Recipe #82 - Easy Beef Pot Roast

_______________________________________________________________________________

This is a quick and easy recipe my mother has made for my family ever since I can remember. When there were 6 of us youngins running around all of the time, she needed something that didn't require a lot of attention. This crock pot recipe fit the bill.

Rinse beef then heavily salt and pepper.

Coat each piece of beef in the flour. Drizzle a large skillet with oil, add beef and brown on all edges, but don't cook all of the way through. Remove beef and place in the crock pot.

In the same skillet, saute onions until they are transparent.

Add the onions and beef broth to the crock pot and turn on high heat. Let simmer for 6 hours.

Add carrots, potatoes, celery and bay leaves. Simmer for another 2 hours.

And you're finished! Very easy. Very tasty. And the portions are extremely flexible. Just add more of which ever you like best. Just make sure you have enough beef broth to keep it moist enough. 

Rating: 8

Time: 8 hours

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

2 pounds beef stew meat

Baby carrots

Baby potatoes

Celery, chopped

2 onions, chopped

3 bay leaves

4 cups beef broth

1 cup flour

Salt and pepper

Recipe #69 - Grammy's Mashed Potatoes

Every Thanksgiving my Grammy Ann made these garlic mashed potatoes. Everyone, especially my sister Teresa, looked forward to eating the garlic, cheesy mess of awesomeness. In an attempt to make these even more amazing, I made 3 changes to the original recipe:

1. I used real potatoes instead of the potato flakes.
2. I substituted actual garlic cloves rather than the garlic powder. 
3. Instead of Cheddar cheese, I used extra sharp white cheddar cheese

Cut potatoes into 1-inch cubes and place into a large pot of water. Bring to boil. Cook for about 20 minutes, or until potatoes brake apart easily when forked. 

Drain water. Add the butter, sour cream, cream cheese, cheddar cheese, garlic and salt. Mash together well. Pepper to taste.

I forgot to take an end picture, but I made it with the "Recipe #70 - Better Than Carol's Meatloaf" so I'll just post this picture twice. 

But they turned out amazing! It was surprisingly spicy. I guess the mixture of the fresh garlic and sharp cheese gave it an unexpected kick, but very, very good. I would strongly recommend this recipe to everyone.

Rating: 10
Time: 1 hour
Serves: 8
Ingredients:
5 pounds rustic potatoes (not red)
4 tablespoons butter
1/4 sour cream
1 teaspoon salt
8 ounces cream credit
4 extra sharp white cheddar cheese
5 cloves of garlic
Freshly cracked black pepper to taste

Recipe #52 - Garlic Roasted Fingerling Potatoes

_______________________________________________________________________________

I found this one in a Simply Southern magazine I bought (for $7.99! Ridic, I know). But I have been getting tired of filtering through all the recipes online. It's literally exhausting. 

Preheat oven to 400º. It said to line a large, shallow roasting pan with aluminum foil, but I don't like cooking with aluminum foil. So I used wax paper to line the cookie sheet. 

In a large bowl, combine olive oil, parsley, salt, garlic powder, and pepper, whisking to combine well. Add potatoes, tossing to coat. 

Arrange potatoes in an even layer in prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour, or until potatoes are lightly browned and tender, stirring occasionally.

And they're finished. These were amazing. I served them with steak and a Caesar salad. I think that I could have left them in a little longer to make them a little crisper. Other than that. Perfect. 

Rating: 10

Time: 1 hour 15 minutes; Prep time: 15 mins, Cook time: 1 hour

Serves: 8 -10

Ingredients:

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

5 pounds small fingerling potatoes, halved lengthwise

Recipe #27 - Parmesan-Potato-Crusted Halibut with Roasted Tomato-Zucchini "Salsa"

_______________________________________________________________________________

I had a guest to cook for this time, which was very refreshing. I'm beginning to be able to read my parents' faces like a book whether they like or dislike the recipe. Probably not a good thing, lol.

So, I had the pleasure of meeting and cooking for the talented John Bukaty. He is a family friend of my third cousin, Billy Hodes and much of the Hodes family.  He generously donated a piece of art to my Silent Art Auction and Wine Tasting for St. Jude back in September.

John was headed through Memphis in the process of relocating in New Orleans and needed a place to stay for the night. Luckily for him, I'm on a cooking roll this year :)

Check out his inspiring story and impressive art work at http://johnbukaty.com.  

I found this recipe in the "Food Features" section of the Wednesday edition of The Commercial Appeal. It was titled "Dinner for Two", but, of course, when I cook it's never just a dinner for two. So, naturally, I doubled the recipe.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spread the tomatoes and zucchini out on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 10 minutes. Immediately transfer to a bowl and add the garlic, scallion, Italian seasoning and sherry vinegar. (The heat from the vegetables will soften the garlic, scallion and seasoning.) Set aside.

Reduce oven heat to 375 degrees. Combine the Parmesan, potato flakes, thyme and salt and pepper. Press even amounts onto the top side of the halibut filets. Heat the canola oil over medium-high heat.

Quickly flip each fish fillet, coated side down and cook until golden brown, but not browned. Carefully flip and sear the other side. Transfer to a baking sheet.

Finish cooking in the oven another 10-12 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork. Serve over the warm salsa.

I paired the fish with my father's last bottle of his homemade chardonnay that he brewed, bottled and donated to the Silent Art Auction & Wine Tasting event. It was bittersweet to watch it go, but muy tasty.

I paired the halibut with Recipe #26 - Snow Covered Green Beans. The lemon juice in the beans complimented the fish very well. This seems like a complicated recipe, but it went very smoothly, especially if you have a everything cut up and portioned before hand.

Bukaty made a comparison between cooking and painting before he left. He said that before starting a painting, like starting a recipe, you have to have all your "tools" laid out. You have to have your "ingredients" portioned out and you have to be able to visualize the end product.

I thought it was an extremely insightful observation. Being an artist and now becoming a cook, I was able to relate on both levels.

Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Rating: 7
Serves: 2
Ingredients:
For the salsa:
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
1 medium zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and freshly pepper, to taste
1 clove garlic, minced
1 scallion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar, or to taste

For the fish:
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup mashed potato flakes
1 teaspoon dried thyme
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 (6 to 8-oz.) halibut fillets, skinned

Recipe #15 - Boiled Red Potatoes & Make-Shift Salad

I wanted to serve potatoes and a salad with Recipe #16 - Roughbox Steak Marinade. I was looking through the frig and saw I had some Grilled Tomato Basil-Relish left over from Recipe #12. So, I cut up some romaine lettuce, added some crumbled feta cheese, and the left over "relish" (which I think looked and tasted more like salsa).

With the salad out of the way, I began prepping the potatoes. I rinsed them, placed them into a pan and covered them with well salted water. Bring to boil, cook till fork tender. I then drained them and returned them to the same pot they were cooked in.

Add the butter, dill and sour cream. Season with salt to taste. Mash with fork or masher thing. I have no idea what those things are called.

The original recipe didn't call for sour cream, but I felt it was missing something so I added it last minute. It was very good. It made the potatoes more moist and flavorful.

The salad was surprisingly gratifying for something that was so last minute. The balsamic vinegar in the relish mixed with the feta cheese complimented each other perfectly. Def my favorite salad that I've made so far.

For the salad:
Time: 15mins
Rating: 6
Ingredients:
Romain lettuce
Feta cheese
Relish from recipe #12

For the potatoes:
Time: 15mins
Rating: 7
Ingredients:
2 pounds red potatoes
Salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 tablespoons sour cream
1 bunch fresh dill, chopped