Bottom Round Roast Beef

3-4 LB Bottom Round Roast
3-4 TBS Oil
3 C Beef Broth
1 Onion sliced
Seasoning to Taste - Essence of Emeril
Emeril recommends 3 sprigs of thyme
Salt & Pepper to taste

Preheat Oven to 275
Coat roast in seasoning
Heat oil and brown roast in Dutch Oven
Remove roast, add sliced onions to bottom and add broth
Return roast, and place in oven for 1.25 - 1.5 Hours until 130 (Rare)

Make Gravy from remaining juices.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/sunday-night-roast-beef-and-gravy-with-easy-rice-recipe/index.html

Hambone Soup With Potatoes and Corn

Hambone
8 C water
med onion chopped
1 carrot grated
1 stalk celery chopped (w/ leaves if possible)
bay leaf
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1 clove garlic smashed

6 med potatoes (yukon gold 1st try) peeled chopped into 1" cubes
3 - 4 carrots sliced
1/2 head cauliflower
1 can or small bag frozen corn

4x4 roux (Heat 4 TBS butter, cook in 4 TBS flour)
1 C half and half
+ 1 C milk

Bring 1st ingredients to boil, simmmer 1/2 hour
remove bay leaf, bone, de-meat and add additional ham as needed

Add vegetables, simmer 15 minutes, until veggies are cooked

make white sauce from roux, add dairy
gently combine white sauce into soup.

heat through, serve

Thanksgiving 2010

Kate just advised me that we are having her family for Thanksgiving. 8 adults, 6 kids and and infant. Cool. My mind immediately goes to menu planning. My family Holiday dishes are Zesty Carrots and Cheesy Cauliflower Head. Moose made them, they defined the Holidays of my youth.

Mashed Potatoes. My ex-wife wouldn't eat them with milk in them, so he kindly set aside some boring spuds for her. She never liked my cooking, either.

A Ham and a Turkey. Maybe that green bean casserole, the one with cream of mushroom soup and French's onions on top and perhaps pearl onions. How the hell can I cook all of this with four burners and one oven? Wait I have a grill. for the ham. My clever sister did an extra breast on the grill one year... I think her oven was broken too.

But I think can do the ham on the grill. And Vince down the street has the Turkey fryer, he did three or four last year. I'll have to inquire! And some Pillsbury rolls. But what about a soup? A squash soup would be nice, and seasonal too. And there's the crock pot for soup. But the first recipes I found have creme fraiche, which made me wonder what is Thanksgiving about? It's not about gourmet, it's a feast of thankfulness, and hopefulness that we survive another winter. So in my mind it should be hearty food, pack on the pounds, come February they'll be gone, and we'll be looking for the first greens of spring and to slaughter the lambs.

And an olive tray: Gherkins, green olives and black and a fourth I can't remember what - pickle chips?

So methinks simple food it will be:

savory roasted squash soup - crock pot
mashed potatoes, perhaps with garlic and onion - stovetop 1
cauliflower with cheese and mustard - oven Y
zesty carrots - oven b
sting bean casserole with pearl onions - oven c
brined turkey - deep fry / oven X
roasted ham - BBQ
Beans with carrots - Microwave
Stuffing w /sausage - stovetop 2
Rolls - oven Z

Buy takeaway containers!
level the stove!
buy a brining bucket!
buy a turkey fryer?

Bourbon Marinade

1/4 cup Bourbon whiskey
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger (optional)
1 tablespoon Lea & Perrins® Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons minced garlic
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

http://recipes.certifiedangusbeef.com/recipedetail.aspx?id=288

You may only use this with selected Certified Angus Beef® brand cut, or it will explode!

Sources - Blogs and pages I like.

Southern Food. This is my first go to place for recipes basics. I can finding the ratios of meat and vegetables to liquids, and ideas for what seasonings to use.

The other "about.com" cooking sites are not nearly as good. I pass on a lot of the recipes here, especially anything that calls for a can of soda.

http://southernfood.about.com/ - edited by Diana Rattray

I just found this site, looking for a use for an abundance of tomatoes. A well designed blog, well written and illustrated with recipes that sound like my kind of cooking. Coming soon, home made marina sauce.

http://www.formerchef.com/

I also just found this, looking for a jambalaya recipe. It appears to be a lot of work to make it the old fashioned way. Another well written website, with lots of interesting information.

http://www.gumbopages.com/recipe-page.html - Chuck Taggart

Jambalaya - more uses for tomatoes

1.5 LBS Chicken
1/2 LB Andouille sausage (1)
1/2 - 1 LB Shrimp, cooked, peeled, deveined (2)
2 TBS Butter
2 TBS Olive Oil
3 C Trinity: Onion, Celery, Pepper abt 2:1:1 Diced
3 cloves garlic
2 bay leaves
1 QT Chicken Stock
1 - 1.5 C long grain Rice (I use Basmati)
3-4 Large fresh tomatoes (3)
Essence of Emril / Cajun Seasoning (4)
Paprika

Cut up Chicken to bite size pieces, coat in sweet Paprika (5)
Slice up sausage in bite size pieces (1)
Heat Butter, brown chicken and sausage in dutch oven set aside meat
sautee trinity in oils for about 8 minutes, add garlic sautee another 3 min
Add broth, tomatoes, meat, bay leaves and seasoning
simmer for 30 minutes
Add shrimp, simmer 3-5 min more and serve


(1) Many recipes call for smoked sausage, do not brown, add with garlic.
(2) have shrimp steamed at the store, without seasoning.
I spent 20 minutes cooking, peeling and deveining the shrimp myself.
(3) Trying to use up garden tomatoes. Had already peeled and seeded them.
Recipe should work with 1.5 or 2 x 14.5 oz cans
(4) http://www.gumbopages.com/food/creole.html
(5) Limit use of paprika to 3 TBS or less - sweet and overpowering otherwise.

Creamy Cheddar Zucchini

Zuchhini everywhere. Must find a way to overcome them...

1 Large Zuchinni, sliced if gone to seed, scoop and toss.
1 Large Tomato or two regular, sliced
2 Eggs
1 C. Sour Cream
1/2 Stick (4 oz. abt 1.5 cups) Grated cheddar cheese
2 cloves garlic
tsp salt
1/2 Tsp pepper
handful of fresh basil chopped
breadcrumbs

Slice the zuke into thin slices
grease a casserole dish
layer to about 1/2 full with sliced zukes
layer tomatoes
mix Sour cream, eggs, 3/4 of cheddar, spices (but not basil)
pour about 1/2 mixture over 1st layer
layer with basil
continue layering zukes
cover with rest of mixture
sprinkle breadcrumbs and reserved cheddar over top

preheat oven and bake at 350 for 45 min.


I forgot to add onion. Probably should have been sliced and layered at the bottom.