Veggie Shake & Bake!

This is an easy one to toss on the grill or in the oven as a side dish or a veggie main dish.


Peel large carrots, cut into big pieces.

Small (fingerling) potatoes - cut in half.  I got the kind that has red, yellow, and blue potatoes, but any small potatoes will work.

Large onion - cut into large pieces.

I threw in the broccoli florets just because I had some, but any fairly crunchy vegetable would work.  They should all take about the same amount of time to cook.

If you want to make this into a non-vegetarian main dish, throw in some ham cubes.

Toss all into a plastic bag or container.  Drizzle with olive oil and shake to coat.

Sprinkle in any or all of the following:  rosemary, celery salt, black pepper, garlic powder, cooking wine.

Dump into metal pan or onto foil with the sides folded up.  Grill on low or bake at 375F for 2 hrs.  Stir occasionally.

The point is to roast slowly, which brings out the natural sugars in the veggies and adds a lot of flavor.

Easy Way to Cassoulet

Comfort Food Season is drawing to a close, as the weather (finally!) turns warmer. One final entry under that category is my version of the traditional French cassoulet, which is meant to be a heavy, savory, stick-to-your-ribs dish.  Fans of traditional French cooking will notice that my recipe doesn't take a dozen steps and several days to complete :) 

I think it's pretty tasty though...and gluten free!

Start with 1lb lamb - steak or tips - sprinkled with mint, rosemary, garlic, and black pepper.  Bake on a greased cookie sheet, loosely covered with foil at 325F for 1 hour.  If you don't like lamb, substitute pork loin chops and only bake for 40 minutes.


Next, add to the same baking sheet:
1lb pork breakfast sausages
carrots
onion

Bake covered with foil for 30 minutes, then uncovered for another 30 minutes.

Chop meat and spread in roasting pan with veggies.

Top with:
3 cans drained navy beans
1 c beef or veggie bouillon
1/2 c red wine or cooking wine
a bay leaf or two

Bake 1 hour uncovered, stirring occasionally.

Serve with garlic bread.

Then take a nap... :)

Savory Corned Beef

Hooray for corned beef season!  I don't celebrate St.Patrick's Day, but do appreciate the time of year when the grocery store is stocking large corned beefs.

There are several ways to cook a corned beef , or any other corned - which means marinated in brine - meats that you might have.  Corned venison is a good example.  Corning is used on meats that have a lot of connective tissue, which is what makes them have a tough texture.  The brining step helps break down that connective tissue, but the meat still needs to be cooked after.


Corned meats can be boiled, slow-cooked in a crock pot, or tenderized in a pressure cooker.  I am a pressure-cooker user so that is my preferred method.  The meat and spices are brought to 15 lbs of pressure for 1 hour; by then the meat is cooked thoroughly but not quite finished.

The key to tender, flavorful corned beef is to roast the meat after the liquid-cooking stage.  Regardless of how you boil your beef, you will get a better end result if you slice it into a baking pan and roast at 350 for about a half hour.  The slices can be just rough slabs - enough to allow the heat to get to the remaining connective tissue.

Bake until the meat surfaces are sizzling hot and the edges are a little crispy.  Turn slices and roast for another 8-10 minutes.  This brings out the natural sugars in the meat and the end result is savory and flavorful.

With pressure-cooker methods, the meat is cooked first and then removed.  The veggies are then added to the broth left in the cooker, and brought to pressure for 10 minutes.  This is the perfect timeframe for roasting the meat.

If you use a boiling method, leave the veggies in the pan to stay hot while you roast the meat.

I like the way the pressure cooker cooks all the veggies to the ideal softness all at the same time.  As soon as the veggies are done and the meat is roasted, serve with dijon mustard.