Showing posts with label man-food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label man-food. Show all posts
We were supposed to have some people over for a late lunch early supper the other day and I had bought a couple of small briskets to make for us all to enjoy. Alas the weather interfered with our plans and so I froze one of the briskets for another time, and cooked one for Todd and I to enjoy on the day.
I didn't do it in my usual way this time. I found a recipe for a pot roast in a Gooseberry Patch cookbook entitled "Comfort Food Lightened Up". I had to adapt it big time because it called for things I didn't have or want to use, but the basic concept sounded good and so I used it as a backbone for what I ended up doing in the end (with most delicious results, I might add!).
Normally I cook my pot roasts in the slow cooker, but I didn't feel like dragging it out on Friday. I did this in the oven. You can see it resulted in lovely tender meat, but sliceable meat, which was great! In the slow cooker it takes a lot longer and the meat falls apart so you can't really slice it. The original recipe had called for browning the roast first and for using a boneless beef chuck roast.
Even lightened up it came in at over 500 calories a serving, so I used brisket, which is a lot leaner, and I did not brown it first. I just seasoned the meat all over and then lay it on top of some sliced raw onions in my La Creuset covered casserole dish.
Then I stirred together some beef stock, tomato sauce/passata, and a bit of brown sugar. I added some prepared horseradish and Dijon mustard, and some celery salt. This got poured over top and then it roasted covered in a moderate oven for about 3 hours or so.
At the end I took the meat out to rest for a time, while I simmered the pan juices on top of the stove until they got as thick as I wanted them to be, with the end result being a delicious onion sauce that we were able to spoon over our tender slices of beef. It was really lovely! I served it with mashed potatoes, mashed swede (rutabaga) and cooked carrots. Todd was in man-meat-and-potatoes heaven!
*Another Pot Roast*
Serves 10
Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Rub the roast all over with the crushed garlic, salt and black pepper.
Place the onion in the bottom of a heavy flame proof oven casserole (I use a La Crueset enameled round roasting dish). Place the roast on top of the onion. Put the broken bayleaf in the pan. Whisk together the remaining ingredients and pour around the roast in the dish. Cover tightly and roast in the preheated oven for 3 to 3 1/2 hours, at which time the roast should be quite tender. Remove the roast to a platter and tent with foil. Discard the bay leaf. Place the roasting dish over medium heat and simmer briskly until the sauce is of the desired consistency. Serve the roast sliced with some of the sauce spooned over top.
I like to serve this with potatoes (mashed or boiled) and a cooked vegetable . . . carrots, peas, swede, etc.
You could of course add peeled halved potatoes, and carrots in with the meat for the last hour of roasting. I don't though as Todd enjoys his mash and my roasting casserole was not big enough to put much else in it. This is really delicious however and a bit different than my usual pot roast. Tune in tomorrow to see what I did with the leftovers. You are going to love it! Bon Appetit!
My Todd really loves a good old fashioned pork chops. The kind with the bone still in. I confess I do too. You get a nice lean bit of pork loin and then the meat attached to the bone is succulent almost like a spare rib. You can't lose!
Today I created a delicious creamy leek and mustard sauce to serve with the chops. Todd also loves leeks. I love the flavour of leek, but am not so fussy about the way they make your breath smell . . . but hey, if we are both eating them, not a problem!
If you use low fat milk instead of whole milk, the sauce is not too calorific either, but if you aren't bothered by calories and want something a tiny bit richer, do use whole milk.
I slash the fatty edge of my chops at 1/4 inch intervals. That way they don't curl up when you are browning them. A simple tip that works a charm.
I also only use the white and light green parts of the leeks. They have a much more delicate flavour than the dark. Save the dark for vegetable soup or some such, or for making stock. I keep a pot in my freezer that I add all my veggie scraps to and then just make stock with them when I have enough.
I think you will find that this is not only simple to make, but very delicious, especially when you serve it with a pile of fluffy buttery mash and some cooked veg on the side. Today we had Chantenay carrots. Seriously tasty!
*Leek & Mustard Sauced Pork Chops*
Serves 4
garlic powder and onion powder to taste
salt and black pepper to taste
olive oil
For the sauce:
2 leeks, trimmed, rinsed well and roughly chopped
1 TBS butter
1 TBS grainy Dijon mustard
First make the sauce. Melt the butter in a large saucepan.
Add the leeks, Cover and sweat over low heat for about 10 minutes,
stirring every now and then, until they are meltingly soft without
colouring. Whisk in the flour, and Dijon mustard. Slowly wisk in the
milk and cook, stirring until the sauce thickens. If you think it is
too thick, you can add a bit more milk to give you the consistency you
are happy with. Cook over low heat for about 5 minutes to cook out any
flour taste. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Set aside and
keep warm.
Pour the sauce into the skillet around the chops and heat through. Serve each chop with some of the sauce spooned over top.
This is very easy to downsize for only one or two people! Delicious all the way. Bon Appetit!
Garlic and chicken are wonderful partners. They go together beautifully. Just think of Chicken Kiev and you will know what I am talking about.
And by that I am not talking about those minced reformed chicken pieces
shaped around garlic butter that you can get in the frozen food aisle of
the shops.
I am talking about real chicken breasts, filled with a nice
nugget of garlic butter, breaded and then flash fried until golden
brown . . . perfectly cooked through so that when you puncture the
chicken with your knife an fork, all that golden garlic butter oozes out
onto your plate.
Oh boy but it is some good . . . but I digress.
This is not chicken kiev . . . this is tender moist chicken breast fillets, pounded and breaded with seasoned and herbed bread crumbs, and then browned until golden brown all over and cooked through . . .
Then napped with a lucious garlicky, cheesy sauce . . .
Every mouthful bringing you a delicious mix of crispy moist and tender chicken . . . and some of that beautifully rich and creamy sauce . . .
Do take care when you are making the sauce not to brown or burn the garlic. It turns nasty if you do. If you burn the garlic, throw it away and start over . . .
Personally once I get the sauce thickened, I like to strain out the garlic . . . leaving the sauce velvety smooth . . . with just the flavour of the garlic permeating it . . .
Personally once I get the sauce thickened, I like to strain out the garlic . . . leaving the sauce velvety smooth . . . with just the flavour of the garlic permeating it . . .
Infusing it with all that lovely buttery garlic taste . . . .
You could use already seasoned bread crumbs, Italian ones . . . but I like to make my own, adding my own herbs and seasonings.
You could use already seasoned bread crumbs, Italian ones . . . but I like to make my own, adding my own herbs and seasonings.
Don't pound your chicken too thin . . . you want the meat to keep its shape. You only want to tenderize it a tiny bit.
Just get it golden brown in the skillet. You don't need to cook it all the way through. It will be finished off in the oven while you make that beautiful sauce.
Just get it golden brown in the skillet. You don't need to cook it all the way through. It will be finished off in the oven while you make that beautiful sauce.
I like to serve this with some rice and mixed vegetables, or maybe a salad. I think you will agree this is a winning combo!
Tender and moist chicken cutlets with a fabulously rich and tasty garlic sauce. This is special.
For the chicken:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
120ml single cream or half and half (1/2 cup)
120g to 180g dry bread crumbs (I use panko) (1 - 1 1/2 cups)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp dried basil flakes
1/4 tsp dried oregano flakes
1/4 tsp dried marjoram flakes
salt and black pepper to taste
2 TBS oil
For the sauce:
2 TBS butter
2 TBS plain flour
240ml single cream (1 cup half and half)
60g cream cheese (2 ounces)
45g finely grated parmesan cheese (1/4 cup)
1 tsp fine sea salt mixed with 1/4 tsp ground white pepper
Mix
together the bread crumbs, garlic and onion powder, basil, oregano,
marjoram and salt and black pepper in a large flat bowl. Place the
cream in another bowl. Pound your chicken breasts, on each side,
between two sheets of plastic cling film to tenderize.
Dip
the breasts into the cream to coat, allowing any excess to drip off.
Roll them in the seasoned bread crumbs to coat. Place aside on a wire
rack to dry for about 10 minutes.
Heat the oil in a large
skillet over medium high heat, until hot. Brown the chicken well on
both sides, about 3 minutes per side. Take care not to burn it.
Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*f/ gas mark 4. Place the cooked chicken onto a baking sheet which you have lined with baking paper. Place into the oven to finish cooking it through while you make the sauce.
To
make the sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan until it begins to foam.
Add the garlic. Cook, stirring over medium low heat until fragrant
without allowing it to brown, about 2 to 3 minutes. Whisk in the flour
and cook for a further 2 minutes. Whisk in the chicken stock, and then
the cream, whisking constantly, until thickened. (At this point I like
to strain it through a sieve so that I can remove any bits of garlic,
but you can leave them in if you wish) Whisk the cream cheese, and
parmesan into the thickened sauce, stirring to melt the cheeses. Mix
together your salt and pepper and whisk this in. Taste and adjust
seasoning as required.
Divide the chicken between four
heated dinner plates and spoon a portion of sauce over each. Serve
immediately. I like to have rice and vegetables with this.
Just look at that moist, perfectly cooked chicken . . . with its crispy coating and that beautifully silky sauce. Oh boy but this is some good eating! Bon Appetit!
*Creamy Garlic Sauced Chicken*
Serves 4
2 TBS finely minced fresh garlic
120ml chicken stock (1/2 cup)Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*f/ gas mark 4. Place the cooked chicken onto a baking sheet which you have lined with baking paper. Place into the oven to finish cooking it through while you make the sauce.
Just look at that moist, perfectly cooked chicken . . . with its crispy coating and that beautifully silky sauce. Oh boy but this is some good eating! Bon Appetit!
My Todd is a real stew and dumplings kind of a guy. We are running into warmer weather now and so I took advantage of the colder temps to make a nice big casserole of beef that I could divide up once cooked, and freeze ahead, along with some tasty dumplings, which you can also freeze ahead. That way in the warmer months ahead if Todd is wanting something hearty for his tea one day, I can just thaw the stew out and reheat it quickly with only a short time in the oven to brown the dumplings.
I adapted the dumpling recipe from one I found of Mary Berry's. I trust everything Mary Berry does and they sounded delicious. We both LOVE horseradish and I knew we would love these.
The dumpling dough gets patted out and is slathered with a horseradish and parsley mixture. I used creamed horseradish, but Mary Berry used Hot horseradish. I did not want to overpower anything and I don't like really spicy/hot food and so I used the creamed as it is milder.
Once you top the dough, you roll it up like a jelly roll and cut it into slices to pop onto the hot stew and then bake until golden brown. This was a gorgeous combination. Tender, flavourful beef stew/casserole and flaky buttery dumplings on top with just a hint of horseradish. I used half grated butter and suet in my dumplings this time because I didn't have enough suet and it worked just fine.
If anything they were better. I think you could also use the same amount of butter just alone or a mix of shortening and butter, in which case I would rub the fat into the flour with my fingertips until crumbly. Just look at how flaky they are.
This was totally delicious and I had one very happy man on my hands. I love it when that happens!
*Beef Stew With Herbed Dumplings*
Serves 6 - 8
Serves 6 - 8
Hearty and delicious! My own oven stew recipe with a lovely dumpling recipe borrowed from Mary Berry, and adapted to my own needs.
For the stew:
3 TBS olive oil
2 onions, peeled and chopped
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
2 large carrots, peeled, sliced in half and then cut into half moon chunks
2 parsnips, peeled, sliced in half and cut into half moons
1/4 of a small swede, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2 1/2 pounds good quality braising steak, cut into cubes
2 TBS plain flour
10 fluid ounces of beef stock (1 1/4 cups)
a bouquet garni (see note below)
5 fluid ounces of good red wine (generous half cup)
salt and black pepper
For the dumplings:
75g shredded suet (generous 1/3 cup, can use grated frozen butter or shortening)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
10 TBS cold water
3 TBS creamed horseradish
3 TBS chopped fresh parsley
Fresh parsley to garnish (optional)
Preheat the oven to 150*C/300*F/ gas mark 2. Heat 1 TBS of the oil in a large frying pan and fry the onion and garlic until softened. Add the vegetables and sweat for about 10 minutes. Scoop everything into a large casserole dish.
Trim the meat and cut it into thick chunks. Using the remaining oil, fry the meat in the same pan over high heat, stirring well until it is rown all over. Sprinkle with the flour and stir well to prevent lumps. Season well with salt and pepper. Over medium heat pour in the stock and the wine, stirring constantly to make a smooth sauce. Continue to heat to boiling. Carefully turn the contents into the casserole with the vegetables. Give it a good stir and then add the bouquet garni. Cover tightly and cook gently in the oven for 2 to 2 1/2 hours.
Make the dumpling dough
while the stew is baking. Sift the
flour, suet,salt and pepper into a bowl. Add enough of
the water to make a firm but soft dough. Gently pat out on a lightly
floured surface to a 6 by 8 inch rectangle. Mix together the horseradish
and parsley, along with some seasoning, not too much. Spread this over
top of the dough, making sure you spread it right to the edges. Roll
up tightly from the six inch side as if rolling a jelly roll (Swiss
roll.) Wrap in plastic cling film and store in the refrigerator until
you need it.
Once the stew is nicely cooked and the
meat tender, remove it from the oven. Remove and discard the bouquet
garni. Taste and adjust seasoning. Increase the oven temperature to
200*C.400*F/ gas mark 6. Cut the roll of dumpling dough into 8 evenly
sized rounds. Place onto the hot stew, cut side down, placing one in
the middle and the remaining ones around the outside. Return to the
oven and cook for a further half an hour, until the dumplings are cooked
through and achieve a golden crust. Remove from the oven.
Serve piping hot, sprinkled with the fresh parsley (if desired) and some mashed spuds on the side.
Note
- Today because there are only two of us, I divided the cooked stew
into several smaller containers to freeze after it was tender. I
returned just enough for one meal to a smaller casserole dish. Make sure
it is well heated for the dumplings. Cut your dumpling dough and place
four on top. The remainder can be frozen (sliced) for up to six
months. When you go to use this up. Heat the thawed stew to boiling and
then top with the frozen dumplings and proceed as above. It may take
slightly longer to cook the dumplings.
Note -The bouquet garni is a bundle of herbs usually tied together with string and mainly used to prepare soup, stock and stews. The bouquet is boiled with the other ingredients, but is removed prior to consumption.
There is no generic recipe for bouquet garni, but most recipes include parsley, thyme and bay leaf. Depending on the recipe, the bouquet garni may include basil, chernet, chervil, rosemary, tarragon, peppercorns and Savoury. Sometimes vegetables such as carrots, celery (with leaf attached) leeks, onion, celeriac and parsley root and are also included in the bouquet.
Sometimes, the bouquet is not bound with string, and its ingredients are filled into a small sachet, a net, or even a tea ball instead. Traditionally, the aromatics are bound within leek leaves, though a coffee filter and butcher twine can be used instead of leek.
If there is an important man or men in your life, I just know they will enjoy this! Bon Appetit!
I was looking for something quick and easy to make for our tea the other night. I needed to go grocery shopping and there wasn't a lot of fresh things to choose from. I always have a pretty well stocked store cupboard and so I dug into that for some inspiration.
Bangers and Mash have to be Todd's favourite meal of all time. He is a meat and potatoes man through and through. If both are on the menu then he is a very happy camper. He hasn't been feeling the greatest lately. Very, very tired. He is a very thin man to begin with and it is a struggle to keep the weight on for him. (I wish!) In any case I decided to make him a comfort meal consisting of Sticky Maple and Mustard Glazed Bangers with Irish Champ!
We are not partakers of red meat very often. When we do it is usually in the form of a roast or pork chops, sometimes a stew . . . sausages. Maybe we might have red meat about once every two weeks if that. Todd does love a good chop and he adores this BBQ Pork that I make from time to time. Its done in the oven, not on the BBQ, but it has a lovely spicy rub and I serve it with a zingy sauce for dipping!
When I talk about a meat pudding here I am not talking about a sweet pudding, but a very delicious steamed savoury pudding, stogged full of meat and gravy. Some might think it a bit stodgy . . . but then again dishes which were popular during those years were designed to fill em up with less meat and more stodge.
Todd was longing for a meat pudding and so I did a search online to see if I could find a good one. I found a fabulous one on BBC GoodFood. It was called Beef, Ale and Parsnip Pudding and it looked fabulous!
Since it was my first time making a meat pudding, I followed the recipe exactly this first time. It was very easy to do. I think just about anyone could do it. The only change I made was to substitute half of the beef suet for grated cold butter.
It was fabulously delicious! I quite liked it myself, and Todd was in Meat Pudding heaven! The gravy was rich and wonderful. The pastry was nice and crisp, and the meat so tender. Unlike the BBC recipe, I also cooked the filling the day before and chilled it overnight. I didn't feel right about adding a hot filling to the pastry. It worked beautifully.
*Beef, Ale & Parsnip Pudding*
Serves 4
Serves 4
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
140g of shredded suet (2/3 cup, loosely measured, not packed)
150ml cold water (10 TBS)
The next day, about 2 1/2 hours before you wish to eat, remove your filling from the fridge and allow to come to room temperature. Make the pastry as follows. Sift the flour into a bowl. Add the mustard powder and salt, Give it a good stir. Drop in the fat. Stir to coat with the flour mixture. Using a fork, stir in the water, tossing and mixing to make a soft dough. Butter a 1 1/2 litre pudding basin.
Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface
to make a large circle which is large enough to line the basin with a
bit of an overhang. Cut one quarter of it away and set aside.
Carefully lay the pastry in the basin, overlapping and joining the cut
edges, wetting them if need be and pinching a bit to join.
Fill with
the filling and a small portion of the reserved liquid. (about 7 TBS)
Fold the overhang over the filling and brush with water.
Roll the
quarter of the pastry you cut away into a circle large enough to cover
the top, Place this "lid" on top, pressing firmly around the edges to
seal tightly.
Sit a small trivet or a large cookie cutter in the bottom of a deep saucepan which is large enough to easily hold the pudding basin. Half fill the pan with water and bring to the boil. Lower in the pudding. Cover the pan tightly and simmer for 2 hours, topping up the pan with boiling water as necessary.
At the end of that time, reheat the cooking liquid, bubbling it down until you have reduced it to a delicious gravy. Carefully lift the pudding out of the basin. Run a knife around the rim and then turn it out onto a plate.
Serve cut into wedges along with some of the gravy and some cooked greens if you wish.
Bon Appetit!
Todd just loves his Banger's and Mash. If I want to make him happy, that's all I have to cook up. He could very easily eat them more than once every week!
I normally eat chicken breast meat, but the other day I got a package of chicken drumsticks for a pretty good price. A price I simply could not resist, and so I did what anyone who lives on a limited budged does . . . I brought them home with me!
I cooked us a roast on Valentines Day. We had not had a roastable (other than pot roast) beef in a very long time and so I splurged and treated us to a Prime Rib. Oh boy it was really good. Prime Rib is my favourite of all the roasts. I used to cook it for my employers fairly often when I worked at the Manor, but I think Todd and I have only ever had it one other time the whole time we have been married.
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