What's Cooking?

[ness]

Did the green chili, and it's tasty. Two small pork chops, cubed. Browned in some oil then added onion, garlic and cumin. Got them started and deglazed with some water. Added water up to about 2 cups and 2 chicken bouillon cubes. Simmered about 10 minutes while I scorched, steamed, peeled and diced the 3 large Anaheim chilis. Added them to the stew and cooked another 20 minutes. Served over a couple fried eggs and topped with a little shredded cheese.

[ness]

Looks yummy Ness. I made some with goose breast. Turned out great. We are kind of in a food rut right now not trying anything new. Seared deer back strap with oven roasted red potatoes Saturday. Seared mallard breast yesterday with mashed potatoes and green beans. I suppose with the weather like it is I should do something creative for Mrs. BilletHead this week. I don't mind cooking and making a mess but dislike the cleaning up.BilletHead

You ever do gumbo? I can see duck, goose or even deer in a gumbo if you're trying to use some up. Lots of different things in it that could shake things up a little bit.

[joeD]

If you boys want to "shake" things up a bit in the cooking department, my advise is to throw the Food Network away, get rid of allrecipes.com,, quit taking pictures of your food, and then have a sexual affair with a 25 year Spanish beauty (gender is irrelevant).

Then, and only then, can you talk about your scrambled eggs and Parma ham.

[ness]

good idea, JoeD. Googling right now.

[rps]

If you boys want to "shake" things up a bit in the cooking department, my advise is to throw the Food Network away, get rid of allrecipes.com,, quit taking pictures of your food, and then have a sexual affair with a 25 year Spanish beauty (gender is irrelevant).

Then, and only then, can you talk about your scrambled eggs and Parma ham.

I'll have you know I don't scramble. I poach, I make omelets, I create frittata, I bake quiches, and when I feel nostalgic, I fry over easy. Besides, I use Cooks Illustrated instead of allrecipes when I need a basic recipe to alter. Barkeep, pour this man another round and put it on my tab.

[joeD]

Did I post that? Of course I did!

Sorry Ness, everybody. Came out wrong. Didn't mean to post. Meant to edit.

I love cooking and love cooking for people I love. Love recipes. Was trying to make a different point, but, obviously, I effed up.

Again, apologies. I was wrong.

[ness]

Oh great -- my mailbox is filling up with emails from senioritas and it was a typo?

[joeD]

Oy. Shoe leather is oh so not delectable this time of night.

[Terrierman]

Oy. Shoe leather is oh so not delectable this time of night.

Yowsa! JoeD I never figured you for one of those really open minded types.

[rps]

Some people shy away from cooking in any way other than frying or opening cans. My mother was one of those. Through a peculiar circumstance (those of you who read my posts know I love to tell anecdotes, but in this case I will not bore you) I cooked for the family my junior year of high school and my great aunt sat in a chair in the kitchen and told me what to do. That is when I caught the bug for cooking for others.

I just put a traditional dish in the slow cooker and will share the recipe with you. You will notice I do a few things you may not recognize, but trust me, they are worth it.

Not Your Mother's Pot Roast

This is my variation on a number of excellent pot roast recipes running around on the web. Serves 4.

Ingredients:

2.5 pounds boneless chuck roast

12 pearl onions, peeled (see below)

6 two inch button mushrooms, quartered

2 carrots, peeled and cut into bite size pieces

4 peeled cloves of garlic

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 cup dry red wine

1 tablespoon sundried tomato paste

2 cups beef stock

2 four inch sprigs of rosemary

2 large sprigs thyme

salt and pepper

Method:

Cut the root end off the pearl onions. Bring 4 cups of water to a boil. Drop the onions in the boiling water for 10 seconds. Drain the water from the onions. When they are cool enough to handle, squeeze the onion out of its skin by squeezing the top end. Set the peeled onions aside.

Heavily salt and pepper the pot roast. Heat the olive oil to smoke point in a fry pan. Brown the roast to dark brown on all sides in the hot oil. Remove it and reduce the heat.

Put the pearl onions and carrots in the pan and cook until brown edges begin to show. Remove the onions and carrots from the pan.

Add the wine and scrape all the fond from the bottom of the pan. Reduce the wine by half and add the tomato paste and garlic. Cook an additional minute then add the beef stock. Bring the mixture to the boil.

In the bottom of the slow cooker ceramic, lay down the herb sprigs. Place the carrots and onions over the herbs. Put the roast on top of the vegetables. Arrange the mushrooms around the meat. Pour the wine/stock mixture over the beef until the liquid is 1/2 to 3/4 up the side of the beef.

Cook the roast on low for 4 to 7 hours. You want the roast to reach fall apart stage.

Serve over simple smashed red skin potatoes with cream and butter. Garnish with snipped chives.

The pictures are from a fb post from last year.