Cool Front Week Continues

It's warmed up a bit after the cool front... (Boo! More to come this weekend, I hope.) But that hasn't stopped me from churning out dinners that warm the soul and could possibly induce a hibernation spell.

If your belly feels empty, whip these up tonight!
Slow Cooker Beef Pot Roast with Gremolata
Mom's Chicken and Dumplings OR Chicken and Rosemary Dumplings

Chicken and Rosemary Dumplings 
Prepare Mom's Chicken and Dumplings as directed, except for dumplings.
For Rosemary Dumplings:
1 1/4 c flour
1 tbsp chopped rosemary
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp kosher salt
2 tbsp butter
1/2 c milk
1 egg


Combine dry ingredients. Using pastry cutter or two knives cut butter into flour mixture until pea-sized pieces. Add egg and slowly add milk, while mixing until slightly sticky dough forms. Bring broth to a low boil. Drop tablespoons of dough into broth, one at a time. Cover and cook 10-15 mins or until dumplings are fluffy and cooked through.

What night is this again??? Short Rib Dinner Party

We postponed last week's dinner with our friends until Tuesday. The thing is, Tuesday is kind of a weird night for a dinner party. Which meant an evening of everyone being convinced that it had to be Thursday or Friday.
I spent pretty much the whole day working on dinner. (Not typical... usually our dinners come together in way under an hour.) But between the grocery store, braising the meat, cooking lemon curd, shaving beets (and scrubbing my hands afterwards) it was a 9 hour affair. And the meal? Well worth the effort, I'd say!

Event: Tuesday Night Indulgence
Menu: Winter Salad
Braised Short Ribs with Dijon
Beet Risotto
Roasted Baby Carrots with Fennel
Lemon Curd Mousse


All of the recipes came from the Gourmet Today Cookbook... which is becoming one of my favorites! (My only complaint- no food photos!) I made modifications as indicated.


Simple Winter Salad
1 endive, cored and sliced lengthwise
1 fennel bulb, stalks discarded, cored and sliced lengthwise, thinly
1 granny smith apple, cored and sliced into matchsticks
4 cups mixed greens
2 ounces goat cheese (GT says aged goat cheese, which wasn't available at HEB- CM or WF would probably have it)


for dressing:
2 tsp shallots, finely chopped
1 tsp honey
2 tbsp orange juice
2 tbsp sherry vinegar
salt and pepper
1/2 cup olive oil (GT says 3/4 cup, but I think the ratio of oil to vinegar it too high)


Toss together endive, fennel, apple, and greens. Whisk dressing ingredients together in a small cup or bowl. Drizzle greens with dressing, top with goat cheese crumbles.


Braised Short Ribs with Dijon
1 bottle dry red wine (which you later reduce to 1 cup, gotta love a recipe where you reduce a whole bottle of wine)
4 lbs beef short ribs, cut into 2 1/2 inch lengths
Kosher salt and black pepper
2 tbs olive oil
10 shallots, peeled, leaving root ends in tact and halved lengthwise
3 tbsp whole grain dijon mustard
6 plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise
1 1/2 cups beef stock or broth (my addition to the recipe- there wasn't enough cooking liquid


Boil wine in a 2-3 qt saucepan, uncovered until reduced to about 1 cup, about 20 mins.
Meanwhile, pat ribs dry and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a 5qt pot (I use my Calphalon "everyday pan" for things like this, and just about everything else.) over medium high heat. Add ribs, in two batches, and brown, turning occationally, about 8mins per batch. Transfer to a bowl.
Reduce heat to moderate and add shallots to pan. Cook 5 minutes or until golden brown.Transfer to another bowl.
Stir reduced wine and dijon into cooking liquid, scraping brown bits from bottom of pan. Add ribs, meat side down, cover tightly and simmer for 1 1/2 hours.
Gently stir in shallots and tomatoes and add broth. Continue to simmer for about an hour or more, if time allows, until meat is very tender. Carefully transfer ribs, shallots, and tomatoes to serving platter. Spoon pan juices over them and serve!


Modified Beet Risotto 
6 medium beets, trimmed and halved
4 cups water
5 tbsp unsalted butter
1 medium onion, chopped
4 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
Kosher salt
1 1/2 cups Arborio Rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 c fresh grated parmesan
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper


PH oven to 450. Wrap beets in foil. Roast until tender about 1 1/2 hours. Carefully unwrap and let stand until cool enough to handle. Peel beets.
Cut enough beets into 1/2 inch pieces to make 2 cups. Puree remaining beets with 1 cup water, in a blender until smooth. Transfer to a 3-4 qt saucepan. Stir in remaining water and bring to a simmer.
Heat butter in a large stock pot over medium heat until foam subsides. Add onion, garlic, and 1 tsp salt and cook until vegetables are soft, about 8 minutes. Stir in rice and cook 1 minute. Add wine and cook until absorbed, stirring constantly.
Add 1/2 c "beet broth" and cook, stirring constantly and keeping at a strong simmer, until beet broth is absorbed. Continue cooking and adding broth, 1/2 c at a time. Make sure that it is absorbed before adding more. When 1/2 of broth has been used, add chopped beets to mixture and stir. Continue adding broth and stirring as before, until rice is al dente and all liquid has been absorbed. (about 18 mins) Stir in parmesan cheese and pepper. Serve immediately, with additional cheese.

Roasted Baby Carrots with Fennel
1 bunch baby carrots with green tops
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
1 tbsp fennel fronds, chopped


PH oven to 425. Trim carrots and remove all but 1-2 inches of stalks. Toss in olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and fennel fronds in a glass or ceramic baking dish. Roast until tender, about 35 minutes.


Gotta take a break- dessert in another post!

Not So Fabulous Beer Braised Beef... OUT OF THIS WORLD POT ROAST

I know... how could it not be so fabulous?

Beer... Beef... Braising... Well, it was very good. But not my favorite pot roast of all time. So instead of giving you a recipe that I could easily forget, I'll share my FAVORITE pot roast. (Drooling...)

BTW the Beer Braised Beef recipe was from CL mag... and so is this one... modified a bit though.

Slow Cooker Beef Pot Roast with Gremolata
(NOTE: Start roast in morning...)


For the Pot Roast:
1 (2 1/2-3 pound) boneless chuck roast
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp FG black pepper
1 tsp olive oil
cooking spray
2 c chopped onion (about 1 large)
1 can beef broth
1 cup red wine
1/4 c sundried tomatoes packed in oil, drained, chopped
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
4 thyme sprigs
4 garlic cloves, crushed
3 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1inch pieces
2 lbs baking potatoes, peeled and cut into 1inch pieces


For the Gremolata-
If you are thinking, what's this? Do I really need to make this too? The answer is a very firm YES! To me, Pot Roast without gremolata now seems one dimensional and heavy. Gremolata will change the way you look at braised meat. :)
2 tbsp chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
1/2 tsp grated lemon rind
1 garlic clove, mince


To prepare roast, sprinkle meat with salt and pepper. Heat oil in large skillet over med-hi heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add roast to pan, cook 5 minutes, turning to brown all sides. Transfer roast to slow-cooker. Recoat skillet with cooking spray. Add onions and saute until tender. Add broth and next 6 ingredients; bring to a simmer. Add broth mixture to slow cooker. Arrange carrots and potatoes around roast. Cover, cook on low for 6 hours, then high for 1 hour. Remove bay leaves and thyme stems; discard. Remove roast from slow cooker, shred with 2 forks. Arrange on serving dish with potatoes and carrots. Ladle broth over the dish.


To prepare gremolata, combine parsley and other ingredients in a small bowl. Sprinkle over pot roast and  have on hand at table.

Menu for the Week

Using a few of those Real Simple recipes... with some old faves:

Sunday- Grilled Rib-Eyes, 'Rajas &Queso Asadero', Black Beans
Monday- Ravioli with Apples and Walnuts, Spinach Salad
Tuesday- Chicken Piccata with Spaghetti Squash and Mixed Green Salad
Wednesday- Parmesan Pork Chops, Green Beans
Thursday- Chicken Posole
Friday- Hmmmm... Order in!
Saturday- Liz's Shower & Raucous Bacchus!

Look at me, posting links within my own blog... ha!

Menu for the Week

We've got a lot going on this week, but here's the plan:
Monday- Chipotle Pulled Pork Sandwiches, Homemade Baked Beans
Tuesday- Sriracha Glazed Grilled Chicken, Broccoli Slaw
Wednesday- Appetizer for Book Club- Goat Cheese Tarts with Roasted Red Bell Peppers (I think...)
Thursday- Out!
Friday- Gorgonzola Meatballs with Creamy Tomato Sauce, Mashers with Spinach and Garlic
Saturday- HLH#2's Party (one of our little Henry friends) andTailgating!

Most of these recipes are old favorites butthe Sriracha Chicken is something new. It sounds really tasty!

Pics and recipes to follow later this week.