Archive for April, 2008

Well, at least we’re in delivery range of 3 pizza places.

Sunday, April 27th, 2008

Inedible. 2.5 hours at 250 degrees. Internal temps between 160-170. (I was shooting for 160, but still…)

Tough and tasteless. The veggies were rock hard. (2.5 hours! Small pieces!!)

The worst part is that I have no idea what went wrong. Wrong amount of liquid? Wrong cut of meat? Bad temp?

The vegetables not cooking through is what really mystifies me.

Bless his heart, my brother said, “You win some, you lose some.” And kindly decided it must be the cut of meat.

I’m going to throw it all in a pot tomorrow with some stock and BBQ sauce and see what we get. As my brother said, “It’s not like it could get worse.”

ETA: Talked w/ones more knowledgeable – apparently I didn’t cook it long enough! Next time, next time… Really though, you’d think Pot Roast would be a no-brainer.

Posted in Disasters | 2 Comments »

Well, we’ll know in a few hours.

Sunday, April 27th, 2008
well-well-know-in-a-few-hours

The pot roast is in the oven, but not without some minor worries.

The searing went OK, next time I need to use the larger skillet I have.

Rubbed it in S&P and some minced garlic before searing. Into the dutch oven, added the potatoes, carrots & onions.

Added about 1/2 bottle of beer (Guinness) and then equal parts chicken & beef stock, until the meat was about 1/2 covered. Could be too much liquid, we’ll know for sure later!

Into the oven at 250 degrees (yes, you’re reading that right.) Decided to go with low & slow. (I have a friend that does his at 200 degrees for most of the day with the veggies in from the start. However, given my relatively late start, I figured 250 would speed it up somewhat, but not make it too fast.) Mainly, I wanted to put all the veggies in now rather than trying to guess at when a good time would be to put them in.

The biggest problem is that I couldn’t get the meat thermometer to sit properly in the pot with the lid on… So, I’ll check the temp in an hour and then every 30 minutes. Given that it’s only a 2# roast, hopefully we’ll be eating before 8PM.

More than anything, I just want it to taste good and be as good as Mom made.

Posted in Americano, Beef, Main Dishes, Potatoes | No Comments »

The hazards of trying to recreate family favorites…

Sunday, April 27th, 2008
the-hazards-of-trying-to-recreate-family-favorites

The problem being that you don’t know exactly how it was made, you might not have a written recipe, and your memory may fail you.  Even if it’s tasty, it may not be “what Mom made” – and when it’s your brother that’s made the request, well, you can’t help but feel like you’ve failed just a bit.

Last week I attempted goulash – my Mom made it all the time, but I never *saw* her make it, and there were no written instructions left behind.  I figured I could modify my Goulaschuppe recipe and come fairly close.  It did taste very good, but I forgot until halfway through that my Mom never put carrots or potatoes in it – just straight meat, sauce & noodles.  Ah well, I’ll remember next time.

Tonigh I am attempting pot roast.  Another one of those “Mom” dinners.  It always just “appeared” – mainly because it takes a fair amount of time to cook, so again, I have NO actual idea how she did it.  I know it DID have carrots & potatoes at least. :)  There are no less than 100 variations on pot roast in allrecipes.com, so it looks like I’ll be winging it.

I’m thinking lightly score it, S&P, and sear it.  Then into the dutch oven with the carrots, potatoes and onions.  Beer, beef & chicken stock to cover the veggies.  (I like to cut beef stock a bit, otherwise things get too “heavy” tasting for me.)  Into the oven at 350 until the thermometer says it’s done…

We shall see!

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Upgrading WordPress

Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008
upgrading-wordpress

Hopefully it won’t break everything.

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Rockfish for lunch…

Tuesday, April 15th, 2008
rockfish-for-lunch

Camera is still MIA, but when I took the rockfish out of the pan, it broke in half anyway…  Been getting some good deals on seafood recently and have taken advantage of them.

Simple, easy, tasty.

Rub rockfish filet in some grapeseed oil and salt & pepper.

Toss in hot pan.

About halfway through, add a couple tablespoons of honey mustard sauce*.

Eat & enjoy.

2:1 Jack Daniels Mustard to Honey, and a good dose of cracked pepper.

Assuming 6 oz filet and 3 T of honey-mustard sauce – nutrition:
Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 370 Calories; 18g Fat (42.6% calories from fat); 33g Protein; 20g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 60mg Cholesterol; 479mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 4 1/2 Lean Meat; 3 Fat; 1 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

Posted in Americano, Main Dishes, Rockfish | No Comments »