Meat

Leftover Lamb Flatbread Pizza drizzled with Pomegranate Molasses
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Leftover Lamb Flatbread Pizza drizzled with Pomegranate Molasses

We had cooked a leg of lamb and frozen the leftovers. I took out of freezer for one of our weekday meals and when I opened the frig and saw it staring at me my gut started to say what do I have in here to make an interesting meal. Leftover spaghetti sauce (Lyn secret recipe), Tandoori NAAN All natural flat bread, feta cheese, pine nuts, scallions, fresh oregano, cherry tomatoes, pomegranate molasses . Note: The cherry tomatoes not in the frig of course but always on the counter, just started had the first two from the patio mmmmmmm nothing better. Ok inventory taken now what I asked myself looking at the clock Lyn would return soon from work she has the 50 mile commute and I have the 3.2 mile commute she does not get how difficult it can be stuck behind a school bus as opposed to 1-2 hours of stop and go traffic. Anyway… sauce on stove with minced lamb and some chopped fresh oregano added, brought to bubble and then turned off. Meanwhile I sliced scallion whites and greens, quartered the cherry tomatoes, slightly roasted a handful of pine nuts, crumbled the feta, and preheated oven to 400◦. I spread the sauce over the flat bread top with the other ingredients then drizzle with pomegranate molasses and into to oven for about 10 minutes or until I thought looked done.

The unique sweet taste of the molasses was a perfect complement.

Turned out great hot or cold.

Sorry I do not have any measurements I kind of went into auto mode isn’t that what leftover meals are all about?

Scallions are most commonly referred to as green onions in the United States. They are a variety of young onions with a long, thin white base that has not yet developed into a bulb and long straight green stalks that look like giant chives. Both the white base and the green stalks are commonly eaten. (about.com)

The pomegranate is a focal symbol in the legend and lore of many different cultures. Some hold that it was the pomegranate which was the fruit of temptation (remember the Punic apple?) leading to the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the garden of Eden in the Bible.
With its abundance of seeds, the fruit has long been a symbol of fertility, bounty, and eternal life, particularly to those of the Jewish faith. Many paintings of the Madonna Virgin and Child prominently display a pomegranate. Ancient Egyptians were buried with pomegranates in hope of rebirth.
The Hittite god of agriculture is said to have blessed followers with grapes, wheat, and pomegranates. The seeds were sugared and served to guests at Chinese weddings. When it was time to consumate the marriage, pomegranates were thrown on the floor of the bedchamber to encourage a happy and fruitful union.
Berber women used pomegranates to predict the amount of their offspring by drawing a circle on the ground and dropping a ripe pomegranate in the center. The amount of seeds expelled outside the ring allegedly prophesied the number of her future children.
Mohammed believed pomegranates purged the spirits of envy and hatred from the body and urged all his followers to eat goodly amounts.
When Persephone was held captive in Hades, the Greek goddess of spring and fruit swore she would not partake of food until her release. However, she could not resist the tempting pomegranate, consuming nearly the entire fruit before halting herself and leaving only six seeds uneaten. It is from this story that believers think our yearly cycle of six months of growth and harvest followed by six months of winter is derived. (about.com)

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Brined, Baked and Grilled Root Beer Chicken
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Brined, Baked and Grilled Root Beer Chicken

Ingredients

1 chicken breast bone in

Olive oil to drizzle

Fresh ground pepper

 

As mentioned in my About I  flow of thought writing here is a taste.

How: I had been seeing a lot of articles and recipes for brining chicken for the grill, supposedly it help the chicken retain more moisture. I have only brined a few things and in my head it was the salt it seemed like everything would end up salty. (not true but my head said so)  So I decided to just brine for a short period. I had a chicken breast bone in and placed it in a solution of maybe 1/3 cup maple sugar, a little less than that of kosher salt and then added water to cover. I shook it all about as the old song goes and placed in frig for about ½ hour. I rinsed the chicken well and paper towel dried then rubbed with a little olive oil and fresh ground pepper. The in a 4500 oven for 15-17 minutes down to 300 for 5 minutes turned the oven off and heated up the grill. When the grill was ready I grabbed the Chicken out of the oven and Root bear BBQ sauce I made for the pulled pork, brushed the chicken and place on grill skin side up. I basted every few minutes turned to crisp the skin (which I stole and ate before serving shhhh) when it was about 1650 about 10-15 minutes. I took off grill and loosely covered with foil for about 5 minutes Ok I cheated it was 4 minutes I was really hungry.  I have to say it got the head bobbing up and down approval from Lyn and me, moist and tasty and the sauce just topped it off. I had some grill asparagus left over which I drizzled with some balsamic vinegar and some left over sweet potatoes that Lyn had baked. This was a not so quick but easy work night meal.

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Grind It Baby Grind It – Fresh home ground beef
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Grind It Baby Grind It – Fresh home ground beef

I’ve been busy lately hence the slew of postings but I just have to tell you about my Father’s day present.  I know, I know a little early but we used it on Mother’s day. I am used to all the packages come to our house Lyn’s brother works for the post office and I suppose she is doing her part to support him. So I usually put them on the counter and forget them. Anyway it was one of those rare weekdays that Lyn was home when the mail came and she looked at me with this odd smile, then she blurted out that it was my Father’s day present.  I was happy with that but she was not, she opened the box and pulled it out a meat grinder attachment for our mixer. You see for two years now, maybe longer, we had been toying with the idea of one of these, read all the articles but really could not justify it. Anyway it was just in time for mother’s day so she decided that fresh grilled burgers were called for.

Now what cut of meat….Sirloin Roast too pricy, Chuck roast too fatty for us, the butcher suggested the eye of the round Ok will give it a try.

Ingredients

  • 4 lbs Eye of the Round roast, trim some of the fat off
  • Salt and pepper or rub

How

This is the fun part

Attached the grinder to the mixer

Cut the roast into chucks that will fit into the grinder tube

Place of baking sheet and into the freezer for about 20 minutes – do not freeze

Turn the mixer on and feed the meat into the tube until all meat has been ground, a second grinding really makes it tender.

Form patties, indent the center slightly, sprinkle and rub with favorite rub let sit for a few minutes

Grill about 4 minutes per side depending on size.

The meat had very little shrinkage and cooked faster than I thought, it was tender, very tender, I thought too dry but no one else found it that way.

Best early present I ever got.

Side note: Lyn found sirloin steaks on sale and we ground up for lunch today very tasty and tender especially after double grinding. I cooked about 4 minutes per side and they came out very tender, juicy and medium. Like grass feed beef it looked more well down than it was.

    

    

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Roast Leg of Lamb with Lemon, Garlic, and Rosemary
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Roast Leg of Lamb with Lemon, Garlic, and Rosemary

The longer the lamb marinates in the seasoning paste, the better flavor you’ll have. Anywhere from 1 to 24 hours will work, but overnight is best. Slice the leftovers for pita stuffed sandwiches topped with tabbouleh.

Mike and Laurel came over for Easter but we started them off with Charoset on Matzah and some Matzah (Matzo) Ball Soup. Happy Eastover Day (The Day was for Laurels birthday we had boston cream pie for that.

From Martha Stewart – Mad Hungry, October 2010 Yield Serves 6 to 8 we served with mash potatoes and asparagus and my wife made a nice mint sauce with pomegranate molasses.

Ingredients

  • 2 whole lemons, washed, seeded, and chopped
  • 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary, leaves removed
  • 5 to 6 garlic cloves, peeled
  • 1 tablespoon coarse salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 to 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 boneless leg of lamb, butterflied, boned, and cut to lay flat (about 5 pounds)

Note: I was handed the recipe and rolled this not realizing that it was to cook flat. I found the video today and am red-faced. I thought 45 minutes was a pretty short time.

How

  • Place the chopped lemon, rosemary, garlic, salt, pepper, and olive oil in a food processor. A blender can also be used, if done in batches. If you have neither, finely chop all ingredients together.
  • Open up the lamb and lay it flat. Spread and massage the lemon paste evenly over the inside and outside of the lamb. Place in a baking dish and cover, or in a large resealable plastic bag. Refrigerate overnight to marinate, turning occasionally.
  • Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Remove the meat from the refrigerator 30 to 60 minutes before cooking. Place the lamb FLAT on a rack in a foil-lined roasting pan or rimmed baking sheet. Place the meat in the oven and after 5 minutes, reduce the temperature to 425 degrees. Roast for 45 minutes (rolled about 1 to 1/12 hrs) , or until medium rare, 140 degrees on an instant read thermometer. Allow the meat to rest for 10 to 15 minutes before carving and serving.

Raosted leg of lamb cooking flat   Raosted leg of lamb  Rosted Leg of Lamb rolled

Note: I think besides trying it roasting flat LOL, I would cut the lemon rind down to maybe 1 lemon it just had a little too much of the bitter taste, it was not overwhelming by any means and everyone else seemed to enjoy. I’m just saying. 

My Favorite Brisket recipe
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My Favorite Brisket recipe

Funny story we originally had planned on a candied brisket and went shopping on Friday night instead of our usual Saturday morning. Wholefoods was very crowed at the meat counter and I forgot to get the brisket so we looped back to the crowed counter and without thinking purely out of habit asked for a single cut brisket instead of a corned beef. To top it off it was kids night and I had to fight for the samples.

So what does one do when they get home, adapt. When it was all said and done we voted that my original Jewish style recipe was better it created thicker richer tasting gravy the meat absorbed more of this flavor. This had a soupier more wine tasting gravy which flavored the meat as such. Don’t get me wrong it was very good but could have used a little kick. Maybe more garlic and onions or some sweetness.

Ingredients

  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • Freshly ground pepper to taste
  • 1 5-pound brisket of beef, shoulder roast of beef, chuck roast, or end of steak
  • 1 garlic clove, peeled
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 3 onions, peeled and diced
  • 1 10-ounce can tomatoes
  • 2 cups red wine
  • 2 stalks celery with the leaves, chopped
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 sprig fresh thyme
  • 1 sprig fresh rosemary
  • 1/4 cup chopped parsley
  • 6 to 8 carrots, peeled and sliced on the diagonal
  • I added about of whole berry cranberry sauce.

How

  • Sprinkle the salt and pepper over the brisket and rub with the garlic. Sear the brisket in the oil and then place, fat side up, on top of the onions in a large casserole. Cover with the tomatoes, red wine, celery, bay leaf, thyme, and rosemary.
  • Cover and bake in a preheated 325-degree oven for about 3 hours, basting often with pan juices.
  • Add the parsley and carrots and bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes more or until the carrots are cooked. To test for doneness, stick a fork in the flat (thinner or leaner end of the brisket). When there is a light pull on the fork as it is removed from the meat, it is “fork tender.”
  • This dish is best prepared in advance and refrigerated so that the fat can be easily skimmed from the surface of the gravy. Trim off all the visible fat from the cold brisket. Then place the brisket, on what was the fat side down, on a cutting board. Look for the grain – that is, the muscle lines of the brisket – and with a sharp knife, cut across the grain.
  • When ready to serve, reheat the gravy.
  • Put the sliced brisket in a roasting pan. Pour the hot gravy on the meat, cover, and reheat in a preheated 350-degree oven for 45 minutes. Some people like to strain the gravy, but I prefer to keep the onions because they are so delicious.

From JEWISH COOKING IN AMERICA by Joan Nathan (Alfred A. Knopf, 2001)

Lamb Stew with Spring Veggies
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Lamb Stew with Spring Veggies

Lyn had been wanting a stew which was unusual for her she is not much of a stew person. Years ago we had made an Irish lamb stew but for the life of us could not remember where we saw it. So we must have look at a dozen recipes and I came up with this which was heavily influenced by Wholefoods. This stew came together easily, simmering on top of the stove for a couple of hours made another day of growling tummies.

Ingredients

  • 3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp. fine sea salt
  • 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
  • 2 pounds lamb stew meat, cut into 2-inch chunks
  • 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
  • 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
  • —
  •  1 1/2 cups chicken broth
  • 1 cup dry white wine
  • 1 Tbsp. dried rosemary
  • 1 Tbsp. dried oregano
  • —
  • 2 cups chopped carrots
  • 1 pound small red or white potatoes, halved or cut into chunks
  • —
  • 1 cup fresh peas or frozen green peas, thawed
  • 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
  • —
  • 1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions (About 1 scallion)

Double click to enlarge

 How:

Combine flour, salt and pepper in a large bowl or plastic bag. Add lamb and toss to coat well.

Heat oil in a large heavy pot over medium high heat.

If needed working in batches (setting aside first batch in bowl), add lamb and brown on all sides set all lamb aside for a moment. Add the garlic and cook until you smell about 15 seconds to 1 minute.  Add chicken broth, wine, rosemary and oregano. Stir to combine add the lamb and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 1 hour.

Stir in carrots and potatoes. Cover and continue to simmer 1 hour longer.

Stir in peas and mustard and simmer 3 to 10 minutes or until peas are just cooked through (frozen peas do not take as long to cook).

Ladle stew into bowls and garnish with green onions.

Lamb and Veggie Stew with bread

Note from Steve: The only thing I might change is using fresh springs of oregano and rosemary and removing the stems after cooking.

Sweet and Spicy Glazed Corned Beef
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Sweet and Spicy Glazed Corned Beef

As I mentioned in my last post International Night – Makeshift Chili and Quesada we are working on a new idea for planning meals at least for us, and although Saturday is supposed to be fish night I went with corned beef and Guiness in honor of St Patrick’s Day. My son used to go crazy for corned beef NY York style deli sandwich so thick that you had to attach hinges to your jaws. In my family we call that a “Muriel Saver Sandwich”. She and Dagwood had that in common.

Anyway I tell you 60 minutes into the dish and the house started to smell soooooo good my stomach started to growl and the end results were great. We had tried Dijon mustard and brown sugar glaze a few years ago and I think I like that slightly better but this one was really good.

Ingredients

  • 1 Tbs. Peppercorns
  • 1 Tbs. Mustard Seeds
  • 4 bay leaves crushed
  • 1 cinnamon Stick broken into pieces
  • 2 tsp. whole cloves
  • ½ tsp. red-hot pepper flakes
  • ½ tsp. ground ginger
  • ¼ tsp. ground coriander
  • 1/8 tsp. ground allspice
  • 4 lb. corned beef brisket first cut (we prefer low sodium) you can use whatever cut you prefer.
  • 2-3 cloves of garlic crushed (depending on size)

Glaze

  • ¼ cup honey
  • ¼ cup chili sauce
  • 4 tsp. horseradish drained

How

Place oven rack on bottom third and preheat oven to 350◦

Combine the first 9 ingredients in a plastic storage bag and crush with rolling pin.

Empty into Dutch oven and place corned beef (I rinse but your choice), fat side up add the garlic and pour in enough water to cover with water. Discard the spice packet that comes with the meat. Cover and place in oven for 3 hours turning meat halfway. I used the Le Creuset Dutch oven and I am still trying to get used to cooking with so I turned the oven down to 300◦ at half way point. Any hints on using these are welcomed.

In a small bowl combine the 3 ingredients for glaze

Remove beef from oven, move the rack to middle and preheat to 450◦

Line a baking sheet with foil and place the cooked corned beef fat side up.

Brush about ½ of glaze over the top and sides of the corned beef. Roast in oven for 15 minutes brushing with remaining glaze about half way through. Glaze should start to caramelize.

Let stand cover loosely for 5-15 minutes before slicing against the grain.

Ingredients  

Now we chose to serve with smashed garlic potatoes and oven roasted Brussels sprouts but you could choose to go more traditional with cabbage wedges and some carrots on the second turning but you may have to adjust cooking time up slightly.

Lyn found this in Woman’s day magazine
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International Night – Makeshift Chili and Quesada

Beet Greens & Fresh Baby Corn In Fiery Red...

We came up with a plan bought a fancy dancy calendar to plot it out.  Frist we were going have each day have a planned meal Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner, there was even spots for snacks I did say fancy dancy did I not. Our theory was that with the week planned out this way we could easily draw up a shopping list. As we looked at it reality began to sink in, I have oatmeal every morning and a salad for lunch the only thing that changes up for me is dinner and maybe breakfast on the weekend. Lyn was in a similar situation so dinners it was. I felt or Lyn felt I felt stifled being held to a specific dish I am a more of a cook from the gut kind of guy, open the cabinets and see what I have.  So we settled for dinner theme of the day Mondays is Sandwich night, Tuesdays leftovers, Wednesdays Vegetarian, Thursday International, Friday breakfast, Saturday is fish except its St. Patrick’s this Saturday so corn beef and Genesis, Sunday – special whatever hits our fancy while shopping.

So let me tell you since we decided this on Sunday night when Thursday came and I panicked on the way home what the heck did I have in the house that would qualify? I got home open both the freezer and frig wide and stared. My eyes caught 2 frozen chopped sirloin burger patties,½ Red bell pepper, onions, some left over tomatoes sauce, cheddar cheeses,  3 whole wheat wraps, baby portabella mushrooms, kale, 1 scallions mmmmmm…..the bell went off in mind Chile and Quesada with some of that left of guacamole Lyn made.   I was not sure how this would come out so I did not measure of take pictures.

I grabbed the patties and semi defrosted in the micro wave, in the meantime I sautéed about a ¼ of a cup of the onions roughly chopped and ¼ of a cup of the red peppers for a few minutes added the meat and broke it into small pieces while browning. When it was browned I added a good double pinch of chili powder, ancho pepper powder, Mexican oregano,  a couple of good shakes of cayenne powder, salt and pepper. Then I added the tomatoes sauce maybe was about a cup and half. Brought to boil and simmer over low it was reduced about half a nice thicker side chili.

While that was simmering I chopped the scallion, 3 mushroom, cilantro and small piece of leftover chicken and shredded the cheddar (divided). I placed all ingredients on ½ of the whole wheat wrap folded and heated up in a nonstick fry pan until the cheese was melted then top with some of the cheddar cover with top to melt the cheese.

I had planned to serve with some of the guacamole but Lyn came home in the meantime and we munched on it with some chips.

I have to say and she will back me up this came out really good that I am kicking myself for not writing it down or taking pictures. Oh well there is always next time.

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American Chop Suey and a bonus Mom’s receipe

Everyone has their own comfort foods, I have many but one of my favorites is American Chop Suey. Last summer when out to lunch with my Brother and Nancy the special of the day was American Chop Suey both my brother and I let out a gasp and our minds were made up. It was a disappointment not what Mom used to make, the taste in my mind was not met. I believe Mike felt the same way. For years I have tried this combination and that never matching my mom who swore she did not remember it had been years since she had made it for us. Then one day I came real close and have stuck to it since changing it ever so slightly every time I make it since I cook from the gut. My wife is not a fan of American Chop Suey so it is not made that often but it was today. Oh ya read below this recipe see what I found.

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb. lean Ground beef
  • 1 onion chopped roughly
  • 2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
  • 1 green pepper cored, seeded and chopped
  • 28 oz. can whole tomatoes
  • 15 oz. can tomato sauce
  • 1 lb. box Elbow macaroni
  • Salt, pepper, oregano, basil, red-hot pepper flakes to taste
  • Ketchup (optional, not for me)

How:

In a fry pan cook hamburger, onion, and celery until meat is browned and the veggies are limp but still have some crunch left. While browning chop up the beef into small chunks. Drain off the grease.

Crush tomatoes by hand over the pan, pour in the juice from the can and the tomato sauce.

Add whatever spices you are comfortable with. I use salt, pepper, oregano, basil, (I suppose a short cut could be Italian seasoning mix) a good pinch of crushed red pepper flakes depends on your hotness taste. Add the chopped green pepper at this point I feel it kept them a little crunchier but I suppose you could add in the first step.

Bring to a boil and simmer for five minutes.

Meanwhile, bring five quarts of water to a boil, add the macaroni, and cook for about five minutes. The pasta should be aldente, not thoroughly cooked. Drain, return to pot and add the contents of the other pan. Gently simmer for five minutes to finish cooking the macaroni and to let it absorb the liquid.

Remove from heat, and put it to the side. I find that letting it sit for at least a half hour lets the flavors really come together I also stir occasionally to help cool and not over cook the pasta.

Ok now I was raised to top with ketchup when served but this is strictly optional, it just does not taste right to me without, what can I say?

Mom’s American Chop Suey (The card was numbered 87)

Mom passed in February and while cleaning out her condo my wife came across a little tin that had Mom’s recipes and there it was American Chop Suey. Now there is no way to know if this was what I had grown up with and how she may have morphed it but here is her recipe.

Maybe someday I will try this but for now I really like mine.

The index card had this information.

2 cups of elbow macaroni cooked 9 min and drained.

Sauté

  • 1 medium onion
  • 1 tbsp. salad oil
  • 1 lbs. chopped beef
  • 1/8 tsp. garlic powder
  • ½ tsp. Accent, salt, pepper

Drain fat and add:

  • 1 can tomato sauce (Hunt’s)
  • 3 cups tomato puree #2 ½ can (does this mean 2 and ½ cans)
  • ¼ tsp. instant bouillon
  • ½ oregano
  • Sprinkle with salt

Cook 10 minutes

Add cooked macaroni; simmer covered 1 hour

Mrs. Lawrence (Harriette) Pearlman – anyone remember her?

What did I just eat?
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What did I just eat?

Last night Lyn and I had an appointment around dinner time. On our way back we had to make a pit stop and there it was McDonald’s staring me in the face. Although I had eaten a sandwich earlier and I was not really hungry in the back of my mind there were voices from the distant past. Niece Lauren’s quote “..they make very fine food there” toddler Mike’s voice and smile “happy meal!”, even my former road warrior days self “boy that hit the spot”. Maybe it was the blinding bright lights or the sort of happy faces of those waiting in line, I am not sure but I gave in, I was weak. So was Lyn she got a Shamrock shake minus the whipped cream.

What I thought I got

What I thought I got

There we were back in the car and it was dark, thank you very much, safely on our way and I took my first bite. What did I just eat? All I tasted was air-filled white bread, pickle, extra sweet ketchup, onions and something else not quite sure it must have been meat. Fine food? Happy Meal? Satisfying? No, not one bit. BTW the shake was nothing but a vanilla shake with green food coloring. “They used to taste like mint” Lyn kept saying.

Probably closer to what I got

Probably closer to what I got

The trash can in the garage was our first stop and then for me some Tums just to play it safe.

I guess over the years my tastes have changed along with the quality of food that my palate expects but that for sure has cured me of any fast food cravings for a long long time.

Oh forgot to mention one thing remained consistent the after taste of what I can only closely associate with soap. What you never got your mouth washed out?

To those of you who still love this food more power to you and I have no less respect for you I was once there but I have changed. It’s me not you…….