A Perfect Pot Roast

It was just one of those pot roast days. The rains and the winds came pelting down, stinging and drenching us the minute we stepped out from our shelter. The weather was not kind and today was one of those bone-chilling days when nothing you do, save for a long and luxurious bath, will warm you. Today was one of those days where you needed food to nurture your heart and soul. A simple, tender aromatic pot roast with a side of buttered and salted egg noodles hit the spot!

What I love about pot roast is that save for the actual time browning the meat, it's a meal that cooks itself so all you have to do is let it simmer away on the stove while you tend to whatever needs your attention, or crawl under a blanket with a good book in front of a fire or curl up in front of a good old movie... Miracle on 34th Street, White Christmas or The Bells of St. Mary's would be perfectly appropriate!

Ingredients:

1 3-4 lb roast, trimmed of excess fat and seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic powder
Olive oil
1 lg can of crushed tomatoes
2 cups of beef broth
2 bay leaves
4 cloves of garlic
6 - 8 carrots peeled and cut in half
2 tbs Herbes de Provence
1 1/2 - 2 packages of mushrooms, washed, stems removed and sliced
1onion sliced (thick slices are fine)

Pour enough olive oil to thinly cover the bottom of a dutch oven or large and deep pot.
Place roast in the middle and brown each side until a nice crust is achieved.
Add tomatoes and broth
Add seasonings and vegetables.
Cover and let simmer about 3 hours.

After 3 hours removed pot roast and place on cutting board to cool.
Remove bay leaves and discard.
Remove carrots and slice. (If I toss them in sliced I find they get too mushy. By slicing them after then have cooked, the carrots are soft but not overcooked.)
Placed sliced carrots back into the pot.
If you feel that too much of the liquid has evaporated add a cup or so more of the beef broth.

Cut pot roast in to thin slices, cutting with the grain.

Place meat on a large plate. Spoon out some of the sauce and vegetables and place on top of the meat. This helps to ensure that the meat is soft and has all the flavors of the wonderful herb and vegetable-infused gravy.

Plave the rest in a serving bowl.


Serve with roasted potatoes, or our favorite buttered egg noodles!

Summer BBQ With Friends

We had our close friends over for a BBQ lunch yesterday. Our friends Beth and Chris were celebrating their 13th Anniversary and our friends John and Kara had just returned home after 2 years in Japan. Mutual friends Mike and Laurie joined us. All donned their children. Great time and great food was had by all!

The Menu

Grilled Vegetables
Corn Salad
Lemon Parmesan Pasta Salad
Tomatoes with Basil and Feta
Cherry Tomatoes Stuffed with Goat Cheese and Basil

Grilled London Broil
BBQ Chicken
Lemon Garlic Chicken

(For the children:
Corn on the Cob
Grilled Hot Dogs)

Dessert

Warm Brownie Ice Cream Sundae
Watermelon

Grilled Vegetables

4 Summer squash

3 zucchini

3 red peppers

1 orange pepper

1 green pepper

1 container white mushrooms
1 package Italian Dressing Marinade (Good Seasons)

I washed and cut all vegetables into chunks

And made the low oil version of the dressing (recipe on the back of package)
I put all the veggies in two large Tupperware containers and poured the dressing equally over both batches and left the veggies to marinate overnight.

You can either grill the veggies prior to serving or grill ahead of time and serve at room temperature. If you want to grill the night before just remember to take the vegetables out of the fridge at least an hour before serving to bring them back to room temperature. I'm all for getting as much done ahead of time as possible.

You can use any salad dressing (use a low oil for less flare up on the grill) you desire. These vegetables are wonderful in balsamic dressing as well.

Corn Salad

The corn salad is The Barefoot Contessa's Recipe. It's a summer staple. I've posted it before. Click here for the recipe.

Lemon Parmesan Pasta

The lemon Parmesan pasta salad is another summer staple. I adapted it from Giada de Laurentis' recipe. This time I added some fresh parsley from the garden. It was a nice touch! To see the recipe click here.

London Broil

My husband has a dry rub recipe that we adore and therefore he seldom alters. Because he never writes down amounts certain elements vary from time to time, though the flavor is very consistent.

Ingredients:

1 or 2 Top Round or Shoulder London Broil
Garlic Powder
Charcoal Seasoning
Meat Tenderizer (Adolph's)
Salt
Pepper
Cayenne Pepper

Trim steak of all fat

Rub generous amounts of charcoal seasoning, tenderizer and garlic powder onto both sides of the steak. Massage well.

Add a little salt, pepper and as much of the cayenne pepper as you can handle!

Wrap steak in Saran Wrap for at least an hour so that the meat can absorb the flavors.
Grill to taste for rare, medium rare, or well done

BBQ Chicken

We totally cheated and used our favorite jarred recipe. I trim the breasts of all fat and "goop."I then cut each chicken breast into quarters that I let the chicken sit in the marinade overnight and thinly sliced some garlic for additional flavor. I use a fork to poke holes in the chicken so that the flavors can penetrate deep inside. I used 6-8 breasts and 2/3 jar of the sauce. The remaining sauce was poured over the chicken as it was grilling. (The chicken cooked about 5 minutes per side because the pieces were fairly small. You will want to check for done-ness as you do not want undercooked chicken!)

Lemon Garlic Chicken

For the marinade:

1/2 Cup of olive oil
Juice of 2 lemons
3 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
Lawry's Seasoned Salt

Trim and cut the chicken as in the above recipe and place in a large marinating dish. In a small bowl mix together lemon and olive oil, pour over chicken. Lightly sprinkle each piece of chicken with the seasoned salt (both sides) and use a fork to poke holes in the meat so that the flavors can really penetrate. Sprinkle garlic over the marinating chicken. Flip container from time to time to help enhance flavors -- so that each piece is completely covered in the olive oil mixture.

(Pictured below, BBQ and Lemon Garlic Chicken)

Cherry Tomatoes Stuffed With Feta and Basil

My friend Laurie brought this with her and it was out of this world. She got the recipe from the Williams-Sonoma website. I will be making this for sure!

Sliced Tomatoes with Feta and Basil

Had I know Laurie was bringing the other I would have made something different. But nary a tomato was left over so people must have enjoyed!

5 tomatoes
1/4 cup crumbled feta
2 Tbs. chopped basil
Olive oil
Sea Salt

Wash and slice tomatoes. As you pile them in the plate be sure to sprinkle each slice with feta and basil and lightly sprinkle with salt. Repeat so that each slice is covered. Drizzle olive oil over the top.

Brownie Sundae

Whether you opt to make yours from a box or from scratch, this recipe will delight everyone!

You will need, brownies pre-cut into square
2 flavors of ice cream, more if you dare!
Hot fudge sauce
Caramel Sauce

I arranged everything on the table and left it as a make your own Brownie Sundae bar! Couldn't be easier!

Sliced Watermelon
Simple and perfect for summer. Need I say more?