We were late cooking our Thanksgiving Day meal because we were out of town on the real holiday enjoying social times with my nephew and his family. But today, we outdid ourselves on our own Holiday meal. We made it lean and mean, although let's be honest, there is a substantial amount of butter in the dressing. It *is* a holiday, you know. But this is what we had.
Turkey with dressing. I found a multi-grain cranberry stuffing mix made by Mrs. Cubberley, more well known for her croutons. I added pecans, and some sauteed celery and onions, a cup of chicken stock, and butter. I also added a teaspoon of sage, although the mix had some in it, there's never enough. They should put that on my tombstone.....Theres Never Enough Sage, RIP Robin Odach.
We had big plump asparagus we found at Costco. I skinned the bottoms, sprayed it with pam and roasted it with a little parmesan sprinkles and sea salt. I did make gravy from the drippings, but I only used 2 T. of flour and a little water, so it was more like a sauce than the usual congealed mess all over the plate. That was the brunt of dinner.
I made Paul a sweet potato pie from Alton Brown's recipe. It was low fat. I steamed 3 sweet potatos that were chunked up, added 3/4 cup of brown sugar, pumpkin spices and a cup of yogurt. It looks very good and really doesn't contain any fat except for whatever is in the crust.
Since January 5th I've sustained a 3 pound weight loss per month. It may be the slowest diet on earth but it's a weight loss that will stay put because I've learned a new way to eat over the past year. By my scales at home I've lost 34 pounds, but my doctor only credits me with 32 because she won't give me credit for 2 pounds of clothing. Well.... she's a skinny little thing, what does she know?
So what was your favorite lean mean dish this Thanksgiving?
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Cheap Beef
I was reading an article in Self magazine that was written by a nutritionist, who said that people who eat a serving of beef everyday lose weight faster than those who do not. Well, who knew? So I bought a chuck shoulder which cost about $6 and it was so lean that I was sure it probably wouldn't be good. I sprayed it with olive oil Pam and coated it with a little flour, salt and pepper. I browned it up in a tbsp. of olive oil, and added some carrots because carrots just seem to make broth very rich. I added some beef stock and garlic and let it bake for 3 hours at 325 degrees. I took it out and let it cool, then sliced it as thin as I could and put it away in the fridge for overnight. The next morning I scraped the oil from the top of the jus, and put the whole thing back in the oven for an hour.
We ate it on big Portuguese rolls with mustard and horseradish, like a beef on wick without the salt. It was absolutely fab. Tasty and tender. As Alton Brown would put it, cheap beef has lots of connective tissue that must be broken down with heat and time. There's not much meat that's tastier than chuck. My mom used to make chuck roasts with parsnips, onions, potatoes and carrots. She would put a can of stewed tomatoes over the whole thing and zip it into the oven for a couple of hours. That was the best roast, and the potatoes would absorb all the juice from the meat and tomatoes, so very tasty. To this day my sis and I cannot duplicate the tastiness of her roasts!
My mom wasn't a complicated cook... lets just say she had a strong line of British in her... but she did a couple of things really well. Besides chuck, she had a way with chicken and rice. I can't get that one down either. Whatever she used came out creamy and good. What is your signature dish that you want to pass down to your kid(s)?
We ate it on big Portuguese rolls with mustard and horseradish, like a beef on wick without the salt. It was absolutely fab. Tasty and tender. As Alton Brown would put it, cheap beef has lots of connective tissue that must be broken down with heat and time. There's not much meat that's tastier than chuck. My mom used to make chuck roasts with parsnips, onions, potatoes and carrots. She would put a can of stewed tomatoes over the whole thing and zip it into the oven for a couple of hours. That was the best roast, and the potatoes would absorb all the juice from the meat and tomatoes, so very tasty. To this day my sis and I cannot duplicate the tastiness of her roasts!
My mom wasn't a complicated cook... lets just say she had a strong line of British in her... but she did a couple of things really well. Besides chuck, she had a way with chicken and rice. I can't get that one down either. Whatever she used came out creamy and good. What is your signature dish that you want to pass down to your kid(s)?
Friday, November 4, 2011
Joan's Crockpot Chicken
Our friend Joan posted a recipe for crockpot chicken in comments, but it looks so wonderful I decided to elevate her recipe to the main blog so she'll be our guest chef. In her own words:
Chop up: a small eggplant, a small sweet onion, a medium zucchini, a large red bell pepper, a handful of baby carrots and smash a few cloves of garlic. Throw it into a big pan and sautee the veggies up in a little olive oil. When they just start to smell good, put them into the crockpot. In the hot pan, brown some chicken parts. (We prefer thighs, because the flavor holds up well to the veggies. I use a couple skin-on and the rest skinless. Pork cubes would work well here as well.) While they're browning, put a large can of peeled tomatoes into the crockpot. You can use romas, too, if you have them. Stir everything up well, put the chicken on top, set the pot on low and go on about your business. About an hour before eating, I like to add a big handful of very thin green beans and a drained can of black olives, and a tablespoon of capers. I also put in a tablespoon of fines herbes de provence (always at the end; the volatile oils of the herbs cook away if you put them in early) and adjust the salt. We love this. It's just as good meatless, by the way!
What I love about Joan's recipe is that it's like a Ratatouille. EZPOT = eggplant, zuchini, pepper, onion and tomatoes. I can almost smell this cooking along in a crock pot... which I will, tomorrow! Thanks Joan!
I've been eating chickpea salads this week. I mix a can of chickpeas with diced mushrooms, pepper, and a few sliced olives. I like to add a small can of shoepeg corn or some frozen peas. A drizzle of balsamic dressing and that's it. You can eat this on a baked potato, on a salad, or just eat it by itself.
I'm thinking about holiday stuffing/dressing. My favorite is pecan cranberry sage dressing. What does everyone put in their holiday turkey dressing?
Chop up: a small eggplant, a small sweet onion, a medium zucchini, a large red bell pepper, a handful of baby carrots and smash a few cloves of garlic. Throw it into a big pan and sautee the veggies up in a little olive oil. When they just start to smell good, put them into the crockpot. In the hot pan, brown some chicken parts. (We prefer thighs, because the flavor holds up well to the veggies. I use a couple skin-on and the rest skinless. Pork cubes would work well here as well.) While they're browning, put a large can of peeled tomatoes into the crockpot. You can use romas, too, if you have them. Stir everything up well, put the chicken on top, set the pot on low and go on about your business. About an hour before eating, I like to add a big handful of very thin green beans and a drained can of black olives, and a tablespoon of capers. I also put in a tablespoon of fines herbes de provence (always at the end; the volatile oils of the herbs cook away if you put them in early) and adjust the salt. We love this. It's just as good meatless, by the way!
What I love about Joan's recipe is that it's like a Ratatouille. EZPOT = eggplant, zuchini, pepper, onion and tomatoes. I can almost smell this cooking along in a crock pot... which I will, tomorrow! Thanks Joan!
I've been eating chickpea salads this week. I mix a can of chickpeas with diced mushrooms, pepper, and a few sliced olives. I like to add a small can of shoepeg corn or some frozen peas. A drizzle of balsamic dressing and that's it. You can eat this on a baked potato, on a salad, or just eat it by itself.
I'm thinking about holiday stuffing/dressing. My favorite is pecan cranberry sage dressing. What does everyone put in their holiday turkey dressing?
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