Sunday, November 28, 2010

Thanksgiving 2010 menu

We usually have a few friends over for Thanksgiving and cook a big meal.  This year, we did it all paleo with dairy!  The menu was:

Appetizers:
* Marinated olives
* Crudite and shrimp with green goddess dip
* Parrano cheese with grape jam (really good!)

Main course:
* Brined turkey
* Mixed mushroom and tarragon gravy

Sides:
* Bourbon walnut sweet potatoes
* Cranberry sauce in port wine with cinnamon
* Smoked paprika broccolini with almonds
* Cauliflower and mushroom stuffing

Dessert:
* Pumpkin pie
* Flourless chocolate cake

Everything came out really good!  We ended up with very few leftovers, and lots of people went back for seconds, which made me happy. :)  It was definitely the best turkey we've ever done--brining is the way to go.  I even had one guest tell me it was the best Thanksgiving food he'd ever had.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Pork spare ribs in the crockpotribs

Ingredients;
  • 2 racks of pork spare ribs
  • a can of diced tomatoes
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • 1 chopped onion
  • ~3/4 tablespoon anchovy paste
  • ~1.5 tablespoon soy sauce
  • ~2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
  • ~1/2 tsp green chile paste
  • 1 tblsp tomato paste
  • salt and pepper
I put all this in the crockpot for 8 hours on low.  The flavors came out pretty good!  However, it really didn't need to be in there for 8 hours. Maybe 4 or 6 next time! 

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Turned roasted chicken

This is my go-to roast chicken recipe.  The cooking method is from my Joy of Cooking, but the vegetables and herbs vary with what I have on hand.

Ingredients:

  • 1 whole chicken
  • Aromatic vegetables
  • Herbs
  • Butter
  • Salt and pepper
  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees!
  2. I prep the stuffing first, so I chop all my vegetables coarsely and toss them in a bowl with some of the herbs, salt, and pepper.  This time I used an onion, a carrot, and a stalk of celery, and three cloves of garlic that I smashed with the side of my knife.  For herbs I used dried basil, oregano, and thyme.
  3. To prep the chicken, rinse it and pat it dry with paper towels (and take out the bag of organs, little plastic pop-up thermometer, etc).
  4. Next, stuff the cavity of the chicken with the vegetable mix.  This time I tied the legs together with cotton twine to help hold it in better!
  5. Liberally salt the chicken all over the outside.  Sprinkle it with pepper and your herbs too.  Finally, brush the chicken with 2-3 tablespoons of melted butter.
  6. Set the chicken on its side (that is, with a leg up) in a v-shaped rack in a roasting pan or something that will catch drips.  This goes in the oven for 25 minutes for the first 4 pounds, plus 3 minutes per additional pound.  Then take the chicken out and turn it so the other leg is up, and put it back in for the same amount of time. Finally, turn it breast side up and finish cooking it--another 15-30 minutes, or until the thigh is 170-175 degrees.
Today I put a whole butternut squash in the oven with the chicken, just punctured in a few places to keep it from exploding.  It was good just mashed with a fork with a little olive oil, alongside the chicken!  Later we ended up roasting the extra vegetables that didn't fit along, with the vegetables from inside the chicken (doubtless contracting dire salmonella) and tossing them with some loose Italian sausage.  Also delicious!

Prosciutto wrapped pot roast




Prosciutto wrapped pot roast


Bored with pot roast - I was looking for a new twist.


Everyone said that the house smelled fantastic -- and a lot like corned beef.


Ingredients:


2.5 pound whole beef eye round roast

2 medium onions

1 celery stalk

garlic - chopped (as much as you like)

1/2 bell pepper - I used orange - very high in vitamin C

Olive oil

Veggies - as you like. I used a pound of carrots, a turnip and threw in a package of frozen carrots and broccoli for extra veggies.

8 cups of chicken stock - or beef, whatever you have

Red wine

Steak rub - Salt, pepper, garlic, paprika

8 oz prosciutto

Basil, thyme, bay leaf



Chop onions and saute in Dutch Oven with a couple tablespoons of olive oil.

Chop the bell pepper and add to pan.

Add salt and pepper

Rub the Beef with the steak rub all over -- a good coating.

Lay the prosciutto over the top and wrap it over the ends..... You could tie it - but it all falls apart if it is done right anyway.....

Now layer garlic onto the prosciutto

Lay the beef into the Dutch Oven

Add the broth

Add the bay leaf


Cook for 3-4 hours on low

Add 1/2 cup red wine, chopped turnip, carrots and broccoli and simmer for another hour.


Yum!


Slow cooker pork loin

I needed a crockpot dinner on Friday but all I could find without pulling the entire pig out of the freezer was a boneless pork loin.  Not ideal!  But I tried it anyway...

I rubbed it all over with salt and pepper, oregano, basil, and thyme.  Then I poked slits in it and inserted about 4 cloves of garlic cut up into chunks.  This went in the crockpot on a bed of onion slices and orange and white carrots.  I poured a mixture of chicken broth and balsamic vinegar over it, and cooked it on low for 6 hours (it was still a little frozen in the middle when it went in!).

This came out not too bad!  The flavors were good, and while it was dry it wasn't inedibly so.  It would probably be really good with a fattier cut of meat.

Friday, November 12, 2010

Easy Chicken Cordon Bleu

Ingredients: 

  • Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • Ham
  • Swiss cheese
  • Olive Oil
  • 1/2 cup shredded pecorino romano cheese
  • 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
  • 4 tbsp butter
  • 2 cups of milk
  • and of course - salt, pepper and garlic

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  2. Spread Olive Oil in a baking pan ( I used a 7X10 for 4 servings )
  3. Pound the breasts so they are relatively flat and about 1/4 inch thick.
  4. Place 1 in the pan
  5. Layer a slice of ham and a slice of Swiss cheese onto the chicken breast.
  6. Place another breast on top.
  7. Make as many of these little breast sandwiches as you want.....
  8. For the sauce:  Melt the butter in a 2 quart saucepan.  Add the milk, cheeses and seasonings.
  9. When heated throughly, pour over the chicken.
  10. Bake for 40 minutes.
I roasted some eggplant alongside in the oven --with Olive Oil, garlic, salt and pepper.

(posted by Erin for Mom!)