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Archive for the ‘Weekend Cooking’ Category
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Oh, it’s a fun Friday at the Sushi Bar. The Young One is battling some sort of crud and stayed home from school today. I finally got a good night’s sleep last night but woke up with my right hand swollen and mostly immobile. One of our fish decided to go belly up and Scooter has found a pile of something extraordinarily fragrant to roll in out back – he’s had two baths already this week. Only Beloved seems to be able to go about with Business As Usual.
Fortunately, experience tells me that with some ibuprofen and an Ace bandage, my hand will be okay in rather short order, so I’m thinking about food for the weekend. I was planning to try homemade croissants last weekend, but didn’t get around to it (The Young One got a VILE virus on his computer and we spent most of Sunday trying to get rid of it – alas, we will have to rebuild the computer), so I will try that this Sunday instead. Also, my plans for boeuf bourguignon à la Julia Child are on hold until I can get my hands on an enameled cast iron casserole or Dutch oven…which, I’m sorry to say, will NOT be Le Creuset; at $229 dollars that’s just a weeeee bit out of my price range at the moment, especially when I can get a Lodge enameled cast iron (which reportedly performs every bit as well as the Le Creuset) for less than half that.
Anyhoo, while thinking about food for the weekend I also thought about how some of the trees are already turning color and the fact that it’s been dropping into the 50s at night – which is slowly killing the enormous bed of impatiens we planted out front this spring and have been absolutely gorgeous all summer – this recipe came to mind. It is marvelous comfort food, easy to make, and rather elegant as well as being one of Beloved’s absolute favorites. Served with homemade noodles, it’s nothing short of sublime, although it is still quite tasty served over mashed potatoes or steamed rice, too.
Y’all have a lovely weekend.
Beef Stroganoff
serves 6
2 pounds tenderized round steak, well trimmed, cut into 2-inch strips
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 pound mushrooms, thickly sliced
1 cup beef broth
3/4 cup whipping cream
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
12 ounces wide egg noodles
1 tablespoon paprika
Pat meat dry with paper towels. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat oil in heavy large skillet over high heat until very hot. Working in batches, add meat in single layer and cook just until brown on outside, about 1 minute per side. Transfer to rimmed baking sheet.
Melt 2 tablespoons butter in same skillet over medium-high heat. Add chopped onions and sauté until tender, scraping up browned bits, about 2 minutes. Add mushrooms. Sprinkle with pepper and sauté until liquid evaporates, about 12 minutes. Add beef broth. Simmer until liquid thickens and just coats mushrooms, about 14 minutes. Stir in whipping cream and Dijon mustard. Add meat and any accumulated juices from baking sheet. Simmer over medium-low heat until meat is heated through but still medium-rare, about 2 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Meanwhile, cook noodles in large pot of boiling salted water until tender, about 8 minutes. Drain. Transfer to bowl. Add remaining 4 tablespoons butter and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper. Divide noodles among plates. Top with beef and sauce. Sprinkle generously with paprika.
My week has just been all out of whack! No Random Tuesday Thoughts and this is the first chance I’ve had to post a recipe.
But oh – it’s a doozy. Delicious and simple.
We’re enjoying the hell out of our new grill – I think Beloved misses it almost as much as he misses us when he’s gone out of town on business. We’ve done burgers and dogs and chicken and steak to death, so when I found this recipe I was like “Oh, yes – let’s give it a whirl” even though I’m not a big fan of beer.
Marinate the pork loin 24 hours, if you can – the flavors are really wonderful. Reserve the marinade and boil it for 3 minutes to kill any harmful bacteria, and baste the loin frequently to help keep moist. It also forms a wonderful glaze on the pork.
If you can’t grill this for whatever reason, you can roast it in the oven, covered, at 250 for about 4 hours; again, basting frequently with the reserved marinade.
Edited 11-15-09 to add: I made this recently and roasted it in the oven, uncovered in a small cast iron skillet, at 350° F for about an hour and a half, basting it every 15 or 20 minutes with the reserved, boiled (and strained) marinade. It was quite good – a delicious and easy cold-weather dish.
Honey Rosemary Grilled Pork Loin
serves 6 to 8
3 to 4 pound pork loin, trimmed of fat
1/2 cup honey
1 cup beer
1/2 tablespoon onion powder
1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
1 1/2 teaspoons dried rosemary
1/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Mix all ingredients and marinate pork roast for several hours or (preferably) overnight.
Remove roast from marinade, and grill over indirect, low heat (between 225°F and 250°F) to an internal temperature of 160°F, about 4 – 4 1/2 hours.
Yesterday morning saw me furiously working in the kitchen at 8:30 a.m. beginning to bake bread, including Monkey Bread for brunch. I measured and mixed and kneaded and covered my bowls with plastic wrap and set them aside to rise. And they just sat there. Worried that my yeast, which I keep in the freezer, was losing it’s effectiveness but suspicious that my kitchen was just damn cold, I put the oven in proof mode and sat two of the three bowls in there. That seemed to do the trick, and we only had to wait until 12:30 to eat. *sigh* Well, it’s called “brunch” for a reason, I suppose.
I also put a roast in the crock pot; when that was ready, I made some beef gravy from the drippings in the crock and we had that with homemade egg noodles (I love the pasta attachment for my KitchenAid mixer) and some sort of green vegetable…I think. I’m reasonably sure there was something green on our plates that Beloved and I ate because it was there and The Young One ignored because it was, well, green. In a couple of days we’ll reheat that beef and gravy and have hot, open faced sandwiches for dinner because I’ve got all that bread hanging around the kitchen (two loaves of white and one loaf of cheddar) and because it sounds damn tasty.
I also baked the promised carrot cake for Beloved and fully intended to bake a batch oatmeal cookies as well, mostly for The Young One’s lunches. Oatmeal cookies are Beloved’s favorite but The Young One won’t turn his nose up at them, either. They are also pretty darn economical; they don’t require anything you don’t have in your kitchen already…and if you don’t have these very basic items, well, we’re just going to have to talk that one over. Really.
However, after baking Monkey Bread, 2 loaves of white bread, 1 loaf of cheddar bread, a carrot cake and making homemade egg noodles for dinner, I kind of pooped out. Oh, well, it’ll give me something to do tomorrow evening while I’m heating up the leftover beef and gravy for those hot, open-faced sandwiches.
This recipe is another one of my grandmother’s and has been handed down with all of the reverence of a fragile and valuable family heirloom. In many ways it is. You can add to it – raisins, nuts, butterscotch pieces, chocolate chips, or whatever strikes your fancy, but they are simply marvelous just plain. Note that the maximum cooking time is 12 minutes – not a minute longer! They may not look quite “done” but if you cook them any longer, they will become hard and crumbly as they cool. Also, use the shortening – butter will make the cookies spread too much and you’ll be left with hard oatmeal pancakes. Quick cooking oats are fine (although I use just regular rolled oats), but never use instant oatmeal for these.
Oatmeal Cookies
makes about 3 dozen
3/4 cup vegetable shortening
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups rolled oats
Preheat the oven to 350° F.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together the shortening and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the water, egg and vanilla and mix on low speed until well mixed.
In a smaller bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder then add to the wet ingredients in three additions, mixing well after each addition. With a large spoon or spatula, stir in the oats, then any additions, until well blended.
Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls (I use a small ice cream scoop) onto an ungreased cookie sheet, about 2″ apart. Bake 10 – 12 minutes (no longer than 12!!), turning once midway during the cooking time so they will brown evenly.
Let them cool for 1 – 2 minutes on the cookie sheet, then carefully transfer them to a wire rack with a spatula to cool completely. These will keep several days in an airtight container.
Because I got nothin’ else.
I woke up this morning with my right hand swollen as all get out, unable to move my thumb at all. My arthritis strikes again! And leaves me wondering what the hell I did in the middle of the night to bring this on. I’ve spent all morning wrapping, unwrapping and re-wrapping my hand in an Ace bandage – the bandage helps with the pain (somewhat), but I can’t type with the damn thing on and it makes my fingers fall asleep after awhile. This is NO fun and I wonder how my girl Twenty Four at Heart manages with her entire right arm being out of commission.
Of course, there’s an upside to everything: it’s keeping me from compulsively playing with this promotional Rubik’s Cube keychain one of our business partners gave everyone in the company. (It has a small “made in China” sticker on it in the corner…I guess I won’t be chewing on it, either.)
Speaking of the middle of the night, I had this bizarre dream where someone was trying to give me a large, marquis-shaped, violet-tinged diamond to replace the one in my wedding set. It was gorgeous.
Beloved, dear, I think my subconcious is talking to you.
Alert the media – I have no idea what I’m making for dinner tonight. Just that it will include squash. And maybe carrots and celery. And rice. Chicken? Water chestnuts? Ginger? Oh, and onions (sorry about that, Tricia!).
Okay, I’m dragging out the wok and making a stir fry. I’m glad that’s settled.
My search terms have been mildly interesting this month – as usual, I get a lot of visits from people looking for recipes, but over 120 hits for “scalloped potatoes” alone? Damn, I never knew the dish was that popular. And “banana bread” wasn’t far behind it. (I also got a lovely lecture from someone about my White Chocolate Cream Cheese Buttercream recipe, informing me that white chocolate is not real chocolate. Hey, I didn’t name the stuff – I just use it to make cake frosting.)
Hmmm – I have a surplus of baby carrots (they were on sale last weekend), and some raisins. And if I’m not mistaken, some Nestle’s White Morsels. All I need is some pineapple…oh, I bet we’ll be eatin’ carrot cake before the weekend is up. (Note: if you ever decide to make the carrot cake, use the white chocolate cream cheese buttercream to frost it; it’s much better than the icing included with the actual carrot cake recipe.)
Where was I? Oh, yes – search terms. My favorite one this month has got to be this:
“Is there a disorder that makes you creampie a lot?”
I have no idea what that means, but it cracks me up every time I see it.
One last thing, you bunch of crazies dear readers – yesterday’s post on barbecue got Beloved searching the interwebz frantically for a new smoker/grill. He’s decided on The Big Green Egg.
The thing ain’t cheap.
Which is not to say we can’t afford one, because we can, but I’ll have to pay for it with the money I’ve been saving for the solid oak, Amish-made bookshelves he’s been lusting after for the living room. I’ve told him this, and he’s now waffling back and forth. (He stares at our cheap and not necessarily matching present bookshelves and goes, “Hmmmmm” and then turns around and tells me that since The Egg is green, it will match the outside of the house.)
I believe he needs some help deciding, so I’m taking a poll:
Solid oak, Amish-made bookshelves that will look absolutely fab with our vaulted, cedar ceiling, or a 200 lb. ceramic smoker/grill that will hold a 20 lb. turkey? Oh, and that matches the outside of the house?
Before I get involved in what I’m sure will be an absolutely mesmerizing post on the creative use of leftover roast chicken, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who left me such kind and wonderful comments on my anniversary post Friday. You all help make it worthwhile and are what keeps the whole blogging thing enjoyable. Thank you all, so much, my dear bloggy friends.
And now on to the business at hand. Since I missed participating last week in Smart Mouth Broad’s new Money in the Bank…doohickey…thing…what would you call it? Really? At any rate, I’m taking up the money saving reigns today and will keep you enthralled with my shopping and cooking exploits from the weekend. I won’t go into the hormonal hysteria I suffered from Friday and Saturday…yet. I’m saving that little gem for this week’s Spin Cycle, which is all about The Change. (It just may be “change” for you, but in my world it’s about THE Change. And it’s not pretty. Just thought I’d warn you.)
Anyhoo, they had some interesting sales this week, and roasting/stewing chickens were Buy 1, Get One Free again and holy, er, cow, ground chuck was $1.99 a pound. Not only that, but red bell peppers AND extra sharp cheddar cheese were on sale, which means only one thing at the Sushi Bar: pimento cheese. So I made a roast chicken for dinner last night, along with some of my grandmother’s cornbread dressing (if I ever lack the ingredients for making either cornbread or cornbread dressing you can just call for the men in the white coats with the butterfly nets because you’ll know I’ve completely lost it), and as usual when I’ve roasted a chicken I have tons of chicken left over. Sometimes it’s made into chicken salad (I’ll post my recipe for that another day, ’cause it’s goooooood stuff), sometimes it’s thrown on a green salad, sometimes it’s put in a stir fry, and sometimes it’s made into a wonderful, homey casserole.
While this is not a difficult dish to prepare, it’s not exactly one of those easy to put together casseroles, although I suppose you could do something similar with cans of cream of celery and cream of chicken soups, but it would be a pale imitation of this glorious dish. This is the kind of casserole that gives casseroles a good name; it’s the kind of food that comforts and nourishes the soul as well as the body. I have yet to meet anyone (besides The Young One) who doesn’t gobble this right up, and then go back for seconds. Made with homemade egg noodles, this is nothing short of ambrosial.
If you have some leftover chicken (and I’ve done this before with leftovers from one of those rotisserie chickens from the grocery store), you’ve probably have everything else on hand to make this. If you don’t – tsk, tsk. We’ll have to work on that.
Chicken Noodle Casserole
serves 8
2 1/2 cups of leftover roasted chicken, cubed
1/2 stick butter
1 small onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
1 large carrot, peeled and sliced
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 can low-sodium chicken broth
or
2 cups homemade chicken stock
1 1/2 cups milk
I cup frozen peas, thawed and drained
Salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste
8 ounces medium egg noodles
2 cups fresh breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons melted butter
Preheat the oven to 350° F.
In a large, heavy skillet, melt the butter over low heat and saute the onion, celery and carrot until the onion is soft, about 5 – 7 minutes. Stir in the flour, making a roux, and cook for anther 5 minutes. Whisk in the chicken broth, then the milk, and increase the heat slightly. Cook the mixture, stirring frequently, until it thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Season to taste.
Meanwhile, cook the noodles according to the manufacturers instructions; drain. When the sauce has thickened, stir in the noodles and peas and remove from the heat.
Pour the chicken and noodle mixture into a 9 x 13 baking dish, sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the top, then drizzle the melted butter over the breadcrumbs.
Bake for 20 – 30 minutes, until the breadcrumbs are browned and it is all heated through. Let it sit for about 5 minutes before serving.