Guest Post by Proxy, or Roast Beast

     Well, I have said it before, and I will say it again:  I am interested and happy to have my friends contribute to this blog.  I would love to see it morph into more of a community project, so that I can see what others are eating/doing/growing.   So far, however, I have had few takers.  There are the logistical issues:  how to gain access to the writing side of things, for instance.  Also, I must admit that this is my project, my agenda, so just because I am interested in what others might have to add, that doesn't mean others are interested in generating content for the purposes of this blog.
     So there you go.  But there is more than one way to work this angle.   In taking a look into my freezer this weekend, I saw one of the objects that has been intellectually taunting me this summer.  I actually put it off under the rationalization that it was more of a fall or winter item, rather than a summer one.  But now that we are officially in fall, I have no other excuses.  The roast must be confronted, head on.
     That is a problem you see, because, while I consider myself to be intrepid and capable in the kitchen, I have never really cooked a roast before.  So, while I may have used the season as the excuse, the real reason that roast languished there in the back of the freezer was because I was afraid of it.
     This is where my sister, Karen, comes to the rescue!  You see, she is an accomplished cook as well.  And, having a spouse who shoots things for a hobby, and then brings these things home, she has a freezer FULL of roast type objects.  Thus, she is quite experienced in this matter.  Dear Karen talked me through the whole process, sent me the recipe she devised (after years of trial and error), and was on call for trouble shooting on the day of the actual roasting of the beast.
     The only difference is that Karen never roasts beef, as she has no need to have this item in her freezer, it being full of venison, elk, moose, and so on.  But we both figured that rump roast, as a leaner cut, would respond nicely to the same treatment.
     I had my neighbors, Brandis and Robb over to help consume said beast.  We also had a salad of greens, dates and feta, with an amazing vinaigrette including cardamom and dijon (I am waiting for Brandis to give me her recipe for this, stay tuned).  The meal included roast potatoes and a puree of carrots and parsnips, also delicious.
     And for dessert?  Poached pears from Ottolenghi's Jerusalem, about which I have waxed poetic before.  The pears, poached in a solution with cardamom and saffron, turned the pears the most beautiful yellow tint, and the syrup that resulted was a gorgeous sunshine color.   Amazing.  (I snuck in a photo below).
     But the beef is the focus today, with photos and recipe to follow:

Prep phase, meat with the dry rub/paste applied

Despite my fears that I had over cooked the roast, it was perfect!

Roast Beast, Karen's Way

makes quantities dependent on the size of the roast

mine was 3 1/2 lbs, and served 4 with leftovers

below is the recipe she sent me

1 roast

Cut slits into roast

Slather the exterior with a blend of the following:

-Minced garlic – there is no such thing as too much

-kosher salt – 2-4 TBS

-olive oil – enough to make a slurry

-rosemary – FRESH of course!

-fresh ground black pepper

Then I add either oregano, savory, sage or whatever spice I have handy

Let sit for some time – minimum of 1 hour – I try for about 4 hours

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bake at 450 for 20 minutes

Lower temp to 350 and bake until internal temp reaches about 125 – 130

When the internal temp is about 100 I spread a tart jam or sauce on the top (trying not to displace the crusty salt/herb mixture)

When internal temp is reached

                REMOVE FROM OVEN- COVER WITH FOIL – LET REST FOR 20 TO 30 MINUTES

(That is the most important step in making roast)

This gives you time to finish the rest of the meal or socialize with guests!  Or drink a kir!

These pears are so beautiful, I had to include a photo!

     So, while I may continue to encounter resistance from the masses, capable but unwilling to scribe a quick missive to accompany the recipe, there is more than ONE way to make it onto this blog!  While the beef was my cooking effort, the recipe, testing, encouragement and inspiration are all Karen, so she gets the credit.  

Baking for Brandis

     So I have a series of baking items here.  I have been intrigued, nay, inspired by some unusual forces lately.  In large part, the inspiration has been my neighbor, Brandis, who has developed an allergy to wheat.  In her case, this is not celiac the way I usually understand it, but suffice it to say, she has essentially eliminated wheat from her diet.
      In addition, my own health issues has spurred some interest into what we in health care term 'modifiable lifestyle' factors.  I can't exactly change the reality of the nasty medications I am forced to ingest, neither the doctor's visits and scans.  However, as I frequently inform my patients, I can change what passes my lips.  So, this funny fibrosis is supposedly tied to inflammation, and inflammation is tied to things like glycemic indices and diet.  Okay.  I am not so committed to the concept that I am prepared to forsake baked items and the like.  But I AM willing to pursue alternatives if they taste good.
     Don't get me wrong.  I am still going out to the occasional bakery.  And I am not going to turn down pie or cookies.  I will even continue to do the bulk of my baking with wheat flour, as it is logistically simpler.  But I do avoid bread more than I ever have, and other grains as well.
     Also, I disapprove of substitute food.  By that I mean things like tofu made into chicken substitute.   Or Splenda.  Even Stevia seems suspect.  I would rather go without.  Neither am I willing to eat a food item with odd off flavors in an effort to avoid something.
     Therefore, my foray into gluten free baking came with, shall we say, preconceived notions and prejudices.   But the challenge of baking for Brandis (it sounds like a children's book!) spurred me onward, and I have found some happy results.
      My first effort was a recipe that I found on another blog, La Pomme de Portland, for cookies.  These are essentially a shortbread cookie with chocolate drizzle.   The main alternative flour is rice flour, and these were fine.  There was a bit of an 'off' flavor, but not offensive to me.  I would recommend them, and you can take a look.  Bryce, however, rejected them.  Onward.
      I then put some thought into what gluten does and doesn't do.  No real scientific talk here, don't worry.  Gluten is the part of the wheat that creates binding.  So if you want to create that effect, like in bread, you want the gluten.  In some baking, this can be optional or unwanted entirely.
      Take for instance, my next effort.   This was an apple/pear crisp.  For a crisp, I look for caramel flavors and crumbly topping.  It's fine if it falls into pieces.  To this end, I took my friend Katie's crisp recipe, and just substituted almond flour for the wheat.  Voila!  The crisp was even better than the original (sorry Katie).  It was caramelly, crumbly and now had a nutty tone to it as well.  Perfect with fruit.  It passed the Bryce test.
      But now, the ante has been raised.   Thanksgiving is looming.   And that means pie.   Could I make a pie that would pass muster with all parties?   I turned to the local guru, who posts on Gluten Free Girl.  She is married to a chef, which, to my mind, means that all of the recipes she posts has to pass a very high bar indeed.  If you are looking for a gluten free resource, this is the one.  I used her flour mixture, and followed her advice for pie crust, making first an apple crumble pie (avoiding, therefore, the worry of a pie with a top).  Again, success!  Brandis, Robb and Bryce approved.  The next pie test was riffed off of a recipe in the most recent Saveur issue, for a pumpkin brûlée pie.  Again, success!  The crust makes up a little different (but not greatly) from one made from wheat flour.
     Ok,  but how about a cake option?  Once more, I turned to my list of blogs, this time The Year in Cooking.   There I found a recipe for polenta cakes with figs.  It's too late for figs, but the cakes baked up easily, and I hope to pair them with an apple compote.
      The encouragement I have gotten from these efforts makes gluten free baking much less mysterious for me.  It also reinforces that I should suspend my prejudices while simultaneously following the recipes of trusted cooks and bakers.  This doesn't feel like substitute food, in the same sense that there is brown rice and white rice.  Or wheat pasta and rice noodles.  It also makes me happy to give treats to those that have to do without, and know that the results do NOT feel like doing without.

Katie's Crisp Topping

makes enough for a 9x13 dish, or 2 8x8 dishes

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

1 c flour ( use whole wheat, or almond flour)

1 c brown sugar

1 c oats

1 t cinnamon

1/4 t nutmeg

Mix dry ingredients, then blend in the butter, until well incorporated.  

Use to top your basic fruit crisp.  If you are desperate for guidance in this area, cut up apples and pears, toss with 1 T lemon juice, and sprinkle with a generous dose of cinnamon and sugar.  Or substitute the seasonal fruit of your choice.   Some may require a thickener, like cornstarch, which should be mixed with the cinnamon/sugar before blending with the fruit.  There is your recipe.  

     The apple pie recipe here is a basic one, and as for the topping, brace yourself:  when I make the above crisp topping, I always make a double recipe and freeze the unused portion.  Topping here?  The crisp topping, pressed into service!  

     As for the recipes for pie crust and polenta cakes, rove on over to those sites!  You will be inspired, and may become a blog fiend like me at the same time....

   

The Birds and The Bees

     Some news from over here at 6024 Chicken Lane:  As we head into fall, I am pleased to say that all the nurturing and care have finally paid off, and the girls have started to lay eggs!!!   The whole process has been a bit herky-jerky.
     To start, they sure took their sweet time.  Brandis and I have been searching high and low, wondering if they were accidentally laying out in the bamboo, or in some other spot.  To complicate matters, the Welsummers and the Easter Eggers (namely 4 out of the 5 new girls) are rather avid flyers, and fly up onto Brandis' roof almost daily, and go on walkabout daily as well.

From left to right:  Patty, Dottie, Peanut and Hazel

     So who knows?  Maybe they were doing their laying while on walkabout, being too dim to think of returning to the coop where a nice nesting box, nay 2 nesting boxes, lay waiting for their pleasure.  We started looking in the more expanded garden. 

     But it didn't make sense.  The rains had started, and the earth was pretty damp, not exactly good nesting areas to be found.  And then, voila!  A brown egg, in the coop, even if it wasn't in the box.  And then another, accidentally on the ground on the other side of the fence!  It has been a bit of a challenge to determine, but we are pretty sure that both Hazel and Dottie are laying, and at least Patty but probably also Peanut.  The goofy thing there is that the eggs of Patty and Peanut should be a bit different looking, and thus far the Easter Egger color seems identical.  And Calamity Jane, being 2 weeks younger, has not yet done the deed.  We have found them in both coops, in varying locales, so there is yet to be a steady habit.  But eggs we do have.  

     

   
     Not a moment too soon, as well.  I am ruined for life, and hope to never have to buy store bought eggs again, and just as these girls are starting in, the older ladies are all starting to molt.  This is a yearly event, and coincides with a complete hiatus from laying eggs.  So nothing happening there.  Indeed, only Juliet doesn't look silly in some way, and Emma is downright pathetic!

      On another front, I went to visit my friend Tim today, and see his bee hive.  This is another topic of urban homesteading that has interested me for a long time.  I haven't had the courage to dive in completely, but Tim has, and is in his 3rd year.  His bees produce quite the honey haul, and the whole process is fascinating.  I would need to educate myself quite a bit to undertake this project, and the logistics of building another item this winter is definitely out.  But then again, one never knows.....
I am sure there are more than a few of my friends who are wondering if I have gone off into a whole new realm of insanity here, but who cares?  It makes me happy.
     In the interim, the bigger question is whether to try harder to contain the flying chickens, who, while rather entertaining in their traveling habits, would be easier to track if they were not so adventurous.  For that matter, is it even possible?   We shall see.

 Something about mites, and hops

     Coming soon, I am working on multiple canning projects, and starting to bake:  pumpkin bread with chocolate chips today (needs tweaking), and a foray into gluten free items (a work in progress).

Quick Before I Forget

     I just whipped an amazing dinner tonight.  It was partially inspired by the season:  the chanterelles are in the store, and I adore chanterelles.  There is also the pressure from the refrigerator, namely in the form of a huge bag of spinach from the CSA.   Gotta move the veggies.
     It's been a bit of a cooking madhouse around here:  I harvested the rest of the tomatoes on the vine, and, as they are green, they were destined for the canning pot.  That is another story, but suffice it so say that I spent the last 2 evenings cranking out double recipes of green tomato chow chow.  I feel confident that I have gotten THAT out of my system now.  To the tune of 18 pints, I should hope so.  I will be using them to barter with my friend Bess for other canned items.  As she donated some of the tomatoes used in this extravaganza, that seems rational.
      But when the canning was done, I needed to eat!  This meal would be rejected by my veggie phobic daughter.  However, I believe my sister would find it ideal:  there are no onions, for one.  The ingredients are nearly all part of her Alaskan hunting/gathering accessible roster.  Karen tells me of her forays into the woods for chanterelles, which generates more than a fair amount of jealousy, I admit.  I found myself channelling her while I made this, thinking she would also enjoy this recipe.
     So quick!  Before I forget how I threw it together, here it is.  I started off with the memory of a recipe from Fine Cooking, where there is a mushroom sauce with white fish, but I switched things out a bit, and added some more.  Basically, this is a mushroom saute that doubles as the steaming base for halibut, and is served over a bed of spinach.  The sauce then also infuses the spinach, doing double duty for the fish and the spinach.  It's a fairly simple recipe, but the fish and mushrooms lend an air of elegance to it all.  This dish is fancy enough for company, or for one post-canning person.

Halibut and Chanterelles with Spinach

(I will gladly solicit bids for a better title)

Serves 2-3

1 1/4 lb halibut, cut into 2-3 pieces

Salt and pepper

3T butter

3 c chanterelles, wiped clean, trimmed and cut into large pieces

1 T minced garlic

1/2 c white wine or vermouth

3T heavy cream

1 lb spinach

3T minced parsley

Pat the halibut dry, sprinkle with salt and pepper, set aside.  

Melt butter in a saute pan just large enough to accomodate the halibut.  Add the mushrooms, a pinch of salt, and saute 5 min, until tender.  Add the garlic and wine, bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer 1 min.  Add the halibut, scoop the mushrooms and sauce over the fish, then cover the pan, bring to a simmer and reduce.  Watch carefully, so as not to overcook the fish.  It will take about 5 min.  

Meanwhile, rinse and coarsely chop the spinach, and then steam in a pot with 2-3T water until just wilted (about 3-5 min).  Drain any extra moisture (or remove with tongs). 

When the fish is done, pour the cream over the top, and sprinkle with parsley.  Serve the fish and mushrooms plus sauce over the spinach and enjoy!

Better the Second Time Around

     I had an odd but pleasant discovery today.  I was faced with leftovers from the other day, and the reincarnation of these leftovers actually ended up being better, to my taste anyway, than the original item!  A happy event, I would say.  Even Bryce ate it.  Gasp, choke!
     The original item, beef empanadas, were made for my friend Darren's birthday party.  There, I presented them, still warm from the oven, with a lovely Aji sauce on the side.  Make no mistake, all was eaten.  These were tasty and enjoyed by adults and youth alike.  Rich and savory, with a mild spicy kick, especially with the addition of the sauce, I would qualify them as a success.  My only complaint?  I found the process of making them to be a bit labor intensive.  The irony to this was that the recipe came from Cooks Illustrated, and was billed, in their intro, as something streamlined for weeknight cooking.  Ha!
     You make a dough, which then chills.  You make the meat filling, which includes chopping, sauteing, boiling eggs and chipping olives off of their pits.  You let it all cool off.  Then roll out, assemble and bake said empanadas.  Weeknight cooking indeed.  I would qualify these as an item to bring to a party, when you are not obligated for the remainder of the dishes, and can clean up later.  I would also mention the benefit to having more than one person available for the assembly sections, to speed things up.   Weeknight cooking indeed.
     It doesn't help that I actually made a double recipe, in anticipation of needing a fair number of the little pies.  And then, in the making of the double recipe, I found myself with almost all of the second recipe of the meat filling left over.  Ah well.  It all turned out fine in the end.
     Today, to use up said leftovers, I made a bastardized rendition of shepherd's pie.  Bastardized, as the meat filling was beef, not lamb, and essentially spiced in a Latin style.  I added veggies to the mix, because I can't not do that.
     And the result was better than the originals.  So.  I will give recipes for all items here, but suffice it to say, I was so focussed on getting the empanadas baked and out the door, I failed to photograph them, so you will have to use your imagination:  half moon pies is what you should conjure up here.

Beef Empanadas

adapted from Cooks Illustrated
makes 12

Dough: 

3 c flour

1 c masa harina

1T sugar

1 1/2 t salt

1 1/2 sticks cold butter, cut in small pieces

1/2 c cold tequila or vodka

1/2 c cold water

Put the flour, masa, sugar and salt into a food processor, pulse to combine.  Add the butter, pulse several times to get a coarse flour texture.  Turn the mixture out into a bowl, add the tequila and water, mix with your hands to combine.   When you have a ball, cut it in half, and then each half into 6 pieces.  Roll lightly into balls, cover and chill 45 min.

Meat mixture:
1 slice white sandwich bread
2T + 1/2 chicken broth

1 lb ground beef

2 c finely chopped onions
1 T olive oil
3 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
1 t cumin
pinch cayenne
1/4 t cinnamon
1/2 c cilantro, chopped
1/4 c green olives, chopped
2 hard boiled eggs, chopped
1/3 c raisins, coarsely chopped
2 t cider vinegar

Pulse bread and 2 T broth in food processor until combined, add meat, pulse to combine.  Saute onions in oil in a large skillet, until translucent, add beef and brown.  Add garlic, cumin, cayenne and cinnamon, saute x 1 min, then add remainder of chicken broth, increase heat and simmer until meat is moist but not wet.  Put into another bowl to cool x 10 min, then add remaining ingredients.  Allow to cool completely.

Assemble:  Roll the dough balls out to approx 6" circles, set aside, but work quickly.  Otherwise cover with plastic wrap.  Place 1/4-1/3 c meat mixture in the center of each round, wet the edges of the rounds with water, then fold over.  Cut uneven portions of the dough (pizza cutter works great here), and press the dough with a fork to seal.  When all are assembled, brush lightly with olive oil.

While assembling:  Preheat the oven to 425F.  Have racks at high and low positions.  Put 2 baking sheets into the oven while heating.  When hot, drizzle 2 T olive oil into the pans and put back into the oven.  When the pastries are ready, quickly put 6 on each, and bake x 30 min.  Rotate top to bottom and front to back at the half way point.  Cool on a rack.

See what I mean?  Labor intensive.  But very good.  Now here is the Aji sauce.  I found a recipe for this on Epicurious, but have seriously monkeyed with it.  This would be good with steaks and other meats, as it is similar to a Chimicurri sauce.

Aji Sauce

heavily adapted from Epicurious

makes 1-1/2 c

4 Jalapeno peppers, seeded and coarsely chopped

1/2 green pepper, seeded and coarsely chopped

1/4-1/2 c coarsely chopped green onion

1/3 c coarsely chopped sweet onion

1/2 c cilantro

2T champagne vinegar

1/2 t kosher salt

Puree everything in a food processor until smooth, taste and correct seasonings.  Should be bright and mildly spicy (say 1-2 stars). 

And now, the new and improved beef option.  You see, the beef, itself, was not too miserable, in the labor department.  It was the whole package.  But this is as much a factor of any item that gets wrapped in pastry, I suppose.  So quit harping already, right?

The beef I used had all the basic filling parts of the recipe, but I omitted the eggs and raisins.  I kept the olives.  If I were to make the shepherd's pie with this beef option, I would probably omit the whole bit with the bread as well.  Not necessary for this.  So that would leave the onions, beef and spices, finished with olives and some vinegar.

Shepherd's Pie, My Way

serves 4

Meat filling from Beef Empanadas, with adaptations as noted above

8 pearl onions, halved

1 carrot, chopped 1/2" pieces

1 celery stalk, chopped 1/2" pieces

1 c. butternut squash, chopped into 1/2" pieces

1 T olive oil

2-3 c potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks

1T butter

salt to taste

1/4+ milk

Boil the potatoes in salted water until tender, drain, add butter, milk and salt and mash until smooth.  Set aside. 

Saute veggies, add 2-3T water, cover and steam until tender.  

Assemble:  Place meat mixture in a casserole to fit, cover with veggies.  Cover with mashed potatoes and smooth. 

Broil until potatoes are lightly browned.   It occurs to me that the Aji sauce might go well with this....