POT ROAST RAS EL HANOUT STYLE AND ROASTED VEGETABLES

 

Pot Roast Ras  El Hanout Style and Roasted Vegetables

 I had an urge to fix some pot roast.  I didn’t get any recipe out but I decided to use the crock pot.  Here’s my scratch recipe:

2 lb. chuck roast, uncooked

 Ras el hanout seasoning

1 onion, thinly sliced

Olive oil for sautéing/searing

Sea salt

1 can of cream of mushroom soup

1 crock pot

Wash and dry pot roast, heat a tablespoon of oil in a non-stick pan and sauté onions until slightly translucent.  Season a bit with some sea salt.  Remove from pan.  Add another tablespoon of olive oil; bring oil to heat for searing.

Rub Ras El Hanout on both sides of the meat, add some salt to taste.  Sear the meat on both sides. Remove, place meat into crockpot, place onions on top of meat, and pour mushroom soup over the meat.  Cook for about 7-8 hours on low until meat is tender.  Serve roasted vegetables.

El ras hanout is a North African seasoning that is made up of over a dozen spices.  It is an Arabic word meaning “head of the shop.”  The term refers to the store owner who makes up his creation of the seasoning. The seasoning can be found through suppliers on the Internet, i.e. amazon.com.

 

Roasted Carrots and Red Potatoes

I like roasted vegetables because roasting brings out the natural sweetness and flavors.  The vegetables are caramelized during roasting.

1 large package of carrots, washed and sliced on angle of 2 inches

10-12 small red potatoes, washed, and quartered

Olive oil

Sea Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 425-450 degrees.  Place vegetable on a large cookie sheet, separated and not piled but lying flat.  Sprinkle oil over the vegetables, sprinkle on sea salt and pepper.  Mix all with your hands to distribute oil and seasonings.  Bake for 30 minutes or until it reaches the color and doneness you desire.

 

 

 

 

NO Seafood Crab Boil

If you are a lover of the crawfish, shrimp, and crab boil in a bag, after reading this, you might say why even bother. If you don't put shrimp, crabs, or crawfish, do you really have 'boil? But I beg to differ with you.

I am not allergic to seafood, but I don't eat shrimp, crab, crawfish, and pork. I do eat several types of fish, though. The taste of the crab boil in a bag is something that I like very much. It's ingredients are mustard seed, coriander seed, cayenne pepper, bay leves, dill seed, and allspice. The combination of all of those spices are marvelous. So this is what I did.

The meat I used was some chicken wings that had been marinated in bourban sauce. I cut the tips of the wings off. You can also use some type of turkey or beef polish sausage, too.

I had six small ears of corn around and ten red and white small potatoes that were cut in half.

I followed the directions on the box. Poured 3 quarts of water in a large pan and added the crab boil in the bag. I put the chicken wings in first (2 lbs) and corn and boiled them for about 30 minutes, next I added the potatoes and cooked them for 15 minutes or until tender. I added what needed to be cooked for the time required so to not over cook anything. You do need about 4 TB salt and I used sea salt. I didn't add anymore cayenne pepper and I am glad. I like the spice, but I don't do well with real hot, hot food. I also added a seeded lemon that I quartered.

The bread that goes well with this is some good cornbread. Ina Garten has a wonderful recipe that you can't beat!

I think the corn and potatoes are delicious with the seasonings.

There's about 3-4 servings.
Good eating!

Smiths' Favorite Lemon Surprise Cake

1 pkg yellow cake mix
¾ cup Wesson oil
¾ cup water
1 pkg lemon gelatin
4 eggs
½ tsp vanilla

Mix all ingredients at once. Grease a oblong cake pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from the stove, and while the cake is hot, punch holes in the cake with a fork.

Glaze
¾ cup powdered sugar 6 TB lemon juice
Mix the sugar and lemon juice together. Pour over the cake while its hot and spread down into the holes that were made with the fork.

WHITE BEANS-INDIAN-STYLE

I enjoy beans and I remembered how my friend, Nirmala, who is from the Gujarat region fixed some pinto beans one day. I used a can of Northern White Beans and this is my original recipe for this dish. I just created it tonight.

Ingredients
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp black mustard seeds
2 TB of olive oil
1 tsp of chicken base
1/2 of yellow onion, diced
1 stalk of celery, diced
3/4 cup of water or chicken broth if you didn't have any chicken base
Salt and pepper to your taste

Use a sauce pan and heat the oil on medium heat. When it's hot, drop in the cumin and listen for the "singing" Add the mustard, and turmeric stir together then add onion and celery. Saute' until slightly transparent. Add 3/4 cup of water and the beans, and base. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 20 minutes.

I have several Indian cookbooks and now I'll go and check to read up on it. It's been fun to try my hand at this one.

VIRGINA MCDONALD'S EASTER BUNNY SALAD

EASTER BUNNY SALAD

"This is especially cute for children's parties."
Virginia McDonald

Canned Barlette pears Lettuce
in halves Mayonnaise
Cloves Pecan nut meats,
Almond nut meats chopped
Marshmallows Pineapple, chopped
Pimiento

Place half of pear on individual salad plate, cut side down. Using small end for Head of bunny, insert cloves for eyes (might want to use chocolate chips), almonds for ears, and a sliver of pimiento for the mouth. To the other end of the pear attach with a toothpick, half of a marshmallow for a tail. To one side of the bunny place a lettuce cup filled with mayonnaise to which has been added the chopped pecans and pineapple.

Virginia McDonald was famous for her tea room and her cookbooks. She lived in Gallatin, MO. Duncan Hines ate at her restaurant and featured her in one of his books.

Source: How I Cook It by Virginia McDonald.

Today, while shopping in an emporium type store, I found this cookbook with its cover. It was on sale for $1.50. I had never heard of her. I noticed that an introduction was written by Duncan Hines. I didn't even know that Duncan Hines, (you know the name on the cake mix box) had written the introduction. After I got home, I opened the book and saw that it had been autographed by the author.

CHICKEN TORTILLA SOUP

1 LARGE ONION, DICED
1/2 CUP OF SALSA OF YOUR CHOICE
2 LARGE OLIVES MASHED WITH 3 TB SALSA
14.5 OZ CHICKEN BROTH
1 LB CHICKEN, COOKED, CUBED
4 TB UNCOOKED RICE OR 1=1/2 CUPS OF COOKED RICE
SALT AND PEPPER TO TASTE
3 TB OLIVE OIL
1 TSP CUMIN SEEDS
GARNISHES: CILANTRO, MONTEREY CHEESE, TORTILLA STRIPS, AVOCADO , CUBED

HEAT ONE TABLESPOON OF OIL IN A SKILLET OR PAN. ADD CUMIN SEEDS AND ROAST UNTIL THEY SIZZLE. ADD OIL AND SAUTE ONION AND ADD GARLIC WHEN ONION IS TRANSLUSENT. ADD CHICKEN BROTH, OLIVES, SALSA, AND RICE. IF USING UNCOOKED RICE, BRING TO A BOIL AND PUT LID ON, COOK ON LOW HEAT FOR 15 MINUTES UNTIL RICE IS DONE. ADD CHICKEN AND GARNISH WITH MOZERALLA CHEESE, CILANTRO, AND TORTILLA STRIPS, AVOCADO, CUBED OR SLICED.

LINDA'S 2 SERVING APPLE CRISP

2 CUPS DICED APPLES
2 TABLESPOONS OF BUTTER, MELTED
1 TEASPOON CINNAMON
DASH OF NUTMEG, CARDAMON
2 TABLESPOON WALNUTS
3 TABLESPOONS OATMEAL
2 TABLESPOONS BROWN SUGAR

MIX TOGETHER CAN MICROWAVE INTO A BUTTERED DISH. MICROWAVE FROM 20- 25 MINUTES. SERVE WITH A DOLLOP OF WHIPPED CREAM