Begin again…

Well, I’ll jump right into it:

I had kind of lost my blogging mojo by the end of June, and then at the beginning July my boyfriend of 14 years passed away unexpectedly. Well, as unexpectedly as anyone with COPD for 3-4+ years can. And that kind of took the wind right out of my sails. A week after his memorial was my birthday, then a week after that was his birthday.  So it’s been a tough month.  I’m already starting to have more good days (those without crying my eyes out) than not-so-good ones, so I’m doing OK.

I don’t mean to relay all this for  sympathy, but as an an FYI for you. Whenever one of  the blogs I read just disappears without explanation, it bothers me. I assume it bothers you too. I wonder if they’re coming back, what’s happened in their life (if anything) and I keep checking back less and less frequently, until I relegate them to the “Low Activity” bookmark folder. I check that occasionally, and sometimes the blogger starts posting again.  So I can’t and won’t promise that I’ll post any more regularly for any time soon. I just don’t have the proper mind set right now. God knows a crabby depressed Xeyedmary isn’t a whole heck of a lot of fun to read.  Even on a good day.

My kitchen table is piled with various things that I have no ambition to deal with at the moment, and since it’s the best spot to take photos of my stitching, I haven’t been able to do that either. I have stitched a bit, filled in more snow and water on Beacon House, and worked a bit more on that Xmas sampler I can’t remember the name of- “Joy Sampler” by Lizzie Kate maybe?

I may clean the table off and be more diligent in taking progress photos, and just post those with little commentary. I think I can handle that.

Any whose: I just uploaded some photos I took  last month:

Here’s what I grilled for myself for my birthday dinner:

 

An angus burger with caramelized onions and American cheese on a bed of baby spinach with mayo & ketchup. Bob had promised me we’d go to our favorite diner in Mattapoisett for their SCL  burger for my birthday- which is pretty much what I recreated, but without the fries.

Emily gave me a couple of cupcakes- refugees from an event she baked for. And that’s an icy cold glass of Bud, for a toast to my honey.

Here’s my wittle bitty baby:

She’s been glued to my side- so sweet.

TTFN

Wonderful Wednesday Wrecipe

Emily found this recipe last week. It sounded yummy. However, I didn’t want to make a huge 9” x 13” pan of it though, so I adjusted the quantities. None of us like mushrooms very much either, so I eliminated those too. It took all afternoon, but it came out delicious! Very rich & decadent- worth all the trouble.

Short Rib Lasagna

Short Rib sauce:

• 3 fresh thyme sprigs plus 1 TBSP chopped fresh thyme
• 1 fresh rosemary sprig
• 2 fresh parsley sprigs
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 pounds boneless beef short ribs
• ½ cup flour
• 3 TBSP olive oil, divided
• 2 medium carrots, chopped in ¼” dice
• 2 celery stalks, chopped in ¼” dice
• 1 medium onion, chopped in ¼” dice
• 2 TBSP tomato paste
• ¼ cup ruby Port
• 1 cup dry red wine (Cabernet Sauvignon or Zinfandel)
• 3-1/2 cups beef broth
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled

Lasagna:

• 3-1/2 TBSP butter
• 3 TBSP flour
• 2 cups whole milk
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• 1-1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 3 or 4 no-boil lasagna noodles

Sauce Directions:

1. Create a bouquet garni with the fresh herb sprigs & bay leaf. Tie in cheesecloth, or place in a coffee filter pinned closed with toothpicks.
2. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Sprinkle ribs with salt & pepper. Place flour in a shallow bowl; dredge meat, shaking off excess. Reserve flour.
3. Heat 2 TBSP oil in a large ovenproof pot over medium high heat. Working in batches, cook ribs until browned on all sides, about 6 minutes per side, setting aside after they cook. Reduce heat to medium.
4. Heat remaining 2 TBSP oil in same pot. Add carrots, celery, & onions. Cook until softened, stirring often, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle 1 TBSP reserved flour over vegetables (discard remainder).
5. Add tomato paste & stir until paste begins to brown on bottom of pot, about 1 minute. Add Port & stir until almost all liquid is absorbed, scraping up brown bits, about 1 minute. Add red wine, then 1 cup of the beef broth.
6. Bring to boil and simmer until reduced by about 1/3, stirring often, about 7 minutes. Add remainder of broth, garlic, and bouquet garni. Return to a boil.
7. Add ribs back to pot, arranging in a single layer. Cover pot. Place in oven and braise until very tender, about 2-1/2 hours.
8. Using tongs, remove cooked ribs from liquid. Discard bouquet garni. Shred beef. Spoon off any excess fat from top of sauce & discard.
9. Boil sauce until reduced to about 3-1/2 cups, about 8 minutes. Return meat to sauce and season with salt & pepper. Stir in chopped thyme.

Lasagna Directions:

1. Melt butter in a heavy large sauce pan over medium heat. Add flour & whisk until smooth. Cook until flour turns light golden brown, whisking often, about 6 minutes. Add milk; bring to a boil, whisking constantly. Boil 1 minute. Add nutmeg and season to taste with salt & pepper.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 5” x9” x 3” loaf pan with vegetable spray.
3. Spoon about ½ cup sauce evenly on bottom. Sprinkle 2 TBSP cheese over. Place a lasagna noodle on top of cheese. Spoon about 2/3 cup béchamel over noodle, spreading evenly. Sprinkle with ¼ cup cheese. Spread 1 cup of sauce over. Repeat with noodle, béchamel, cheese, and meat sauce. Top with one last noodle, spreading remaining béchamel sauce, and ½ cup of Parmesan.
4. Bake uncovered until edges are bubbling & top is golden brown in spots, about 40 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes before serving.

The cast of characters:

My low-tech bouquet garni:

Browned beef:

Sauté the vegetables:

After braising in oven for 2-1/2 hours:

Reduce the sauce a bit more (after removing the packet of herbs):

Add shredded meat back to reduced sauce.

The assembled lasagna:

The finished dish:

Against the original directions, I had covered this with foil prior to baking (purely my executive decision). I think it would not have been as “saucy” if I hadn’t, so I kept the original instructions above. Also, I ended up with about 1-1/2 cups of meat sauce leftover. Perfect for another meal, served over buttered egg noodles.

It was a TON of work. and now I have a bottle of Port to use up. But that makes the perfect excuse to make this again!

Wonderful Wednesday Wrecipes

Trial and error has led me to this combination of ingredients for Chili. Feel free to adjust amounts to your own tastes. This is hot enough for me, and I’m a lightweight; you may want to add an additional jalapeno. It looks like a daunting amount of ingredients, but you’ll probably have most of them in your cupboard already. The Rotel is available in whitebread suburbs of Boston. Use regular diced tomatoes if necessary.

Excellent Chili

• ½ to ¾ lb hamburger
• 1-1/2 lb chuck stew meat, cut into ¾” cubes
• 1 cup flour seasoned with salt & pepper or seasoned salt
• 1 onion, chopped into tiny dice
• ½ large green pepper, chopped into tiny dice
• 2-3 fresh jalapenos, seeded and chopped finely
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 TBSP oregano
• 1-2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 3 TBSP chili powder
• 1 can beer
• 1 can red kidney beans, rinsed (15 oz)
• 1 can tomato paste (6 oz)
• 1 can tomato sauce (8 oz)
• 1 can Rotel tomatoes with lime juice & cilantro (10 oz)
• 1 can beef broth (14 oz)

1. Brown hamburger in Dutch
2. oven until no longer pink. Remove from pan & set aside.
3. Dredge cubed chuck in flour; shake off excess. Saute meat in batches in leftover hamburger fat until no longer pink and browned on all sides, removing to a dish until all meat is cooked.
4. Add onion, peppers & garlic. Saute until soft. Add spices and tomato paste and cook additional 2-3 minutes. Add ½ to ¾ teaspoon salt and black pepper to taste.
5. Add beer, cover and let steam for 3 minutes to loosen browned bits from bottom of pot.
6. Add reserved meat cubes and hamburger back to pot, then add remaining tomato products and beef broth. Stir to combine, scraping up bits from bottom of pot.
7. Cover tightly, and bake in 275 deg. oven for 8 hours. (OR for 3-1/2 to 4 hours at 325 degrees) Taste test a piece of stew meat. If it’s soft, it’s done.

Topped with shredded cheese and sour cream! I also like to serve it over rice; Em likes it over couscous.

Wonderful Wednesday Wrecipes

Sorry about the lack of post-age; I am having trouble adjusting to life with roommates. It’s incredible how easy it was to get used to being by myself for a couple of weeks, and how difficult it’s been to accomodate them back into my schedule. Anyway:

Meatloaf

(4 ample servings with leftovers)

• 1 lb. Ground beef – 80%
• ½ cup dry bread crumb
• ½ cup milk
• one egg
• ½ cup finely chopped onion
• 1 envelope or 1 teaspoon beef bouillon (Herb ox or eq.)
• 1-1/2 TBSP ketchup

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, combine bread crumbs and milk and set aside for about 5 minutes. (This is the key to a moist meatloaf.)
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat the egg lightly; then add the beef, the onion, the bouillon and the ketchup, then the moistened breadcrumbs. (As I get older, I can’t tolerate onions so much, so I’ve found if you sauté them a bit in some oil until golden, they don’t impart such a strong onion flavor-just another dirty dish to wash!)
3. Fold all ingredients together (or use your hands) until thoroughly mixed.
4. Turn mixture into a 5” x 9” loaf pan, or into a small baking pan with sides and shape into a loaf. You may want to spray any pan you use with vegetable spray.
5. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.

You can also up this to 1-1/2 pounds of beef. Just increase crumbs and milk to ¾ cup each. Adjust baking time to maybe an hour? And we didn’t grow up with a saucy topping on our meatloaf. If you have a good one, feel free to use it.

Sorry – no pictures of the last one I made. I imagine my photography skillz would make it look like ………..meatloaf. If that makes any sense.

Wonderful Wednesday Wrecipes

OK- pull up your aprons, girls, today's recipe is a tough one- it ranks right up behind marshmallow treats and in front of peanut butter & jelly sandwiches. Don't be fooled by the extensive list of ingredients.

Slow-Cooker Pot Roast

• 2-1/2 to 3 lb chuck pot roast
• 1 packet of beef gravy mix
• 1 packet of italian salad dressing mix
• 1 packet of ranch salad dressing mix
• 1 cup water

Line your crockpot with one of those awesome Reynolds slow cooker plastic liner bags- you'll thank me the rest of your life.

(NEVER, EVER get "round"- ALWAYS GET "CHUCK"!!!)

Plop (technical culinary term) your beef in lined pot.

In a smallish bowl, mix the dry packet ingredients together,

then sprinkle on top of roast, but not so much around it.

Pour the 1 cup of water around the roast.

Put slow cooker lid on,

and turn that baby to low.

(I store my pot in the basement, hence some rust)

Cook on low for at least 8 hours; I've cooked my 3-lb roasts as long as 11 hours.

Expect marriage proposals from every man who eats this.

Wonderful Wednesday Wrecipes!

What follows is another family favorite- one of my top five faves.

Get a nice loaf of Italian bread or crusty rolls and you'll be in heaven!

Beef Stew

• 1 ½ - 2 lbs chuck stew beef, cut into 1” chunks (DON'T get "round"!!)
• 4 carrots, peeled & cut into 1” chunks
• 1 medium onion, chunked
• 3 celery stalks, chunked (leafy parts are extra good!)
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped
• 4 potatoes, peeled & cut into 1” chunks
• 1 cup flour, seasoned with 3 TBSP essence spice mix*
• 2 tsp basil
• 1 tsp oregano
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 cup vermouth, or red wine, or beer if that’s all you have
• 8 oz. Can tomato sauce
• 3-4 cans beef broth- the regular, 14 ounce size, or 1 humongous + 1 regular
• salt & pepper to taste
• vegetable oil

(cast of characters)

Heat large pot over medium high heat, add 3 TBSP oil.

(cut meat into 1" cubes-ish)

(same with veggies, although I cut the carrots on the bias for fun)

Dredge meat cubes in seasoned flour, shake off excess.

Fry in batches over medium high heat until crispy brown on most sides. You don’t want to crowd the pan, and you’re not trying to cook the meat thru- just brown the outside.

Remove browned meat to a bowl and continue with rest of meat, adding more oil to coat bottom of pan as necessary.

When all meat is cooked, add 2 more TBSP oil, and stir in chopped onions, carrots, celery and garlic. Season with ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ tsp pepper.

Saute several minutes, until onion starts to turn translucent, scraping up brown bits from the bottom of the pan.

Stir in herbs and vermouth (or wine). Cover pot and steam 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes, add meat back to pot with tomato sauce, beef broth and potatoes, stir to combine thoroughly. Add enough broth to cover everything.

Put into crock pot, and cook on low 8-10 hours.

(I've been lazy & using red potatoes so I won't have to peel!)

OR:

If pot is oven proof, cook in oven at 275 degrees for 4 hours. Check piece of meat and potato or carrot for tenderness. Bake up to 2 more hours if required.

Good reheated the next day- don't forget to take the bay leaf out and discard!

* Bonus recipe!

Essence Seasoning Mixture (by Emeril)

• 2-1/2 TBSP paprika
• 2 TBSP salt
• 2 TBSP garlic powder
• 1 TBSP black pepper
• 1 TBSP onion powder
• 1 TBSP cayenne pepper
• 1 TBSP dried oregano
• 1 TBSP dried thyme

Combine all ingredients in an airtight container or jar. Can be used on chicken, beef, vegetables.

Wonderful Wednesday Recipes

I remembered this week! So away we go:

Just in time for getting cozy with your grill this weekend:

Marinated Steak Tips

• 2-3 lbs. Steak tips
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp black pepper
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• ½ cup oil, either olive or canola or a combination
• ½ cup red wine vinegar (I’ve also used rice vinegar or dry white vermouth)
• 2 TBSP ketchup
• 2 TBSP molasses
• hot sauce

Measure oil into 2 cup measuring cup. Add vinegar (or vermouth).

Add salt, pepper, garlic, ketchup and molasses. Add a couple of dashes of hot sauce.

Whisk everything together with a fork.

Place steak tips in a gallon size Ziploc bag.

Place bag inside a baking dish (in case bag leaks). Re-whisk marinade once more & pour on top of steak.

Smoosh everything together to make sure all meat is covered, close bag tight and arrange so that meat lays in a single layer within bag, inside dish.

Marinade for at least 8 hours, turning over every so often. I’ve let it go for as long as 2 days and it wasn’t too strong.

Preheat grill according to manufacturer’s directions (how’s that for a legal disclaimer!) Remove meat from marinade & discard (the marinade, that is). Grill meat to desired doneness, and serve.

I ended up marinating these ones from Friday night until Monday night. They were extremely flavorful, and the meat was very tender. This last picture, however, was taken of cold leftovers on Tuesday morning because I forgot to take that last plated picture before I sat down to eat - oops! So these may appear to be a little dry looking, but they were actually cold. If I knew how to stage a food a photo (and had the equipment) I could have sprayed them with some oil or water to make them look moist. Oh well.