Latin American and Filipino dish made up with (usually) ground beef .  The dish comes with a variety of flavors based on the country of origin.  I even found one in a Tex-Mex cookbook but it looked so boring compared with this version that I didn't even write it down or try it.  But, once you have a great recipe it is very hard to muck around with a blander version.   The dish is usually served with rice or as the filling in a taco - but we just eat it straight from a bowl. Best of all, if you double the quantity, it reheats great for work.

Another good thing is that you can add almost anything to it to meet your tastes.  The idea is a sweet, salty, beefy combo.  The BF likes cashews and we added that for a bonus crunch.  The original recipe is from Three Guys From Miami who also have a cookbook that has some great recipes.

Picadillo

1 cup diced onion
1 cup seeded and finely chopped bell pepper
butter/fat for sautéing
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lbs. ground beef or ground round
1 1/2 tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped (or one can of chopped tomatoes)
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/16 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/4 cup chopped olives  (optional - green or black)
1/6 cup raisins
Salt and pepper to taste 1/4 cup raw cashews (optional)

Melt butter/fat in a large frying pan. Sauté onion and green pepper for about 5 minutes, until the onion is softened. Add the garlic and ground beef. Cook until the meat is browned, about 5 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, cumin, cinnamon, cloves, and oregano. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for about 15 minutes.  If you don't want any sauce, cook it uncovered.  You may still have to simmer it longer to reduce the liquids if you used canned tomatoes.

Add olives and raisins and simmer 5 minutes longer. Salt and pepper to taste.

While the olives and raisins are cooking.  Heat up a frying pan with butter, toss in the cashews and stirring constantly wait until lightly brown.  Then toss them into the pan.

Christmas Brisket

Apparently we have started a new Christmas tradition where I am responsible for cooking the Christmas brisket.  Lucky for all of us, my family is very willing to be experimented on... even for Christmas dinner!    I have also been very lucky that the Christmas brisket has turned out well two years running.  Whoohoo!

Hopefully the streak will hold. ;)

This brisket recipe is based from a Hungarian Jewish brisket I found here.  I have no idea how the original will turn out - as I changed it from the get go.  But, it sounded really good!

Here is my version.

Paprika and Rosemary Spiced Brisket 

Rub to be done the day before:

• 2 tablespoons kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons sweet Hungarian paprika
• 1 teaspoon hot Hungarian paprika
• 2 teaspoons garlic, chopped finely 
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 4- to 5-pound beef brisket

Ingredients for the day you plan to cook it:

• 2 tablespoons butter /ghee/bacon fat (or if doing Kosher - then schmaltz or olive oil)
• 2 medium yellow onions, medium dice 
• 12 medium garlic cloves, crushed and peeled 
• 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar 
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste 
• 1 (14-1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 2 (6-inch) branches fresh rosemary 
• 1 bay leaf 
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar 
• 1 or 2 cups of chicken stock or water - enough to almost cover the meat at the start

The night before, prepare the rub and make sure to thoroughly cover the brisket.  Place in fridge until the next morning.

It takes about 5-6 hrs, so I usually start up pretty early since we have to pack it and take it out to my sister's house for the gathering of the masses.

The big day:
Pre-heat oven to 325°F and arrange a rack in the middle. In a large roasting pan or cast iron pan - heat the fat.  Once hot, brown the brisket and then set aside.

Check to make sure you have about a tablespoon or so of fat still in the pan.  Add the onions and let it brown just a bit.  Toss in the garlic. Wait a second or two.

Lower the heat so that the tomatoes don't burn.  Put in the tomatoes (paste and diced) and cook it down a bit.  About 5 min.

Add rosemary, bay leaf, vinegar, and water/stock and stir to incorporate.  

Add brisket.  Increase heat to high and bring mixture to a boil. Cover the pan and place into the oven.  Every few hours, pull out of the oven and flip the meat over.  Cook until tender - approximately 5 to 6 hrs. 

Pull out the brisket and cover to keep warm.  On high heat, reduce any liquid you have left until you have a nice thick sauce.  

For Joe - Albondigas

The meatballs for Tapas night were done a bit fast and so some broke up a bit.  The secret to the meatballs not breaking up is to place them in a well oiled pan (or even better a non-stick pan), cook on medium low heat and wait.  You are waiting for each side to cook through and get a nice crust before turning them to the next side....and to make them a bit small.... golf ball sized or so. 

Albondigas

Meatballs in tomato sauce

Meatball ingredients:

• 6 oz ground pork
• 6 oz ground beef or veal (If you are going to use veal, please use rose veal which is humane )
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• pinch of ground cinnamon
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons butter or ghee
• salt and pepper to taste

 Tomato sauce ingredients (spicy):

• 1 tablespoon butter or ghee
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/2 cup dry white wine (or sherry)
• 14 oz can of chopped tomatoes (or diced) or approximately the same of fresh tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (more or less depending on your heat level)
• 1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed.

Directions:
Combine the pork, beef/veal, garlic, spices and egg. Mix by hand refrigerate, covered for 30 minutes. (you know I didn't do that part. *grin*  But, it may make it a bit more solid to work with.)

Heat butter/ghee on medium heat and add onion, cook until translucent, about 3 min. Add garlic, cook for about a minute.  Raise the heat to high, add wine and bring to boil.  Add tomatoes, tomato paste and stock.  Simmer for about 10 min.  Add cayenne.   Keep on a very low heat, just so that it stays warm and start up on the meatballs.

Take meat mixture and make golf ball sized meatballs.  Heat ghee or butter in pan and place meatballs in pan taking care not to let them touch.  You may need to make multiple batches.  Cook for about a min or so on each side or done to your taste.   Once all the meatballs are done, put them in the sauce.  Add peas and bring up to temp on medium low heat. 

Serve.

Three marinades for Flank or Skirt Steaks

I love both Flank and Skirt Steaks.  They are both very economical and tasty cuts of meat and while I use them interchangeably for cooking purposes - they do taste a bit different.  Saveur has a great little piece on "Know Your Cuts" which define the difference between Skirt and Flank.

All of the recipes grill the steaks and I'm lucky in that I have a lovely cast iron grill pan.  But, you can broil it if you don't have a way to grill the steak up.

The first one is from Alton Brown, who I love for introducing me to the science of cooking.  He has this great Skirt Steak recipe that is brilliant for both taste and speed.  Most of the marinades require some time to both tenderize the meat and meld the flavors.  This one said a hour - but I didn't marinade it at all - and it was still very tasty.

Skirt Steak

• 1/2 cup melted butter - cooled
• 1/3 cup tamari (or soy sauce)
• 4 scallions
• 2 large cloves garlic 
• 1/4 cup lime juice 
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin 
• 1 tsp brown sugar or honey (optional)
• 2 pounds inside skirt steak, cut into 3 equal pieces  

Puree everything (except the meat!) in a blender.  Put the marinade on the meat.  Grill.  Eat. Yum. 

So this is Emeril's recipe for Skirt Steak with Chimichurri Sauce which we had for dinner tonight.  It does need some time to marinade into the meat.  I did a hour - but I do think that Emeril's recommendation for a minimum of 3 hours is true enough.  I did end up changing this quite a bit.

Skirt Steak with Chimichurri Sauce

• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 cup flat leaf parsley
• 5 large leaves of basil
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 large clove garlic
• 1 large shallot or 2 small ones
• salt
• pepper
• 1/4 tsp red chili pepper
• skirt steak

In a blender or food processor, put butter, vinegar, lemon, parsley, basil, oregano, garlic, shallots, salt, pepper, chili and blend into a nice paste.  Take 1/2 the paste and marinade the steak.   Grill the steak.  Plate and spoon over a bit of the left over paste.  It will melt into the steak.....so good!

This recipe is from "Earth to the Table" by John Ash and works really well as fajitas.  Since your grilling anyway - pop on some bell peppers and sliced onions... and you are good to go.  Who needs tortillas? :)  I haven't found a great solution to olive oil in cooking for recipes like this which need to be marinated for a long time.  Since the moment you stick this in the fridge the butter, coconut oil or palm oil solidifies.  As soon as I figure out a option... I'll let you all know.

Flank Steak in Lime-Chipotle Sauce

• 1/2 tablespoon minced chipotle in adobo sauce ( more or less depending upon your heat levels - this is very mild because the BF can't do too hot.)
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3/4 cup hearty red wine (I usually use a Merlot or Rojas ... depending on what had been opened)
• 1/2 cup tamari (or soy sauce)
• steak

In a large bowl, mix chipotle, garlic, cilantro, olive oil, wine, and tamari and blend well.  In a zip-lock bag, put in the steak and marinade. Marinade the steak for at least 4 hours but it works best overnight. Once you are ready, cook up the steak. Slice thinly, against the grain.  

Beef and cranberry - a odd combo that works

So, we just got back from holiday and have no veg in the fridge but we are never short on meat.  One of the nice things about being in a CSA and having a freezer to store all the bounty - is that you are never short on food. Anyway - I pulled out some pot roast and took stock of what we had -- dried cranberries that I normally use for salads, onions, garlic, 1/2 bag of frozen peas.... umm. It was going to be tough.

Off to the web I go to see what I can find to make with my meager rations.  I found this recipe on BBC Food that might actually work.   OK, I wasn't going to use the recipe exactly - but then again - when do I?  I must say, at the end of the day - YUM. it works.  However, I did go to the grocery store and that helped as well.*grin*  Since the picture made me think of mash potatoes and well, once I get something like that in my pea brain... well, I had to go shopping.

So, too make mash potatoes that are lower in carbs - do a percentage of the "potatoes" with cauliflower.   I made ours with 2/3 cauliflower and 1/3 potato and lots of butter, cream and cheddar cheese.  The BF dislikes the taste of cauliflower, but he did like this version.  So, if you are minding your carbohydrate intake but do not like cauliflower, this might be a option. It does taste great with this stew.

Braised Beef with Cranberries

• 1-2 pounds braising steak/pot roast cut into 1" pieces
• 3 onions, sliced
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups red wine
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups stock (beef, chicken, veg, even plain water will do)
• 4 tablespoons dried cranberries
• 1 - 2 tablespoons for browning beef and onions

brown beef in butter or bacon fat, pull out and set to a side.  You may need to brown the beef in batches, depending upon how big your dutch oven or oven safe pot is. Then, brown onions
once onion are browned, add the wine and give it a good stir.  Basically deglazing the pan, by getting all those nice dark bits from the bottom of your pan into the sauce. Add in stock, beef, cranberries and bring liquid up to a simmer.  At this point the liquid should be covering the beef. Cover pot loosely and cook on low heat for a minimum of 1 1/2 hrs.  You want the liquid to be a low bubble and just enough venting on the cover so that it doesn't boil in the pot. 

Note: the amount of stock and wine is based upon how much sauce you want and how long you want to braise the beef.  I braised mine for about 5 hrs and so used a lot more stock and wine.

Cranberries - you need to look at the ingredient list carefully on dried cranberries.  Actually, dried fruit in general, since they tend to add sugar and sulfur to the product.  Health food stores usually have dried fruit that does not have sugar added and is sulfur free.

Pulled Beef Short Ribs

ok, ok, ok... I don't know why I've been making such time intensive meals the last few days.  But, I had a taste for short ribs.  And, all the recipes I have had carrots in them.   One thing we didn't have are carrots.  Apparently, I've been on a carrot kick and the BF is somewhat sick of them.  So, I was banned from buying carrots this weekend at the farmer's market.  *grin*

We did have onions, beer and lemons.  OMG - this ended up SO good!  But, it is a LOT of work compared with other beef short rib recipes.  I use two different pans for this. 1) cast iron skillet to brown up the ribs and 2) cast iron Dutch oven for the braising - but if you don't want the extra clean up you can do it all in the Dutch oven.

Also, you can break this out into multiple days which we ended up doing by accident.  I didn't realize that separating the meat and bone would make so much of a difference in both taste and ease of eating.  Although, I'm sure you can figure out the later when you have the short rib still on the bone.  If your doing this all in one day, it will take about 5 or 6 hours.

Beer Braised Pulled Short Ribs

• 3 pounds beef short ribs
• 1 good porter - I highly recommend Bell's
• 1 really large onion (or two normal sized ones) - sliced thinly
• 2 garlic - sliced thinly
• 3 thick slices of lemon
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 celery stick - chopped roughly
• parsley (if you have fresh great! you just need a few sprigs - if not - about 3-4 tbsp dry)
• chicken stock or water - enough to cover the short ribs well (approximately 3 cups)
• bacon fat - enough to brown up the beef and saute the onions

Preheat oven to 300 F.

Salt and pepper the beef and brown in a pan. I use two different pans for this, a fry pan to brown the beef and a dutch oven to braise the ribs. If you choose to use only the dutch oven, then pull out the beef and set it on the side and then saute the onions.  Otherwise, heat up the dutch oven while the meat is browning and saute the onions.

Add garlic to the onions and stir it for about a minute.  Add beer to onions and garlic mixture, cook down a bit (about 5 min).  Add beef and bring liquid to a soft boil/simmer.

Place pot in the oven for 2 hrs.  And, if you are like me and working from home - back to work you go. Otherwise - do whatever you would normally do for the next 2 hours. TV anyone? 

Pull it out of the oven and let it cool to room temperature so that you can handle the meat.  You can even pull the meat out and place it on a separate plate to cool.

When you can easily hold the meat in your hands - remove the gristle and bones. Place the meat in one container, the bones in another and the gristle in the garbage. If you are doing this over multiple days, place the meat in the fridge.  

Put the bones into the dutch oven with the juices/liquid that has been there from the braising
simmer/low boil the bones and liquid until liquid is 1/2 to 3/4 gone (this is a few hours - depending upon how high you have the heat).

Strain the liquid and add the meat which you have either pulled by hand or you can pull with a fork
cook until liquid is all gone.

Now you can do this in many stages over a few days and it will taste better for it.  The lemon isn't overwhelming - but it does make the house smell lemony.  Which is a good thing, no? ;)

I really need to get a new camera so I can take pictures of the food... but that is on hold for a bit.  So, I'll just put up random images unless the BF is sweet and takes a picture of the meal.

Over the top lunch....

I was planing on having company this weekend but ended up under the weather.  Allergy season. :(

However, the grand plan was to have a wilted watercress salad (fresh from the farmer's market), beef pot roast (mint creek) and chocolate cake (flour-less, of course).

So, I made up the cake on Friday.  Set up the beef in the fridge to thaw out.... and generally got ready for Saturday dinner.

Saturday morning - I just couldn't move, couldn't breathe, couldn't think. Eh! The ruin of all my plans.  Thankfully, my friends are very accommodating and were willing to reschedule.  But, Sunday - I had to deal with the beef roast.  So, very late, I get to cooking... and we ended up with a lovely lunch.

As you can see, the cake was already broken into by the time I got to taking pictures. :)

And the pot roast came up lovely.

Almost makes going to work on a Monday bearable.

The wonderful thing about pot roast is that it tastes brilliant the next day.  This was a great flavor combo - the warm roundness of the pot roast, the acid and bacon and pepper flavors of the salad, and the sweet finish of chocolate.  So, here are recipes and if you want a wonderful evening dinner or a over the top, make you feel good lunch....

The BF's sister gave him a cookbook for Christmas holidays (and, well, I've basically taken it)  No surprise there!  I'm sure he is happy enough - getting the rewards and hardly any of the work. :)  And, I have been enjoying this awesome cookbook.  If you have a bit to spare, I highly recommend adding "From the Earth to the Table: John Ash's Wine Country Cuisine" to your cookbook collection/stash/stack. (I do not get money from this.. I just really love the book. I will at some point put up a list of cookbooks that I just think are brilliant -- but that is for another day. )

Pot Roast:

• 3 pounds tri-tip (aka: triangle tip, sirloin tip) or bottom round of beef
• 4 tbsp olive oil (I used bacon fat)
• 4 cups sliced onions ( I've done as little as 1 cup to as much as 5 cups -- depending on if you have leeks or not)
• 1 cup leeks
• 1 1/2 cups celery (sliced - supposedly diagonally - I'm a random chopper when it comes to stews and roasts because it cooks down and no one will notice the lack of perfection)
• 1 1/2 cups carrots (sliced, diagonally -- *shrug*  -- and I tend towards more, but I like carrots)
• 1/4 cup garlic (slivered / chopped / some how made a bit small)
• 3 cups red wine (optional)
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (or more if you like heat)
• 4 cups beef or chicken stock
• 2 cups canned diced tomatoes (I use fresh when possible)
• 2 large bay leaves (broken up a bit)
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 2 tsp minced fresh sage or 1 tsp dried.
• 2 tsp minced fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried.  (if you can get winter thyme - the leaves are smaller but the taste is brilliant - and as a bonus, no mincing. )
• 2 tsp fresh oregano or 1 tsp dried

Note: if you are using one pan to brown everything and another to cook it, please mind step 5.  If you are doing everything in a roasting pan - no worries.  I tend to brown everything in a cast iron pan, then move all the ingredients to a dutch oven.  It doesn't have as much room as a roasting pan would - so the liquid ingredients get put in slowly over the course of cooking -- and in proportions to whatever I feel at the moment.  I max out at 5 cups of liquid in my dutch oven - so, if I'm using wine - it will be a bit more heavy handed than the stock. :)

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Season the meat (salt / pepper) on all sides. In a pan heat the oil / fat until hot. Put in the roast and brown - all sides. Once all the sides are browned, put beef on a plate.

Put in the vegetables (onions, leeks, carrots, garlic - but not the tomatoes) and cook over medium heat until they begin to color and the onions are translucent. Add the meat to the vegetables. Add liquids (wine, stock, canned tomatoes' juice), red pepper flakes, tomatoes, bay leaves, fennel seeds, thyme, sage, oregano, salt and pepper. Bring up the heat and once the liquid starts to simmer, cover and braise in the oven for 2 - 2 1/2 hours.

Once done, pull out meat and let rest.

in the mean time, thicken up the base by simmering. Cut up the meat, add the sauce, serve.

Salad - Wilted Watercress:

The recipe is from simplyrecipes.com which really didn't need any changes.  However, since we don't use much sugar - I tend to the less sweet and use honey over table sugar. But, you can sweeten it as much as you need/want.

• 2 bunches watercress (Try to get mature watercress, it will hold up better to the hot dressing)
• 3-4 slices bacon (save off the bacon fat for the dressing)
• ¼ cup apple cider vinegar (less can be used - I'd start with a few tablespoons and add to taste)
• 4 teaspoons sugar (or less - I used a tbsp honey)
• Salt and pepper
• A pinch of ground mustard
• A pinch of sweet paprika 

Rinse thoroughly the watercress, removing old leaves and thick stems. Set aside in a serving bowl

Heat a small stick-free pan on medium heat and cook the bacon until done, several minutes on each side. Remove the bacon from the pan and put on a paper towel.

Keep the bacon fat in the pan. Add the cider vinegar and sugar/honey to the bacon fat. Stir to dissolve. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, add a pinch of ground mustard and a pinch of paprika.

Adjust acid/sugar to your taste.  If you are going to use the dressing the next day, use less vinegar as the bacon fat will pick up the taste.   if you are going to use it now... bring the dressing to a simmer. Pour over the watercress. Crumble the bacon over the top. Toss and serve.

Flour-less chocolate cake

This is the BF's favorite cake and each time I make it, it is a bit different.  It is adapted from the America's Test Kitchen version - but there isn't a link I can find for it.  If you like them - they do have a pay site: http://www.cooksillustrated.com/ - which is well worth the $40. Or, you can sign-up for ATK and get this season's recipes and info for free.

There is definitely a difference between making this in winter and in the summer.   In winter, the butter doesn't separate as much and so the overall flavor of the cake is creamier/richer.  And, if you have the AC on, I'm sure the same would be true in summer. :)  But, it was a beautiful evening on Friday and I had to leave the windows open.

You can add as much or little chocolate as you wish - I've apparently (by accident) made it with as little as 160 grams of chocolate and as much as 480 grams.  Note: 1 pound of chocolate is 453.60 grams.  For some reason, I can never remember this! :)  I use Green & Black 72% and 85% dark chocolate in a half and half consistency.  Pick your favorite chocolate and go for it!  Just know that the darker the chocolate, the less sugar it has.  So, make sure you love eating it straight before you cook it up. :)

• 8 large egg, cold
• 1 pound bittersweet chocolate
• ½ pound butter

Adjust oven rack to lower middle position and pre-heat oven to 325 F.

Line bottom of 8" spring-form pan with parchment and grease pan sides.  Cover pan underneath and along sides with a sheet of heavy-duty foil and set in large roasting pan.

Bring kettle of water to boil. You will be using this for the bath around the chocolate cake.

Beat eggs at high speed until volume doubles to approximately 1 quart, about 5 min - or longer.

Melt chocolate and butter in large heat-proof bowl set over pan of almost simmering water, until smooth and very warm (about 115 F), stirring once or twice (I stir pretty much the whole time, as I find that it brings a better consistency to the chocolate and stops the butter from separating too much)

Fold 1/3 of egg foam into chocolate mixture using large rubber spatula until only a few streaks of egg are visible; fold in half of remaining foam, then last of remaining foam, until mixture is totally homogeneous.

Scrape batter into prepared spring-form pan and smooth surface with rubber spatula.  Place spring-form pan into roasting pan and set roasting pan on oven rack and pour enough boiling water to come about halfway up side of spring-form pan.  (you can do it the other way around too...but the water does slosh around and can make a bit of a mess)

Bake until cake has risen slightly, edges are just beginning to set, a thin glazed crust has formed on the surface, and an instant read thermometer inserted halfway through center of cake registers 140 F, 22 - 25 min.

Remove cake pan from water bath and set on wire rack; cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate overnight to mellow. It can be covered and refrigerated for up to 4 days.

About 30 minutes before serving, remove spring-form pan sides, invert cake on sheet of waxed paper, peel off parchment pan liner, and turn cake right side up on serving platter. 

Sieve light sprinkling of confectioners' sugar or unsweetened cocoa powder over cake to decorate, if you want. I do when I'm doing this up for company... but as you can tell from the picture, the BF is just fine eating it after it has come up to room temp without the added prettiness. :)

Hope you had a happy Monday.

Brisket! yummy and good for you

This has become the go-to recipe for me when we are going to have company and I want to make sure I have lots of food and very little left overs. And, while it isn't a bacon focused recipe - I think it counts as I have bacon fat for the browning. ;)

And for those of you who love bacon - but do not save off the fat. Shame! It works so lovely in so many dishes and it stores so well in both the fridge and freezer. (ok. Yes, I know I've been on a bacon feast when I've gotten to the point where I'm freezing bacon fat. but a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do.)

This recipe was originally from Bon Appétit . 

However, I just couldn't do all the covering and uncovering, adding more broth, and minding! for hours on end. I'm just way too lazy for something like that.

But, the recipe is very forgiving and you can do as you like to it. I have added the Dijon mustard a time or two, but haven't found it to make much of a difference. However, the addition of lemon at the very end - just brings a brightness to the sauce that is brilliant.

Brisket Braised In Porter

• 1 tablespoon coarse kosher salt 
• 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper 
• 2 teaspoons dry mustard (such as Colman's) 
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage 
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme 
• 1 6-pound flat-cut brisket, trimmed but with some fat still attached 
• 2 tablespoons rendered bacon fat or olive oil 
• 4 cups (or more) low-salt chicken broth 
• 1 12-ounce bottle porter or stout 
• 6 whole pitted prunes 
• 4 bay leaves 
• 2 teaspoons (packed) dark brown sugar 
• 6 cups thinly sliced onions (2 1/2 pounds) - or however much you have the patience to cut 
• 8 whole garlic cloves, peeled 
• 1 lb. mushrooms, sliced 
• 1 lb. medium carrots, peeled, cut crosswise into 1 1/2-inch lengths 
• 1 or 2 tablespoons of lemon juice

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F.

Mix first 5 ingredients in small bowl. Rub herb mixture all over brisket. Heat bacon fat in heavy extra-large wide ovenproof pot over medium-high heat. Add brisket to pot and cook until deep brown, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer brisket to platter or rimmed baking sheet.

Add broth to pot and bring to boil, scraping up browned bits from bottom of pot. Stir in porter, prunes, bay leaves, and brown sugar; bring to boil.

Return brisket to pot, fat side down; scatter onion slices over to cover meat, then add garlic.

Cover pot; place in oven and braise brisket 6-7 hours. Turning meat every few hours to make sure it cooks evenly.

At about the 5 hr or 6 hr mark: Add the carrots, so that they wouldn't be too mushy. And saute mushrooms in a bit of butter. Let them rest a bit and then toss into the oven with the brisket.

Once brisket is completely done - pull it out to rest. Take the remaining liquids, add a bit of lemon juice and simmer down to nice sauce like consistency.