What's cooking?

[Jenise]

Jenise, the next time you need a thickener whether for chili or just a veg soup, I find that a can or partial can of generic re-fried beans works wonders, plus it add some good flavor as well. Winter is on the way, and I want to make a pot of Stuarts minestrone soup. it's really good stuff. I like the sound of your chili...bet I would like the taste too.

That would work very well! Thing is, that's not a pantry staple in my kitchen where corn tortillas are always on hand.

Just a thought here. Are you using a corn tortilla that is not made with genitically modified corn....or does that bother you? I bought a tortilla last week made from quinoa, spelt, and other ancient grains. What really got me was that it had preservatives, which I try and stay away from. More and more each day, it seems our country is having issues with food and it concerns me a lot.

I think this might be worth mentioning. For several years we have, occasionally, made an Asparagus Lasagna -- this involves making a bechamel with lemon zest and goat cheese, and layering that with asparagus and pasta and baking it. I bought some beautiful "pencil" asparagus and was thinking of doing that -- but I am trying to lose a few pounds and I certainly don't need the pasta. Of course just cooking and eating the asparagus would be the best diet choice, but I had mentioned the idea of the lasagna and both of us were hungry for those flavors. So I made a smaller amount of the bechamel with lemon and goat cheese, and we used it as a sauce on the asparagus. It was great.

The whole meal -- we split a prime Costco strip steak, and we each had a large red potato with some of the cheese sauce on it, plus the asparagus.

And a 1996 Beaune Clos des Couchereaux from Jadot, which was pretty nice.

The flavor of the sauce is reminiscent of Hollandaise and I suggested that we could make a kind of eggs benedict tomorrow...

[Jenise]

Just a thought here. Are you using a corn tortilla that is not made with genitically modified corn....or does that bother you? I bought a tortilla last week made from quinoa, spelt, and other ancient grains. What really got me was that it had preservatives, which I try and stay away from. More and more each day, it seems our country is having issues with food and it concerns me a lot.

I don't recall which tortilla I bought, but it was probably a Giant Agri-business purveyor as I don't have access up here to those that tout themselves otherwise. Guerrero, Mission, etc. They all have preservatives--though like you, I would prefer to avoid them.

Autumn has arrived. The temperatures have dropped below 10 °C and the Oktoberfest ends today. Therefore, something hearty and warming should be on our table. So a sous vide cooked veal brisket with bouillon potatoes and a horseraddish sauce was the first choice. Washed down with a 2007 Alba Flor Crianza from Binissalem Mallorca a fairly good cuvée of Manto Negro, Cabernet and Merlot.

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My fall garden is doing well, I lucked out and planted at the correct time this year. A variety of young lettuces, too delicate for the salad spinner and had to be air dried, with Sungold tomatoes and lemon cukes to go with dinner tonight. I thinned my radishes this morning and that is what you see in the front.

Karen, that looks absolutely awesome! Tell me a little more about lemon cukes, I've never heard of them.

A split organic fryer chicken has been marinating in garlic and lemon all day. That will be grilled and served with brown rice with shiitakes and steamed broccoli.

Lunch was a chopped, tossed antipasto salad of romaine hearts, radicchio, arugula, ham, salami, provolone, white beans, cucumber and tomato. Very tasty.

Today is a pot roast day. I haven't made one in many months. I've got a 7-blade chuck in the oven roasting away with onions, carrots, celery and mushrooms. In a couple hours I'll use the pan juices to make a nice wine-infused gravy. Will serve along side green beans with new potatoes and probably corn bread. I've already started my day with a gin and tonic so making dinner should be painless from this point!

[Jenise]

Wow, everybody's food sounds so good. And Jo Ann reminds me that it's probably been three or four years since I made a pot roast. Suddenly, I'm dying for that.

Lunch today was a delicious and healthy salad of wild rice with a lot of raw stuff: kale, tomatoes, mint, walnuts and jerusalem artichokes. Dinner is going to be a joint effort with friends who are bringing a "chicken fricasee" with rice. To go with that, I'm going to make a salad of red mustard, green leaf lettuce and fresh garlicky croutons topped with a fritter of fried blue cheese.

Karen, that looks absolutely awesome! Tell me a little more about lemon cukes, I've never heard of them.

For starters, here is a link with a good photo and info.
http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/lemon_cucumbers/

They are a mild cuke, with a lot of seeds. I actually prefer the type of cucumber without a large seed center. I grabbed several this week at the Grower's Market because they had been picked smaller than I normally see. They are prolific and grow just like regular cukes. They are very popular out here and I actually think because of their name some folks THINK they have a lemony taste, which is not true. They were named lemon cucumbers because of their shape and size resembling a lemon....that's all.

Today is a pot roast day. I haven't made one in many months. I've got a 7-blade chuck in the oven roasting away with onions, carrots, celery and mushrooms. In a couple hours I'll use the pan juices to make a nice wine-infused gravy. Will serve along side green beans with new potatoes and probably corn bread. I've already started my day with a gin and tonic so making dinner should be painless from this point!

Jo Ann, I love your style! Pot roast with a 7- blade roast is one of my favorites. It does cook up rather nice, doesn't it. Of course, the gin and tonic makes it go so much smoother.

Today is a pot roast day. I haven't made one in many months. I've got a 7-blade chuck in the oven roasting away with onions, carrots, celery and mushrooms. In a couple hours I'll use the pan juices to make a nice wine-infused gravy. Will serve along side green beans with new potatoes and probably corn bread. I've already started my day with a gin and tonic so making dinner should be painless from this point!

Jo Ann, I love your style! Pot roast with a 7- blade roast is one of my favorites. It does cook up rather nice, doesn't it. Of course, the gin and tonic makes it go so much smoother.

My favorite cut for pot roast too. So meltingly tender. Funny, it must be the fall weather. My brain went to pot roast for tomorrow night's dinner before I read Jo Ann's post.

Sunday dinner was Cajun chicken and andouille jambalaya, Paul Prudhomme's recipe (but with andouille instead of tasso).

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Today is a pot roast day. I haven't made one in many months. I've got a 7-blade chuck in the oven roasting away with onions, carrots, celery and mushrooms. In a couple hours I'll use the pan juices to make a nice wine-infused gravy. Will serve along side green beans with new potatoes and probably corn bread. I've already started my day with a gin and tonic so making dinner should be painless from this point!

Jo Ann, I love your style! Pot roast with a 7- blade roast is one of my favorites. It does cook up rather nice, doesn't it. Of course, the gin and tonic makes it go so much smoother.

My favorite cut for pot roast too. So meltingly tender. Funny, it must be the fall weather. My brain went to pot roast for tomorrow night's dinner before I read Jo Ann's post.

She started something! I'm going to pick up a 7-bone today too--at least, ostensibly. Trouble is, up here, most Chuck roasts are boneless (I resent that) and not all of what's labelled Chuck looks entirely Chuck-y.

So let's all make pot roasts, take pix and compare tomorrow. Carrie and I are in. Karen? Anybody else?

So let's all make pot roasts, take pix and compare tomorrow. Carrie and I are in. Karen? Anybody else?

I'm in if I can get a seven bone roast. I'll get on it right now......making some phone calls.

[Jenise]

Good luck! There are no 7-bones here at all, I had to settle for a little 1.89 lb non-denominational chuck roast ( ) because it was the ONLY chuck roast in the store. Plenty for both of us, of course, but it won't provide much leftovers.

I asked about the 7-bone, btw, just to let the butcher know that people really do understand and want that cut. He said he has no control over it--sometimes they just come in, but it's rare.

I had eaten mine by he time I saw the post, so no pics. I had to special order mine too. They don't have bone-in anything much any more. I absolutely hate that! The bone is where the flavor is. I insist on it when I am cooking rib roast. We have one market in the neighborhood that has a live butcher. Unfortunately, they do not always have the best quality meat. But, it was absolutely delis!

It is still too cold outside for this season and the fresh horseradish for the veal brisket was so large that it extends easily to our today's lunch. Because of that I took a batch of Brussels sprouts, beetroots and a Monkfish tail from the hypermarket. So we had fried Monkfish in Lardo di Collonata coat on butter braised Brussels sprouts leaves and beetroot slices served with a creamy, horseradish sauce perfumed with blood-orange juice. Washed down with a 2008, Pinot Rosé Brut, Crémant, from the Palatinate. Very good combination.

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OMGoodness Heinz that is absolutely gorgeous and looks (and sounds) delicious. I love Monkfish.

I got too busy today to get very ambitious tonight, so am making a recreation of something we used to get at a little Italian gem in the desert.
A ragu of sauteed spicy Italian sausage (bulk, not in the links or rounds), mushrooms, garlic, rosemary, scant chopped tomato and white wine tossed with spiral pasta. Ours is the healthy version with chicken Italian sausage and whole grain pasta.

While all the talk of pot roast sounded so good, we went a different route this evening. Kriss is sautéing catfish with garlic, onion, peppers & a myriad of spices. I made a roasted butternut squash macaroni & cheese with caramelized onions, apples and bacon.

The recipe called for canned butternut squash puree but that did not fly in this house. We had a beautiful butternut squash delivered in our farm delivery last week so I roasted that off & pureed it myself. The onions were caramelized in our Le Creuset my husband had used yesterday to brown the Boston butt for pulled pork.

We're pairing it with an '11 Le Viognier des Acanthes.

[Jenise]

Canned butternut squash? I don't even think I've ever seen any canned squash besides pumpkin. Good on you for going fresh, or not at all. Sounds like a great dinner, and perfect for a viognier.

I didn't know there was such a thing either and have never noticed it on the shelves. It all worked very well together and we both enjoyed the food & the wine.

Tonight's dinner was rather easy & something I've prepared a few times: stuffed peppers.

Using red peppers, they were stuffed with a mix of diced onions, diced red peppers we let sweat in a little bit of evoo. Mixed in cannelini beans & brown rice. Mine was topped with shredded monterey jack and husband did a mix of monterey & cheddar on top of his.

I wouldn't say it was purposely paired with, but we both had a Full Sail Amber beer with dinner tonight.