Archive for December, 2006
Nothing is quite so classic and homemade as a good pot roast. Who doesn’t like pot roast? Doesn’t the idea of serving up pot roast leave you with images of a classic 50’s era mother, serving everyone a generous helping of meat and potatoes in her crisply starched dress and apron? Picture June Cleaver or Mrs. Cunningham and you know what I’m talking about.
Well, for years I felt rather miserable about my pot roast. I would alternate between making terrible roast beef and avoiding it altogether. Determined, I would get out my Betty Crocker cookbook, carefully read, study, and calculate directions and cooking times. I would buy the exact cut of meat instructed, cook it exactly as directed, and end up with tough, chewy beef. Ugh.
A few months or a year later, once the memory of the previous disaster was forgotten, I would attempt it again, with precisely the same results. Ugh.
Finally, I figured it out! A couple of years ago, my truly incredible husband signed up for a free issue of Cooks Illustrated. This is a publication born of the PBS show America’s Test Kitchens. Or maybe the show was born of the magazine, I’m not really sure, but they are connected. Anyway, hubby watched an episode where they made Italian Four-cheese macaroni and he promptly signed up for a free issue of the magazine in order to access their website and the recipe for the macaroni.
As with many “free issues,” we received several free issues, and still get one sporadically, apparently sent in hopes that we will subscribe. (I rarely subscribe to anything.) In one of our free issues, there was an entire article about cooking beef. I read with great zeal. Would the secret to pot roast be revealed? It was!
Guess what folks, I am going to reveal it to you! Here it is:
Unless the cut of beef you are using is a prime cut - like prime rib or most steaks, you have to cook the beef at a low temperature way beyond the cooking time necessary to just cook the beef. This is what my Betty Crocker cookbook didn’t tell me. It only told me how long the beef must cook in order to be “done.” But with any kind of roast that has - well, there’s no nice way to say this - stringy ligaments and connective tissue, the roast must be cooked for many hours in order to soften and “melt” this connective tissue. (AKA - gristle, chewforever, etc.)
This is how I make pot roast now and it ALWAYS turns out well:
Allow about 8 hours for cooking time. Longer is fine. Less and you might still have chewy meat. For me, this means I want to get it going by 10 in the morning so I can serve at 6 o’clock. This might seem a little long, but better safe than sorry.
Start by heating some oil in a large skillet.
Put the roast into the hot skillet and sear until all sides are golden brown. This will seal in the flavor)
Next, transfer the roast to a crock pot or a roasting pan.
Pour in enough water to cover about 1/3 to 1/2 of the roast.
If in a crockpot, set it to high. If in a roasting pan, set your oven to 325, cover the pan, and put it in.
If in a crockpot, turn it to low after one hour.
When you have about 4 hours to go before dinner, use two forks to check the meat. You want meat that will pull apart easily and practically start falling apart when you poke your fork into it. If it’s not there yet, turn the heat up a bit. You can turn it back down when you have achieved the tender texture you are looking for.
Also at 4 hours to go, add some vegetables. My favorites to add are: large chunks of redskin potatoes, carrots, onion wedges, celery, diced tomatoes.
Sprinkle salt and pepper over the whole thing.
Keep checking the meat periodically. Turn it down to low or 300 when its nice and tender.
That’s all folks! Enjoy!
December 29th, 2006
Slapping some meat on the grill for supper is great for many reasons…
It TASTES great
It’s quick
Very little clean up
You can offer a variety of foods without putting forth any more effort
If you’re lucky, the man of the house will cook it
The downfalls are rather limited…
Your supper could catch on fire
If you are the cook, you may have to wear shoes and go in and out while preparing the meal
The last downfall is one I run into every now and then… I like to put chicken breasts on the grill, but run out of different ways to fix them. Face it, you will get tired of BBQ sauce eventually and you will want something different. We are not huge lovers of BBQ sauce in the first place, if I make BBQ chicken too often, I can count on getting some complaints.
Honey Mustard Chicken is a good alternative:
Grilled Honey Mustard Chicken
3 chicken breast halves
2 T. lemon juice
2 T. soy sauce
1 T. worcestershire sauce
1/4 c. honey
1/4 c. mustard - any kind, even plain yellow works well
1/4 t. paprika
salt and pepper to taste
Butterfly the chicken breasts so there is an even thickness. Pour the lemon juice, soy sauce, and worcestershire sauce into a shallow bowl or a ziploc bag. Add about 1/2 cup or more water, and put the chicken in there, too. This is your marinade. I do this every time I make chicken, no matter what I’m going to do to it later. The lemon juice and soy sauce work as tenderizers.
Several hours later, mix the honey, mustard, and seasonings together. This is your basting sauce, which can also be used as a second marinade. Transfer your chicken (not the juice, just the chicken) to the honey-mustard mixture. Let it soak that up for an hour or so. If you want to serve some extra sauce with the chicken, mix up some more and keep it away from the raw meat.
Next, heat up that grill. Turn it all the way to high and let it get good and hot - at least ten minutes. Then turn the heat back to medium-low and put the chicken on. You can use a brush to baste some of the sauce onto each piece. After about 5 minutes, flip the chicken breast pieces and brush some more sauce on. After another 5 minutes, cut into the center of the thickest piece to see if it’s done or not.
This is really good served with a spinach salad or any fresh vegetables. Garlic bread goes well with it, too.
Enjoy!
December 28th, 2006
Although this is definitely an All-American-Pie-Eating Family, every now and then I can convince them to have something else. I’ll be making a traditional pumpkin pie for Christmas Eve Dinner, but we’ll also enjoy a raspberry cheesecake (my nomination, readily seconded by my 14-year-old son.)
A year or two ago I gave in and bought myself the springform pans needed to make cheesecake. I like trying new things and cheesecakes had been on my list for a few years. I confess I haven’t used them much, because of the sickeningly high caloric content of cheesecake combined with everyone’s unhealthy love of pies.
Today I’m dusting off my springform pan and making a cheesecake for tomorrow. I’ve decided on a plain cheesecake with red raspberry topping. If I go with chocolate I will over-overindulge on it. Sticking with raspberry, I might be able to keep that down to a simple overindulge.
Okay, folks, I admit to being less than an expert cheesecake maker, but the ones I have made turned out very well, so here’s the recipe. It is very important to have the cream cheese softened before you start. Cold cream cheese will be lumpy, and it’s nearly impossible to fix it if it’s lumpy and you have added the other ingredients. You will need a 9 inch springform pan or increase the ingredients for a larger pan.
Basic Cheesecake
1 c. vanilla wafer crumbs
1/2 c. sliced almonds, ground
1/4 c. butter, melted
16 oz. cream cheese, softened to room temperature
2 T. milk
1/3 c. sugar
1/2 t. almond extract
2 eggs
Combine the cookie crumbs, the almonds, and the butter. Press this into the bottom and up the sides of the springform pan. Bake it at 350 for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, take a mixer to the cream just for a minute, then add the sugar, almond flavoring, and milk. When that is well-mixed, add one egg at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Pour this over the crust and return to the 350 degree-oven for 45 minutes. Cool on a wire rack at room temperature. Then loosen the sides of the pan. Refrigerate.
Raspberry Topping
1 bag of frozen raspberries
1 T. cornstarch
3/4 c. sugar
2 T. water
In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and cornstarch. Add the berries and water. Stir and put it over medium heat. Continue stirring as it heats and comes to a boil. The cornstarch will help thicken the sauce. Cool and spoon over the cheesecake as you serve it.
Enjoy!
December 23rd, 2006
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