Chinese Pot Roast - revisited

This recipe is unbelievable.  Even in the summer.

From 2011-05-20

1 (4 pound) boneless beef chuck roast
1 tablespoon garlic salt
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dry mustard powder
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
3 cups water
3/4 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons white vinegar
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon ground ginger  (I used 1/3 of a cup.  I like ginger)
1 teaspoon celery seed
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water

I can never add the ginger recipes call for. It's my shortcoming, for real.

From 2011-05-20

From 2011-05-20

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
Coat the chuck roast with garlic salt, pepper and mustard powder. Heat the oil in a large oven-proof skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the roast and brown on both sides, about 5 minutes per side.

In a medium bowl, stir together 3 cups of water, soy sauce, vinegar, honey, ginger and celery seed. Pour over the roast and then cover the roast tightly with a lid or aluminum foil.

Bake in the preheated oven until the roast is very tender, 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

When the roast is done, remove it from the pan to a serving plate. Set the pan of drippings over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Stir together cornstarch and 1/4 cup of cold water. Pour into the boiling liquid and stir until thickened, about 1 minute. Serve the roast with the gravy poured over.

Rapture meal

Tonight is a good meal.  Just in case.  #rapture   Hong Kong Flank Steak

Flank Steak 

1/4 cup soy sauce 

1/4 dry sherry 

1 T minced fresh ginger  (I never follow directions.  I probably used 1/4 a cup) 

1 T minced garlic

1 T sesame oil

1 T peanut oil

1 T rice vinegar 

1 T honey

2 t hot chili oil

salt and pepper to taste 

Mix it all, put it in a zip lock bag.  Let it marinate for at least 8 hours, overnight preferable. Cook until desired doneness.  We like it rare.  6 minutes each side. 

Here is the rest of the menu.  

From 2011-05-21

A nice slow cooked pork shoulder

Our lazy Sundays are coming to winter's end.  Soon our Sundays will be mostly composed of sunrises, crashing waves and walks on the beach.   Having a Sunday to lounge and a pork shoulder to cook, I thought I would fire up the slow cooker before storing it for the summer.  I found what looks to be a fabulous recipe, again courtesy of Allrecipes.com.


A Nice Slow-Cooked Pork

INGREDIENTS:
1 (3 pound) pork shoulder roast
1 quart vegetable broth  (I used chicken broth and cut it in half)
1 cup sherry (per others input, used 1/2 a cup)
3 cups peeled, chopped potatoes (I used 3 potatoes as that's all I had)
2 cups pearl onions (I used a large, white onion quartered)
2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms (only because Paul doesn't eat mushrooms)
1 tablespoon dried rosemary (I used fresh and more because I LOVE rosemary)
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
salt to taste

DIRECTIONS:
1. Place the pork roast in a slow cooker. Pour in the vegetable broth and sherry. Mix in the potatoes, onions, mushrooms, rosemary, and pepper. (I set everything on top)
2. Cover, and cook on Low at least 8 hours, to an internal temperature of 160 degrees F (70 degrees C). Season with salt to taste.

As you can see, I almost never follow directions.  It's sort of a thing for me but I live with it.  :)  I also added five carrots, two cloves of garlic and a little red wine vinegar.  Many of the comments said that there was too much liquid so I cut way back and will check it throughout the day.  It looks delicious.

Vodka Martini with Blue Cheese Stuffed Olives

In general, I am not a clear liquor drinker. I do not like gin, I tolerate tequila, and I can occasionally drink vodka. Well, last weekend our friends Mike and Pam introduced us to a vodka martini with a blue cheese stuffed olive. I thoroughly enjoyed the drink. It helped that Mike is a fantastic mixologist, too! I decided to try my hand at making a couple for me and the missus. Click here for some images of my work. Here is the recipe I used:

- 3 oz. vodka (I used Absolut)

- 2 capfulls of Martini and Rossi White Vermouth

- ice

- Dellalo Blue Cheese Stuffed Olives

Place a hand full of ice into a martini shaker. Pour in the vodka and the vermouth. Shake for 30 seconds or so and let the liquids sit for 1-2 minutes. Place an olive into a chilled martini glass, and then pour the liquid from the shaker into the glass. Yield 2 vodka martinis.

This was a simple yet incredibly elegant cocktail before we made dinner.

Filet Mignon with Pepper Cream Sauce

1/4 cup coarsely crushed black peppercorns
4 (6 ounce) beef tenderloin filets, 1 1/2 inches thick
salt to taste
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon olive oil
1-2 shallots, finely chopped
1/2 cup beef broth
1 cup heavy cream
Preheat an oven to 275F.

Place the peppercorns into a shallow bowl. Sprinkle the beef tenderloin filets with salt on both sides, and coat both sides with crushed peppercorns. Place the filets on a cutting board or dish and cover with foil. Let the filets sit at room temperature for 45-60 minutes.

After the filets have warmed, place them in a pan and put the pan in the pre-heated oven. Cook the filets until they have reached an internal temperature of 95F (12-15 minutes). Once the filets have reached an internal temperature of 95F, take the filets out of the oven.

Melt the butter with the olive oil over high heat in a heavy skillet until the foam disappears from the butter. Gently place the steaks in the pan, and cook until they start to become firm and are reddish-pink and juicy in the center, about 3 1/2 minutes per side. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read 130 degrees F (54 degrees C). Remove the steaks to platter, and cover tightly with foil.

Cook the shallots in the pan for 1-2 minutes, then pour the beef broth into the skillet, and use a whisk to stir the broth and scrape up any dissolved brown flavor bits from the skillet. Whisk in the cream, and simmer the sauce until it is reduced and thickened, 6 to 7 minutes. Place the steaks back in the skillet, turn to coat with sauce, and serve with the remaining sauce.

Cook's Notes: This was an easy and incredibly easy dish to make. It has an incredibly sophisticated taste but it could not be easier to make. We served this with a bottle of Educated Guess Cabernet.

Saturday night salad

Saturday night, we had friends Yvonne and Gary over for dinner.  Paul made a magnificent honey and rosemary rack of lamb.  Yvonne asked to bring the salad and how happy we were that she did.  WOW.   You need to make this sometime.  

Radicchio with blue cheese and pears 

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 T white wine vinegar
1 T honey
2 small radicchio, ends trimmed and leaves separated
2 small beurre bosc pears, quartered, cored and cut into thin wedges
Blue cheese crumbled  (No amount here ... I love blue cheese so more is better.  You can decide on amount based on your personal taste)
1/4 cup roasted hazelnuts, roughly chopped

Mix everything.  Eat.  It's amazing.  

Baked Potato Soup

I really felt like some soup today.  It's been overcast, dreary, feeling-colder-than-it-is kind of cold, damp cold, lugubrious.  Our soup days are coming to an end (hip, hip, hooray) so I thought I would take advantage of the weather.

Saturday night, I made a fabulous meatloaf and decided on baked potatoes to go with it.  Having seen this recipe earlier in the day,  I threw a couple extra potatoes in to bake.  I am SO GLAD that I did.

Baked Potato Soup courtesy of Allrecipes.com.

3 bacon strips, diced
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3 cups chicken broth
2 large baked potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 cup half-and-half cream
1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
Shredded Cheddar cheese
Minced fresh parsley

Directions
In a large saucepan, cook bacon until crisp. Drain, reserving 1 tablespoon drippings. Set bacon aside. Saute onion and garlic in the drippings until tender. Stir in flour, salt, basil and pepper; mix well. Gradually add broth. Bring to boil; boil and stir for 2 minutes. Add the potatoes, cream and hot pepper sauce; heat through but do not boil. Garnish with bacon, cheese and parsley.

Cook's notes
Because I can never really follow directions, here are a few changes that I made.
I never took out the bacon.  And I am really glad that I didn't.
I used 4 cups of chicken broth instead of 3.
I should have used a few more potatoes.

It is fantastic.  And really easy.