Thursday, March 17, 2011

Pot Roast with Red Wine and Mushroom Gravy


Happy St.Patty's Day! And what a better way to kick off St.Patrick's Day than with a ROAST! This was my first roast and boy was it tender and juicy! This is a Paula Deen Special. I cooked it on 250 degree F instead of 350 degree F and I added mushrooms to it and YUM is all I can say! I hope that you enjoy this Roast as much as my family did.



Ingredients

1 (3 to 4-pound) boneless chuck roast
2 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoon black pepper
2 tablespoons garlic powder
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup thinly sliced onion wedges
2 cup thinly sliced mushrooms
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 bay leaves
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/4 cup red wine
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 cube beef bouillon
3/4 cup water



Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.

Add the garlic powder, salt and pepper to a small bowl. Rub seasoning into the roast on both sides. Heat oil in a large skillet and brown the roast, searing it on both sides. Place the meat in a roaster pan. Add onions, mushrooms and garlic to skillet for 1 to 2 minutes to absorb leftover roast juice., Place into roaster pan with meat and bay leaves.

Combine the mushroom soup, wine, Worcestershire sauce and beef bouillon into a bowl. Pour over the roast. Add water.

Cover pan with foil and bake for 3 to 3 1/2 hours or until tender. Serve on a large platter topped with the gravy and sprinkle a bit of chopped parsley and Enjoy!!

Remove and discard the bay leaves.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Toum-Middle eastern Garlic Sause


Mmmmm....Garlic! This stinky little wonder....how I LOVE thee. You're not Arabic if you don't eat this little wonder with EVERYTHING! I grow up eating this with eggs, chicken, lamb, beef, fish, etc. The only thing I didn't eat it with was fruit! After trying several different recipes I found this particular recipe by Fouad's The Food Blog to emulsify just right! Hope you enjoy this as much as my family and I did!


Ingredients
4 cups of canola or vegetable oil
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 cup peeled whole garlic cloves
1 tablespoon salt

Put salt and garlic cloves in food processor and pulse. Scrape the sides a couple of times and pulse some more, until the garlic is nicely even in chunk size

Turn on the food processor and in a very very thin stream, add 1/2 cup oil very gradually. Adding too much oil too soon will split the sauce

Add 2 teaspoons lemon juice, also gradually, allowing them to mix together
Repeat steps 2 and 3 until all your ingredients have been used up. Do NOT exceed the oil and lemon juice quantities in each repetition

After the 2nd addition of oil, you will notice the emulsion take place. If your sauce doesn’t split, then you’ve done well and added the oil in the required slow manner. You can add any left over lemon juice at the end, but add it slowly as the food processor churns through. If the sauce splits, just stop because it’s ruined. Abort the mission, add an egg white and make aioli instead! Enjoy!

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Malfoof-Stuffed Cabbage with Basmati Rice and Ground Turkey


This is a true FAV! Traditionally, it's made with Ground Lamb. However, I just had a baby 10 weeks ago. So, I MUST get these dreadful 10 lbs off like yesterday! Therefore, I decided to substitute the ground lamb for ground turkey and MY-oh-MY was it tasty!


Ingredients Needed:

1 Cabbage Head
1.25 lbs. Ground Turkey
2 Cups Basmati Rice
1-2 small Russell Potatoes
E.V.O.O (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
2 Tablespoons Chicken Base
2 Tablespoon Cumin
1-2 Tablespoon Salt
1-2 Tablespoon Black Pepper
1-2 Tablespoon Garlic Powder
1/2 Cup dried Mint Leaves
6 Cloves of Garlic
A couple of Lemons

Over MED-HIGH heat place a large Non-stick Pan filled half way with water. Cut the core out of the cabbage and place cabbage into the pan. Once cabbage is semi-tender peel back each layer one leaf at a time (don't force it allow the leaves to become tender as they steam) and stack onto a plate. Once you cannot peel back any further you will come to the center/heart of the cabbage. Carve the center just enough for stuffing.

Heat some E.V.O.O in a large pan on MED-HIGH heat, once the oil is hot (running across the pan) add the ground turkey. Add 1 Tablespoon of the following: Cumin, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Brown the turkey slightly. DO NOT fully cook. Strain and set aside.

In a medium pot add E.V.O.O and 2 cups of Basmati Rice to 3 cups of water on HIGH heat. Bring to a boil, then add 2 Tablespoons chicken base and mix until dissolved. Once the water reduces to half remove the rice. (DO NOT FULLY COOK)

In a large bowl combine the rice, turkey, 1 Tablespoon of the following: Salt, black pepper, garlic powder and cumin. Mix well.

Lay out one cabbage leaf flat at a time and fill with 2-3 Tablespoons of the turkey and rice mixture; spread across the center of the leaf and fold the top over and roll to the end.The rolls should be the width of 2 fngers. (Repeat; smaller/larger leaves add more or less rice)

In a Large Pot; line the bottom of the pot with sliced potatoes. Place the stuffed cabbage heart in the center then layer the cabbage rolls around the heart until you reach the top. Make sure the fold is placed downward and the layers are tight knit (if loose the rolls with come undone while cooking). Fill the pot half way with water and place on MED-HIGH heat. Secure top of pot by placing a dinner plate face down. ( keeps the rolls from coming undone during cooking). 30-35 minutes or until tender.

Heat some E.V.O.O in a saute pan on MED-HIGH heat, once the oil is hot (running across the pan) add crushed garlic and flash-fry. Pour over top of cabbage. Then, crumble dried mint over top, finish with a squeeze of lemon and Walla!

Enjoy!

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