Sunday Pot Roast

Who doesn't like a simple pot roast ? I ask you.

Beef Fillet Crostini with Arugula Pesto - Couch Potato Treat

So. We're hanging on the couch watching Red Sox baseball, sipping wine and eating the easiest, but most expensive open face sammies we've ever had. I'm not crabbin', though! These are wicked good!

Ukrainian Beet Borshch and Pampushky

Christmas always brings me at least one new cookbook and this year was no exception! My traditional first recipe from most of the cook books I get is a soup recipe. This is, perhaps, the result of looking to use leftovers from the Christmas food shopping fest or maybe just a rustic reaction to all the rich food we consume during the holidays. Soup seems simpler, less caloric, and less stressful to create.

Another Meatball Soup ...

Yesterday was such a lousy, rainy day! It was a day for spending under a blanket on the couch with hand sewing or a good book or a willing partner. But no. I had to schlep wood for woodboxes and deliver some food to a friend who is ill, return overdue books to the library and schlep grocery bags from the store to the car to the house. By the end of the day, my toes were wet because my clogs have sprung a leak. My hands were clammy and chilled and my hair was damp from the trips between car and errand locations. And the rain and bluster just kept blustering. UGH!

IHCC Potluck - Indian Beef with Peas

Sometimes the universe offers up a grand set of coincidences. Do you believe that?  I do, and here's a little coincidence that brought together three of my favorite cooks and cook book authors.

Beef and Bacon Pie - Classic Pub Food

The rant is nothing new here. Sit me down with a good bottle of beer and a good plate of pub food and I am in heaven. Well folks, here you go with another in my list of great recipes for pub fare.

Renata's Gulaschsuppe

Memories of dining in the German Gästehäuser  ... gulaschsuppe !

One More Bowl of Soup, Please!

Here's a soup for a cold raw day ... one that went really well with a plate of cheesy nachos and a cold beer. Everyone here in Fitzwilliam is crabbing about another snow storm that is threatening southwestern New Hampshire. There's a severe case of cabin fever going around the grey cottage ... wishing for a thaw and hoping that we get a long warm snap so that the drifts melt and the stone walls reappear! We are ready to see some forsythia and crocus blooms! Until then, though, the first paperwhite blossoms have poked their faces out to say, "Hello!".

Come on Springtime!

A Riff on Heidi's Homemade Cheeseburger Macaroni ... Gluten Free and Good

Dang! This wintery cold makes me yearn for fresh garden greens and sunny days, but all we have these days is snow banks in the yard, the Olympic Games on TV, and comfort food in our bellies. The only bright green is the parsley topping this bowl of homemade 'hamburger helper' cheeseburger macaroni.

Tortière

When I was a young kid, I loved poking around the kitchen when my Mom was cooking. She had a real routine and a corner of the kitchen counter that was her work space, so I would often grab a chair and drag it over in front of the sink, climb up and watch her do her thing. Pie crusts were always one thing that intrigued me and sometimes Mom would sing a little ditty called 'Billy Boy'.

That song and the bit about making a cherry pie I credit with my urge to perfect pie crust technique. Of course, I've gone far beyond cherry pies over the years. In fact, next week, I will mark thirty-four years with my charming Billy, otherwise known as Silent Bob. So, in honor of tying the knot, I made us a lovely little Tortière for our dinner this evening.

Braised Sirloin Tips and Mushrooms ... A Pub Food Rant!

I recently found a heavy cast iron Dutch oven on Ebay that called my name ... it was well-used and came to me for a song ... what care do I have that it has dings and a bottom that is stained and a bit pitted ... I plan to add to the 'patina'! The key for me was having a heavy pot that would take the shift from stove top to oven and go right to the table. The key was also having a pot much like a La Creuset, but without the sticker shock. Digging around on the Ebay auctions brought me to this Danish Copco cast iron beauty. I can put a whole chicken or big pot roast and all the fixings in this baby and let things simmer away to a soft 'fall off the bone' finish or make a huge soup or stew. Once this pan gets hot, it radiates warmth for a good long time!

Today, the house is chilly and I have decided to bake and use this Dutch oven to make some classic pub food ...

Cranberry and Beer Braised Brisket

Here is a beef brisket that has been braised to the point of falling apart into a smooth candied pile of sweet onions ... melt in your mouth delicious with crusty crunchy bread slices, or mounds of whipped potatoes, or a soft and smoky polenta. However you prefer, it makes enough for three hearty eaters of two with a plan for lunch leftovers.

Clean Plate Special - Beef and Mushroom Pies !

Pub food is the best! In my mind, it's easy to fix, can be put together fast and slapped down on the table in the time it takes to draw a pint and let the 'head' settle a bit.

Random Recipes - Cathy Rothwell's Teryaki Sirloin Tips

It's that Random Recipe time of month again! Every month, our cyber friend Dom gives us a new way to find a recipe from one of our cook books that we might not have seen, might have passed over, might have been afraid to tackle, might have ...

This month, Dom has challenged us to use his random number generator thingamabob to come up with a random number that corresponds to one of the books on our cookbook shelves; we are to open that particular book, make the recipe, and then "eat and of course, enjoy" ! My number is 128. Well, counting the books on the shelf brought me to the first of two of our family cookbooks - these binders hold recipes that I have diligently saved over the years from family, friends, magazine articles, newspaper slips, labels, etc. They're the one's that I have tried and loved and made the commitment to preserve. I have slowly transcribed them to word files, printed them out, placed them in waterproof plastic page liners and placed them in the huge binder/cookbook - they're there for all time! Anyway, flipping to a random page, I came to my friend Cathy's recipe for sirloin tips - her shiny, sweet, tangy, juicy steak bites.

This recipe is all about the simple marinade. I always soak the tips all day - for flavouring and tenderizing purposes. Then, I make slivers of onions and green peppers and give them a fast stir fry in the wok while I use a grill pan to sear these tips (or if the weather is nice, I grill them) to a perfect medium-rare. It's simple, but so wonderful! Sometimes, we have the tips with steamed jasmine rice and an Asian vegetable side dish, but at other times we have them with roasted spears of sweet potato and a simple salad. However you make them, I hope you enjoy them!

Cathy Rothwell’s Teriyaki Sirloin Tips

One day before you want to grill these, make the marinade and place the tips in a zip-lock bag. Seal and massage the tip with the marinade. Store the bag in a bowl in the fridge and give the meat a toss and a squeeze every now and then during the day.

Grill to medium-rare for the best and most tender chew, brushing the steaks with some of the marinade while they cook.  Sprinkle on the scallions and sesame seeds and serve hot from the grill.

Marinade:

½ c. soy sauce

¼ c. brown sugar

½ c. orange juice

1 large clove garlic minced

1 tsp. black pepper

1 – 2 lbs. sirloin tips or steak of your choice

Garnishes:

scallions, sliced into thin coins

sesame seeds, toasted

Accompaniments: Green pepper and sweet onion strips stir fried in peanut oil, black pepper and ginger root and garlic aromatics.

Note: If you choose to use a steak for this marinade, don’t forget to poke it all over with a meat fork to let the marinade really work its way into the slab of meat.

IHCC -Greetings Ottolenghi ! Thanks for Sunday Night Supper!

Ottolenghi's Sweet and Spicy Beef and Pork Pie

Two weeks ago, what started out as a search for some good Indian recipes turned into the introduction to a new blogging group that concentrates their cooking efforts on researching and cooking one particular chef's work for an extended period of time. The I Heart Cooking Club was finishing up a period of time in which they had concentrated on Madhur Jaffrey's cooking and announced that they would be moving on to the work of Yotam Ottolenghi.

HMM! There has been quite a bit of chatter on-line about Ottolenghi over the last year. Between talk of his restaurants, his interesting take on fresh vegetables and use of spices in new and interesting ways, the cook book called Plenty, and his latest cookbook called  Jerusalem , I was intrigued to see just what all the excitement was about. I went here and after giving it some thought, I decided to join up.

Pub Food - Beef in Stout with Herb Dumplings

Sunday Supper never looked so good ...

Pub Food - Roasted Beets and Meat Pie

An easy vegetable dish that is so pretty ... it sits nicely beside an elegant poached fish or a homey piece of meat pie. Completely unfussy and just beautiful in its simplicity.

Two Words ... Short Ribs

 

 

Storm Clouds

 

 

 

 

Short Ribs

 

 

 

 

 

Portabellas ... Onions

 

Cheeseburger in Paradise Soup

This is a new soup ... one that I found in a Taste of Home magazine that my son gave me at Christmastime. With time and finagling, I think it will be a worthy soup, but yesterday when I made it, I couldn't put my finger on what will make is a perfect cream soup. As you look at the list of ingredients, give it a think, will you?  Let me know if something glares out at you.

The Butcher's Sauce - Random Recipes

 

 

an ode to orange ... 

 

What's at 'the back of  beyond' in your cupboard  (or freezer, in my case) ? This month's Random Recipe challenge was to reach into the back of your pantry and bring out a box, can, bag, packet, what ever! Next, go to a cookbook and find a recipe that uses that 'forgotten' ingredient. Well, that's clever, Dom!