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I love a big pan of meat.  I like to pretend that I make meatloaf for Mr. Darcy on his birthday because HE really likes it.  But the  truth is that if he tried to pick something else, I’d probably find a way to make him change to meatloaf instead.  It’s really the same when it comes to roast, beef brisket, pork chops..well, I could go on but I won’t.

Though I’ve come a long way(if I do say so myself) on my culinary journey, roasting meats still daunts me.  Images of tough, dry chicken and hard beef spring to mind.  About 5 years ago I started cooking a roast with veggies in the crockpot and it’s come out tender every time, so I thought I might get away with taking that route-forever.

But still it seemed rather shameful to be at a loss for roast all because of my broken crockpot.

Today I threw all caution to the wind and tried this recipe for Mom’s Pot Roast from Fresh Every Day by Sara Foster.  Sprigs of rosemary combined with red wine and tender meat-I decided to sacrifice my time and energy and make it for Mr. Darcy, really, I did, selflessly, for him.

The good news-I can lift my head high! Moist, tender, rosemary infused meat and vegetables-and no crockpot in sight.

This is for you honey.  Would you like it for your birthday?

Mom’s Pot Roast
from Fresh Every Day by Sara Foster
serves 4-6

• 1 3-pound beef chuck roast, at room temperature
• salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• 2 tbs canola or safflower oil
• 1 large onion, peeled and cut into 8 wedges
• 6 carrots, cut into 2-inch pieces
• 6 fresh thyme sprigs
• 6 fresh rosemary sprigs
• 1 cup dry red wine
• 4 to 6 cups beef broth
• 1 pound small red-skinned or fingerling potatoes

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Season the roast generously on all sides with salt and pepper.
3. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven or deep, oven-proof skillet over medium-high heat. Add the roast and sear to a rich, brown color, about 2 to 3 minutes on each side. Transfer the roast to a plate and set aside.
4. Add the onion, 2 of the carrots, and the herbs to the pot you cooked the roast in.  Cook, stirring often, until the vegetables are light brown and the onion is soft., 3 to 4 minutes.   Return the roast to the pan, add the wine and enough broth to nearly cover the roast, and bring to a low boil over medium heat.
5. Cover with a lid or aluminum foil and place the meat in the oven to roast for 2 hours 30 minutes. Add the potatoes and the remaining carrots and continue roasting for another 40 to 60 minutes, until the meat breaks apart easily and the potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork.
6. Transfer the roast to a shallow serving bowl and cover loosely with foil to keep warm.  Remove the herb stems from the pot or skillet. Use a large spoon to skim the fat.  Pour the juices and vegetables over the roast, and serve warm.

Aimee’s Notes:  Rather than spend 7 dollars just on the herbs I cheated and bought the fresh rosemary and used dried thyme.  Though the rosemary gave the dish a wonderful aroma and flavor, I’m sure it would have been doubly flavorful with fresh thyme as well.  Do what your budget allows.  I cut up larger potatoes since that’s what I had on hand, but I’ve always wanted to try the fingerlings.  The roast was done before the time suggested in the directions, but didn’t suffer from slow-cooking a little longer while the veggies finished tenderizing.

We have a new soup to add to our Fall Menu.  Our family has a thing about soups. We’re ever so slightly, but not enough to be hospitalized, certifiably, and rather proudly-obsessed with soups.  Just follow this blog over the fall and winter and it will speak for us.

I found this recipe in a new cookbook.  Besides the obvious draw of being a soup, it also called for both sweet and white potatoes, which were sitting together in our csa basket as I flipped through the cookbook.  The combination of vegetables and flavors was new to me but I’m happy to report, a zinging success.  An excellent first fall dish of the season and not just loved by my own stomach, but by a handful of voices around the table shouting, “Let’s add this to the fall menu!”

Chicken, Potato, and Black Bean Soup
serves 6

• 4 cups chicken broth
• 4 cups water
• 4 medium-size russet potatoes, peeled and cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 medium-size sweet potato, peeled and cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 2 cups chicken cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 medium-size onion, finely chopped
• 2 ribs celery, thinly sliced
• 2 tsps dried oregano
• 2 tsps ground cumin
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp dried sage
• 2 tbs seeded and diced green chiles(optional)
• 15 ounce can black beans, undrained
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
• Sour cream and taco chips

1. Bring broth and water to boil in a soup pot; add potatoes and boil ten minutes.
2. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add chicken and cook until it turns opaque. Add onion and celery; cook, stirring a few times, until vegetables are soft.  Add oregano, cumin, cayenne, sage, and green chiles.  Stir to combine and cook 1 to 2 minutes longer.
3. Add mixture from skillet into soup with boiling potatoes. Reduce heat to medium and add black beans including liquid in the can.  Simmer soup until potatoes are tender.  If soup get too thick, you can add another 1 to 2 cups brother later to cooking time.
4. When potatoes are done, stir in lime juice.  Season with salt and pepper. Serve hot with sour cream and taco chips.

Notes: Next time I won’t use two pans.  I can’t see any reason not to go ahead and do step 2 in the soup pot, and then add the broth, water, and potatoes and continue on with the recipe.  I also think you can cook the onions and herbs right when the chicken starts cooking, not after.  I skipped the celery, green chiles, and cayenne(we have mild palates at our house), but next time I’ll throw in a can of green chiles.  I also added more cumin and sage to enhance the flavor.  The rest of the fam enjoyed the sour cream, but I didn’t miss it in my dairy free bowl.  We topped our soup with Trader Joe’s Vegetable and Flaxseed Tortilla chips-great color and taste.  Don’t skip the lime juice.

The cookbook: The recipe came from Family Feasts for $75 a Week by Mary Osten. I’ve read several books in this genre and even though they usually have good tips for cutting costs on the food bill, I haven’t found them to be a mecca of good recipes. Hence, my surprise when I found myself salivating as I flipped the the recipes in Osten’s book.  With a family of six and one income, I’m looking for ways to save money.  But we also like quality, fresh, flavorful, healthy food and usually those elements are sacrificed in cost-cutting books. But in Family Feasts, she uses fresh vegetables, non-processed foods, and the recipes read like ones found in my other cookbooks.  Atleast, I hope so, since this is the first recipe I’ve made.  (side note: I was chagrined to find the customary salmon and tuna chowder recipes, but I’m not going to let that hold me back from the 198 other recipes and cost-cutting information)

If I look long enough I can see the leaves revealing their true colors: rusty reds and vibrant orange loveliness.  To some people they may still look green, but the butternut squash and sweet potatoes in my farmer’s basket tell me that change is very near. And so begins my favorite season of colors, weather, and food.

My friend had the great idea to create a fall menu with her family.  She explains more on her blog, but I’ll tell you why our family got inspired and created our own Fall Menu.

Our family has been part of the local csa for almost 4 years now. We’ve gotten used to(and come to love) eating by the season. Grilled zucchini in the heat of summer, strawberry pie at the end of spring, and apple crisp on the cusp of fall and winter.  It makes each season of food fresh and exciting, it builds anticipation for the dishes we love. Distance makes the heart grow fonder right? (in this case the distance is measured in months).

Now that we are a family of 6, there are many favorites amongst the crew.  One sister’s favorite is another brother’s dreaded dish(take black beans and rice for instance).  When we created our fall menu each of us contributed 2-3 ideas to each category. Now atleast they can be assured that when their least favorite hits the menu list, there’s bound to be something scrumptious in a day or two.  It also gives me a spring board of recipes for menu planning each week, rather than starting with a blank slate. Each week I’ll take a handful of recipes from the fall menu, along with some leftovers and some new fall dishes to try.  It was fun listening to the suggestions in our brainstorming session today.  Not so surprisingly they were very good at coming up with fall treats.  Surprisingly, everyone wanted butternut squash lasagna on the list.  The only drawback is the dishes I’ll be passing up in my current dairy free diet-well, maybe a few nibbles of the lasagna.

Here’s what has made the list so far:

Breakfast

• Pumpkin Muffins
• Apple Muffins
• Pumpkin Waffles/Pancakes
• Cinnamon Scones
• Baked Apple Oatmeal
• Grits with Apples Sausage

Main Dishes

• Pumpkin Soup
• Butternut Squash Soup
• Tuscan Soup
• Chicken Noodle Soup
• Harvest Chili
• Beef Stew
• Meatloaf
• Crockpot Roast
• Butternut Squash Lasagna
• Apple Porkchops
• Chicken Apple Tacos
• Lentil Tacos

Sides

• Baked Sweet Potatoes
• Sweet Potato Fries
• Sweet Potato Biscuits
• Cranberry Sauce
• Harvest Grains with vegetables
• Baked Apples
• Roasted Veggies
• Carrots(soufflé or sauté)
• Orzo with carrots and peas

Breads

Cranberry Bread

Desserts

• Pumpkin Pie
• Pumpkin Cheesecake
• Apple Cake
• Apple Pie
• Cranberry/Apple Crisp
• Pumpkin Bars

Let the feast begin.  Thanks, Wordgirl, for the inspiring idea.

Why is this called lasagna you ask? Aimee, where are the noodles, where is the cheese-it doesn’t even look stacked like lasagna? All very relevant questions.  When I first had this dish at my friend Kristen’s house it was perfectly stacked in layers and presented in a nice square on my plate.  The square part didn’t work out quite so smoothly for me this first time, but it was absolutely delicious even if not geometrically pleasing!(update: now I know, it’s white rice that makes the nice square, we used brown rice)

The main elements of this dish are rice, beef, and fresh salsa.  When I called Kristen to get the recipe she yelled to her daugher, “How did I make that mexican lasagna dish?”  That’s right, it’s one of those kinds of recipe, a spur of the moment piece of genius with no definite measurements.  But I did my best to translate it into a recipe and I think it came out just as good, and the kids all had thirds.

Kristen’s Mexican Lasagna

• 4-6 cups rice(brown or white)
• 1 pound ground beef
• Chopped onion
• Chopped Pepper
• Cumin
• Salt/Pepper
• 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
• Fresh Tomato Salsa
• Fresh Cilantro(optional)
• Shredded Cheddar Cheese(optional)

1)If you are preparing your own fresh salsa with nature’s bounty, complete this step first.
2)Cook rice according to directions, adding in 1 cup(or more) salsa to the rice while it’s cooking.
3)Brown beef with peppers, onions, and cumin.  Add in beans, and salt and pepper to taste.
4)Pre-heat oven at 350 degrees, coat 9×13 baking dish with cooking spray.
5)Spread rice in baking dish, press with spoon. Next spread ground beef mixture over rice.  Finally, spoon fresh salsa across ground beef.  Cover with foil and bake 30 minutes.
6)Remove from oven and let stand for 10 minutes.  Meanwhile, rinse and chop fresh cilantro.  Allow each person to top with cilantro and/or shredded cheese. Enjoy!

Fresh Salsa: Now is a great time to make fresh salsa and it’s not hard, the most time consuming part is chopping the tomatoes.  This is the recipe I used, leaving out the hot peppers.  If you can’t make your own salsa, look for something similiar at the store, especially at stores like Trader Joe’s and Harris Teeter.

Topping it off: Stick to fresh cilantro, it adds an extra layer of zing that just won’t happen with the dried substitute.  Additional fresh salsa with chips make a nice side.

Dairy-Free: I was delighted when I went to my friend’s house and this dish was dairy free without even intending to be.  It has plenty to offer without needing the cheese, but you go ahead and have as much as you like!

Make-ahead: Now that I’ve made this once, I would consider doing a few things the day before.  Cooking the rice and storing in the fridge.  Making the salsa and storing it as well.  Really you could probably assemble this whole dish the day before and have it ready to go for company the next night.  I think the taste was even the better the second night that we re-heated it.

We’re enjoying the bountiful varieties of tomatoes from our CSA.

With Matt’s talent for making homemade pasta combined with the fresh farm tomatoes, we’ve got the whole flavorful world in our hands.

We’ve been making this dish about once a week since the tomatoes began arriving. It captures the fresh feel of summer and you don’t have to peel the tomatoes like cooked fresh tomato sauce. This recipe is perfection with hand-made pasta but a fine-second with store bought. Last night, short on time, we used Trader Joe’s bow tie pasta and it was a nice compliment.

Raw Summer Tomato Sauce for Pasta
from Lidia’s Family Table by Lidia Matticchio

Makes 3 to 4 cups, enough to sauce 1 pound of dry pasta

• 2 pounds ripe summer tomatoes, preferably heirloom varieties in a mix of colors and shapes
• 3 to 4 plump garlic cloves, peeled
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 6 large basil leaves (about 3 tbs shredded)
• 1/2 tsp hot red pepper flakes, or more or less to taste
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 cup or more grated Parmesan-reggiano or cubed fresh mozzarella (optional)

1.Rinse tomatoes and wipe dry. Over a large mixing bowl, cut tomatoes into 1 inch chunks (cherry tomatoes in half), removing the core and any hard parts. Drop them into bowl along with juices.
2.Smash the garlic cloves with a chef’s knife and chop into a fine paste. This is easier if you add some of the salt as you chop;mash the garlic bits with the flat side of the knife too. Scatter the garlic paste and rest of salt over the tomatoes and stir gently.
3.Pile the basil leaves and slice into thin strips. Strew these over the tomatoes, then the pepper flakes. Pour in the oil, stir, and fold, to coat the tomatoes and distribute the seasonings.
4.Cover the bow with plastic wrap and let it marinate at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours. Toss the marinated sauce with freshly cooked and drained pasta. Serve as it, or toss in 1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiana.  For additional complexity, you could add 1 cup or more cubed fresh mozzarella.

Notes: This is not the recipe to skip the fresh basil and used dried as substitute. Raid your neighbor’s garden or shell out the 3 bucks at the grocery store. We don’t add the cheese (since I am eating dairy free at the moment) but the rest of the family enjoys parmesan sprinkled on top.We have skipped the hot pepper flakes. The is good warm with the fresh pasta but it’s also good cold from the fridge the next day.

Enjoy a breakfast recipe that is actually healthy and delicious. Or served with ice cream, a soothing dessert.

Baked Blueberry Oatmeal
From the King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking Cookbook

1 cup steel cut oats
4 tbs unsalted butter
4 cups water
3 cups old fashioned oats
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 cups fresh blueberries
1/4 cup crystallized sugar(I substituted  1/4 tsp dried ginger)
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees.  Butter a 9 inch square baking dish.

Place steel cut oats and butter in a large bowl.  Bring the water to a boil, and pour over the oats. Cover and let stand for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, stir in the old fashioned oats, sugar, blueberries, and spices. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, and vanilla.  Stir into oat mixture. Transfer to prepared baking dish.

Bake, until center is set, 35 to 40 minutes.  Remove from oven and serve warm with milk or cream for breakfast, or warm with ice cream for a healthful dessert.

To prepare dairy-free: substitute dairy free margarine(such as fleischman’s unsalted margarine) or other dairy-free alternative and original almond or soy milk to replace cow’s milk.

Notes: This will fill a 9 inch pan to overflowing, we use a 9 x 13 instead.  Adding the egg mixture to the warmed batter can cause the eggs to cook which really turns my appetite to see bits of egg in my oatmeal.  I find that removing the lid on the oats after 20 minutes and allowing the soaked steal oats to cool down a bit helps prevent that problem.  I always have water still in my oats after the 20 minutes, that doesn’t affect the outcome of the recipe, just go ahead and mix in the other ingredients. We we’re able to reheat on low temp the next morning and it tasted just as delicious.

We’ve been on a summer ice cream kick lately. Having tried a few I can tell you that this recipe turned out heads-and-tails above any other we’ve tried to date. In fact I could safely say, and the entire family agreed, it was the best homemade ice cream we’ve ever tasted! Unlike other peach ice cream recipes where you have mostly vanilla ice cream with bits of peaches throughout, this was all peach, all the time.

The recipe comes from yet another summer discovery, a book called The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz.

Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds (600 g) ripe peaches (about 4 large peaches)
1/2 cup (125 ml) water
3/4 cup (150 g) sugar
1/2 cup (120 g) sour cream
1 cup (250 ml) heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
A few drops of freshly squeezed lemon juice

Peel the peaches, slice them in half, and remove the pits. Cut the peaches into chunks and cook them with the water in a medium, nonreactive saucepan over medium heat, covered, stirring once or twice, until soft and cooked through, about 10 minutes.

Remove from the heat, stir in the sugar, then cool to room temperature.

Purée the cooked peaches and any liquid in a blender or food processor with the sour cream, heavy cream, vanilla, and lemon juice until almost smooth but slightly chunky.

Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Note: if you accidentally purée the mixture too much and liquify all your peaches, you can quickly dice up one additional peach, heat it up with a tablespoon or two of water and add it in the what you’ve puréed. It might take you an additional 5 minutes.

If you decide to make this, please let us know how it turns out.

MAKES ABOUT 1 QUART (1 LITER)

I’m a big fan of chocolate chips and I usually can’t say no to a cupful in banana bread or the current summer treat, zucchini bread.  But as much as we’ve enjoyed having zucchini bread with our fresh farm squash, I’ve been on the lookout for a less “super duper”(as my kids would say) recipe that isn’t quite so packed with sugar and chocolate.

As much as I love to cook and bake healthy when possible, I’ve never been able to embrace the method of substituting applesauce for oil.  The results have always been spongy or too pungent with apple.  But I gave it a try with this recipe, and I’m completely satisfied with this version of zucchini bread and haven’t experienced any sorrow over the missing chocolate.

Whole Wheat Zucchini Bread

• 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 tsp cinnamon
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 2 cups sugar(see note)
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 1 cup walnuts(optional)

1.Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  In a medium bowl sift together first 5 ingredients(flour through cinnamon).  Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine eggs, oil, applesauce, sugar, and vanilla.  Beat well with an electric mixer(I used a whisk and it worked fine).  Stir in zucchini.  Add flour mixture and stir until just combined(do not over mix).
3. Spray 2 regular loaf pans or 4 mini loaf pans with nonstick spray(bottom and sides).  Bake for approximately 50 minutes for 4 mini loafs or 65 to 75 minutes for 2 regular loaves(my oven cooks faster, and so my cooking time was about half the recommended time so watch carefully).  Cool slightly, run a knife around the edge of the pans to release bread from sides, and remove from pan.  Cool on wire rack.

Notes: If you grind your own flour, this recipe works great with both hard red and soft white, the latter being my current favorite.  I used 1  1/2 cups of sugar today and I think I could still come down another quarter cup and it would be plenty sweet. Today I was short on zucchini and finished off the amount with carrots instead and the result was the same.

There’s one great divide between my husband and I.  Fruit vs. Chocolate.  Since this day is meant to honor him, I crossed to the other side and made these Blackberry Breakfast Bars.

You basically take the same ingredients you would use to make a fruit crisp and instead form a crust and finish off the top with the same mixture.  Even the chocolate lover in me couldn’t deny that these are satisfyingly fruity.

Blackberries can be expensive in the store, but I found a larger pack(over two cups) at Trader Joe’s for about $5.00.  All of the other ingredients are staples around the house, so it’s not a bad price at all for a breakfast that fed 5 people with leftovers. Picking your own blackberries would of course improve the price and taste even further.

This would also be great served in the evening with ice cream or leftover on top of oatmeal!

Blackberry Breakfast Bars

Ingredients:

***Filling***
2 cups fresh or frozen blackberries or raspberries
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

***Base***
1 cup flour
1 cup rolled oats
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup margarine or butter melted

Directions:
Filling: in a medium saucepan combine berries, sugar, water, lemon juice and cinnamon. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for about 8 minutes or till slightly thickened, stirring frequently. Remove from heat.

Base: In a mixing bowl stir together flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and baking soda. Stir in melted margarine or butter till thoroughly combined. Set aside 1 cup of the oat mixture for topping. Press remaining oat mixture into an ungreased 9×9 pan.

Bake at 350F for 20 to 25 minutes. Carefully spread filling on top of baked crust. Sprinkle with reserved oat mixture. Lightly press oat mixture into filling. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes more or till topping is set. Cool in pan on a wire rack. Cut into bars.

Note: When I baked these, neither cooking steps took as long as the recommended time.

Original recipe with printable version here

 This week we got 2 pints of strawberries with Farmer Andrew’s CSA.  

Here is a great and simple recipe for some good ole’ pie.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 quarts fresh strawberries
• 1/2 cup water
• 3 tbs cornstarch
• 3/4 cup sugar

1.Pre-cook your home-made or store bought pie crust(I used Pillsbury).
2.Rinse and slice strawberries.
3.Place 3/4 of the strawberries in the cooling pie crust.
4.Place 1/4 strawberries with remaining ingredients in a saucepan.  Bring to a boil and boil for 2 minutes.(I mixed the cornstarch and sugar before adding to the pot).
5. Pour over strawberries and pie crust.  Allow to cool, then place in fridge to set.
6.Serve with whipped cream.