salt crust roast method

so, it's been a while, and i can't find the font button for some reason. hmmm. a somewhat less popular, as compared to an action movie, but equally trying mission impossible: maintain a weekly blog with three children, when one is less that 6 months old. cue the music, cut to the part where i fail. i'd rather see tom cruise too, i admit it. now that i am back in the saddle again i'll tell you a tale of a sirloin tip roast. this is one of those ugly buggars that comes all tied in a net as though it lacks the moral constitution to keep it together in the oven, which may be the case. i wouldn't know, i've never un-netted an uncooked roast to find out. it is, however, tasty and tender, and i advise you to try one out. ours was just under 4 pounds and was just right for 4 adults, two children, and a sandwich the next day. assuming you take my advice (i encourage you again to do so) i further advise you to try salt crusting it. okay, don't panic, it doesn't have to be super salty as an end result. i admit that the one i did last week was a bit on the oceanic side, but that was due to my somewhat free for all method of measuring (meaning i don't measure...) the ingredients for the crust. so, assuming you don't want super salty roast, one heaping table spoon of kosher salt, one teaspoon paprika, one teaspoon dried rosemary, one teaspoon black pepper, two table spoons olive oil (i really don't care what kind), and four cloves of garlic go into a wee food processor. or bullet thingy. or just mince the garlic and combine it and the spices in a bowl, what ever tickles your fancy. mix it up and let it sit out at room temperature for oh, maybe an hour. speaking of room temperature, get your roast that way. or, at least on the road to room temp. bacteria-phobe note: leaving a roast out for about and hour or two so that it doesn't go into the oven at refrigerator temperature will NOT kill you of food poisoning. it helps the meat cook evenly and within a reasonable time frame. so, assuming your roast has been out for one hour, pat it dry and cover with the rub on all sides. this includes the bottom. line a baking dish that leaves generous room on all sides with foil, 9 by 13 should do it, and plunk the roast in the center. make sure all of the rub is on the roast and, if you like pepper, grind a little extra on the top. pre heat the oven to 425 degrees, and put the roast in. leave at 425 for 15 minutes, then reduce temp to 350 and bake for about an hour, or a little more depending on how done you want it. really, medium rare is great or straight up medium. personally i use a meat thermometer for beef, it's the only way i don't come out with purple meat jello, or sawdust with gravy. provided you don't throw it right from the fridge to the oven, and you have the high temp to start with, it should be right around an hour, maybe an extra 15 minutes to medium rare. for the last 20 minutes of baking put one package of sliced baby bellas all around the roast. when you hit your goal for doneness set the meat aside to rest, and mix one table spoon butter with one table spoon flour in a pan to make a roux, when it's cooked on a medium high heat for a minute or two pour the juices from the roast, along with the mushrooms into the skillet and stir thouroghly let simmer to thicken while you slice the roast and viola! dinner is served.

the rising cost of getting by.....

in the first exciting days of our marriage we cheerfully went forth to the grocery store, frivolously tossing into our cart whatever tickled our fancy. it was common place for us to grab a wedge of brie and some smoked gouda for a snack with a baguette. without a second thought organic yogurt was nestled into the cart next to harris ranch beef, and we never lacked for exotic spices. we are now approaching our third year of wedded bliss and i can't remember the last time i bought brie. i'm spending more now than i ever have before and getting less and less. we're scrambling around for places to cut our spending and the grocery store tends to come to the top of the list, but i wonder why? when a movie lasts two hours but you're stuck in this body for the entirety of your time on earth, why should your diet (and therefor health) take the hit? there has to be a better way! my husband, in what i can only think of as a sick joke, often tells me to quit wal-mart, as if i only go there for kicks. oh, but honey, i just love being judged by strangers and waited on my morons, don't take my wal-mart away! if i could get what i need for a reasonable price anywhere else on earth, i would. but i'm sorry to say that i can't. these days i can barely afford to get what i need even when i compare down to the tenth of a penny per ounce on every item. i need to go where the prices are best. so not only is the variety and quality of our diet taking a down turn, our shopping is taking the same slope. things are just too darn expensive. it used to be that because i cook mostly from scratch, and we love our veggies i could get out of the store for 80-100 dollars a week. and we were living pretty well on that. now i'm good to get out for less than 150 and our situation hasn't changed much. in fact with the beef in the freezer and staying home full time i buy less meat and less convenience foods than ever, yet i still spend more! and i feel terrible about it! why oh why should i regret doing the best i can to take care of my family's health? what is happening in the USA that an average person in our society feels no problem forsaking good quality nutrition for the sake of toys, falling back on fast food? why should i be feeling guilty for not buying my kids a Wii when every day they eat a healthy balanced diet? in short, what the heck is wrong with us? good nutrition is not an unattainable goal. kids that eat veggies, and like them, are not out riding unicorns, they do exist. there is the feeling in the air that a balanced diet is a herculean task and that even if you did manage it, your kids would never go for it. not so. if only the proper priorities are set, it can be done. you just have to put your thumb firmly to your nose in the face of mainstream media to get off to a good start.

potato salad, the method, the way of life

am i silly? surely. but consider this: what better way to show your affection and love for friends and family as a cook than to prepare dishes that take a day, two, or even three to be at their peak flavor? that shows deliberate care, a plan a head of time to make someone happy. even with such a basic thing as potato salad. this culture, in my humble opinion, is too much enamored of the quick fix. food is love, and fast food is a bad relationship. 30 minute meals? sure, a nice date, but no one to take home to mom. a brisket that takes 9 hours in the oven? true love. stew meticulously layered with flavor on flavor and gently simmered to perfection? well. potato salad not thrown together in a steamy hour of haphazard culinocity, but thoughtfully constructed with enough time to develop personality? the one you want your best friend to meet. so. what is the method? and how can it truly be as easy as i claim i insist my cooking to be? simple. take your average russet potato, cut it into thirds. give 5 or so of it's friends similar treatment, boil them until just tender, drain and refrigerate over night. the next day, peel with a small paring knife the majority of the skin from all the potatoes, cut into smaller pieces, season with garlic salt, black pepper, and a bit of celery seed or celery salt. in a separate bowl combine chopped onion, celery, and bell pepper according to taste. now for the dressing, i like to experiment depending on what i'm serving and what kind of mood i'm in. last night we had a bit of mayo, sour cream, dijon mustard, capers, and fresh chopped basil. usually it's mayo, mustard, dill pickle relish and olives. the basic idea is to mix it up until it's not glopy but not dry, gently folding in your potatoes so they don't completely fall apart. put in a glass bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let sit overnight in the fridge for the best flavor. don't go crazy with the salt the first day, because it will all come out of hiding the second day, believe me. and so, a simple easy side dish, prepared with care, becomes a monumental demonstration of love.

i can throw no stones

in answer to the question, 'do bad cooking days happen at roundtree cottage?' i give a most emphatic yes. today was just such a day, the rest of it happened to be pretty well a pooper too, so this was just icing on the cake. the meal i planned: grilled lamb ribs, grilled butternut squash, and grilled ears of sweet white corn on the cob. the meal i got: flaming lamb ribs, squash hockey pucks, greasy smoked corn. it was going to be a beautiful treat for my husband (the lamb lover) for whom every menu item is a favorite. plus no pots or pans for me! the simple prep: mix marinade as follows in a food processor juice of one lime, 1/4 onion, 4 cloves garlic, 1 table spoon dried crushed mint, salt, pepper, cumin, cinnamon, olive oil. put ribs and marinade in plastic bag, go to church. here's the first hiccough, we couldn't find the church we were aiming at going to for the first time with high hopes today. by the time we walked in on a funeral and circled Folsom for an hour we missed services at every other church we could think of. so, strike one. we go to visit the newest little roundtree, my nephew, and in all the fluster i don't ask to hold him, again. bringing me to the stunning total of NEVER. strike two. we come home via the grocery store where i'm to aim for under 100, i spend 120, strike three. we get home with the intention of a nap, the babies successfully resist arrest and no naps are had. strike four. i take a bath and drink a beer, forgetting my book out in the living room. strike five. i dry off and go to walmart to make two measly purchases and get accosted by a weirdo demanding to know why there are no address books that will fit in her purse. strike six. we make a stab at helping my brother in law with his move, only to discover that we have no key to the new house. strike seven i come home and ask my husband to light the grill, he agrees to do such and disappears into the garage, the grill remains cold. strike eight. i light the grill, let it heat put on the squash (slightly precooked in the microwave and slathered with olive oil) and ribs. tantalizing aromas fill the air. i argue with husband about how long to cook the ribs, due to the fact that they have bones in them and i think (correctly) that this means they should cook for just a titch longer. i flip the ribs and squash, put the corn on the top rack (we like it lightly cooked, just warmed really) and go back to the husband eating garage. the neighbors start blasting pink and other club music. strike nine. i get distracted by husband and bad music and suddenly look up and see a column of smoke from the back yard. skip cursing, blowing out ribs, and washing greasy black stuff of corn. serve my husband the rack that wasn't too bad and take my fussy (all day strike ten) baby to my room to nurse and blog. urgh. if the ribs had gone maybe ten minutes bones down and five meat down, with out lighting up, this would have been a whole different story.

pulled chicken sandwiches

pulled bbq chicken, does it get better than this? well, let's be brutal, yes. pulled pork for instance. however, i am recovering from having thing three (disaster) and both the lower fat and less work qualities of chicken appeal to me right now. so, dice one onion, dice one bell pepper, put them in your crock pot with 8 boneless skinless chicken thighs, top with 1/4 cup of dry bbq rub (there's a blog out there for it) and cook until they fall into strings when you stir them. add one fresh sliced nectarine and one fresh sliced peach, choose firm ones if you can, and about 1/4 cup bbq sauce and one or two table spoons of cornstarch, stir thoroughly and cook about 30 mins more with the lid off. scoop on to a bun, top with coleslaw and if you want to go wild and crazy another little squirt of bbq sauce. simple, delicious and easy.

my best fried chicken on record

so, fried chicken. always good, less often spectacular. sometimes really gross. if there's one thing i can't stand (and there are many such things) it's soggy, greasy, or flavorless fried chicken. this has been the foremost reason that i don't make fried chicken that often, although the result tends to be 'okay' it has not been much to write home about. well, no more. i have come across a method which produces crispy, flavorful chicken that is neither greasy, soggy, nor dry. we start with 8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs. combine one egg, 1/4 cup evaporated milk, and one teaspoon dijon mustard. pat the chicken dry and put in a bowl or plastic bag with the egg mixture. mix 1/2 cup all purpose flour with 1/2 cup whole wheat flour season with garlic salt, black pepper, rubbed sage, paprika, and parsley flakes. don't be afraid of the seasonings either, remember this is the seasoning for the whole batch. put the flour mixture into a shallow dish, and dredge each piece carefully patting flour into all the nooks and crannies, then place them on a tray to rest for a minute. heat about 1/2 cup canola oil in a non stick pan (get your nose out of the air and go with me on this one, please) to a medium high heat. pre heat oven to 350, and prep a baking pan with some slightly crumpled heavy duty foil. the purpose of the foil is to create ridges and pockets, to allow the chicken to drain as it finishes in the oven. if you want to mess around cleaning grease and bits of breading off of a cooling rack you could rig something up with a cooling rack in a roasting pan, i leave it to you. now check your chicken, there are probably spots where the egg has soaked through the flour layer leaving sort of soggy places, gently pat a bit more flour on any such soggy spots you come across, with out knocking the flour off the rest of the piece, it's not necessary to re dredge the whole lot. now fry in small batches until brown on both sides (about 3 minutes per side) removing to the foil lined pan. be sure you don't crowd the pan, the pieces of chicken should not touch, and should be surrounded completely by oil. bake at 350 uncovered for about 30 mins to finish the cooking and drain the oil from the breading. even if you have a method of making fried chicken that you love, i encourage you to try this, there's something different and very tasty about the result, maybe from the evap. or maybe from the mustard, either way it's delicious.

English style beef ribs

i have mentioned that every year my husband and i buy a half a beef from some friends of ours who raise them locally, this year in discussing the cutting method with my butcher he asked me if i wanted the short rib strips or the english style short ribs. i was intrigued. he warned that they were slow cookers, not bbqers and that they might be tough. thus faced with a challenge i really had to order them and see what could be done. can such a cut be purchased from your local butcher or meat counter? you'll have to ask. what they look like is thin broad blades of bone, about 4 inches long with a good amount of meat on them, but also quite a bit of membrane and also fat. here's what i did to make them tender and also delicious: heat crock pot to high, salt and pepper the ribs liberally. throw them in with the fattiest side down. peel a head of garlic. no joke. if it's a particularly large bulb, perhaps 2/3 would do, but you need about 12 cloves or so, crush them with the flat of your knife and add them to the pot. add 1 cup strong coffee, and 1 or 2 cups of water. bring to simmer and turn crock down to low, cook for 6 to 8 hours or until falling apart. the juice will be quite fatty, but really delicious from the significant amount of bone, strain it, skim it and make deletable gravy with it. serve with buttered egg noodles and enjoy!