Shepards Pie Casserole

I'm the queen of casseroles, a self-assigned title, but it fits.  Casseroles feel good.  They are a good way to pack a lot of food in an easy package.  They can be made ahead.  Baked by others. They usually make good left overs.  I like casseroles.  This is an original recipe that has evolved over time.

Start with potatoes, 6 or so little red potatoes.  I see people in the store picking up individual potatoes, examining them, then putting them into sacks.  I buy them at my local produce market by the 5 or 10 pound sack and keep them in the bottom of Husband's beer fridge.  Keep a root cellar and keep it full of this type of thing.  Peel and half or quarter the potatoes.  Bring a kettle full of water to a boil.  Add the potatoes and cook them until they stick easily with a knife. 

Meanwhile, a scallion peeled and diced and two or three garlic cloves, minced or finely diced.  Brown a pound of the best ground beef you can find with the onion and garlic.  I was simply clueless how much better ground beef can be than the kind you buy at the grocery store.  It's been night and day.  If you are not buying local beef from a butcher who can tell you where it came from and that it was grown all natural, you won't regret the time to find it. Drain any liquid from the meat if necessary now. 

Somewhere around 8 or so cleaned and quartered mushrooms.  A can of green bean beans, drained.  1T. Worcestershire sauce.  4 or 5 T. ketchup.  1/2 C. beef broth.  Stir and cook for a few minutes to combine the ingredients and to soften the mushrooms.  

When the potatoes are soft, drain them and return them to the pan.  Mash them with a potato masher.  Add butter and cream and salt as if making mashed potatoes.  Your decision how rich, but I recommend living a little.  

The meat mixture into a casserole.  The potatoes over top. 

Into a 350 degree preheated oven for like 20 minutes or so.  Until kind of bubbly. More if you've set this aside to cool.  Add some cheese to the top if you want.  

People like it.  Makes good leftovers.  It's just a good thing.  

Last Big Roast and My Favorite Herb Rub.

This is the last big roast from our local 1/2 beef we bought.  No worries.  I just recently set up a good replacement for our freezer full of local meat.  I'll be talking about this soon.

It's a big roast; 4 lbs or maybe more.  I think it is fun and interesting how different the locally butchered beef looks compared to meat you can buy at Safeway, Albertson's, etc.  But I can't go back.  Meat from the butcher is better.  

My favorite herb rub came from Taste of Home way back.  Probably 10 years ago.  It makes a nice crust and flavors the meat well.  We've enjoyed it over and over.  I've rubbed it on ribs and pork chops, let stand, and then sauced them for barbecue.  It has flavored many types of meat.

Herb rub for a 2 lb roast. 

2 t. salt

1/2 t. powdered garlic

1/2 t. celery salt

1/2 t. dried rosemary, crushed

1/4 t. each pepper, onion power and paprika

1/8 t. dill weed

1/8 t. rubbed sage

Combine seasoning.  Rub over roast.  Cover and refrigerate for at least hours.  Or not, but it improves it.  Place the roast on a rack in a roasting pan.  Bake uncovered until 160 degrees internal temp by a meat thermometer. 

I meant to roast it on the weekend when I had like a reasonable period of time to like do it, but I didn't.  Early in the week, I decided to come home at lunch time and start it.  I got a new Electrolux stove the summer of 2010 as part of the forced remodel.  It has a feature where you put the food in the oven and program the oven to come on when you want it to and go off when you want it to.  I haven't tried it yet.  It shouldn't be that hard.

So, I'm home cooking spaghetti and reheating pasta sauce for our lunch.  Can I do this?  I'm not computer illiterate, but this sucker has a lot of buttons. 

I want it to come on at 2 p.m.  It's 11:20 or so. 

I'm not clear when it will be done, but I set it come turn itself off at 5 p.m.  I'm pretty sure I'll be there ready to supervise the situation by around 4 or 4:30.  

Press start.  Wish me luck.  I grab my pasta and reheated sauce, some fruit, cookies and nuts.  Back to work I go.  

I return home to a nicely done roast.  The meat thermometer reads right.  The slice taken in to Husband gets approval.  Potato and green vegetable and we are ready to eat. 

Remember to do things differently sometimes and don't be afraid. 

Braised Beef Shank

I was going to cook on Sunday, but something came up.  Actually, someone needed babysitting so that his parents could have a date.  And I mean, can you blame me? 

So Sunday afternoon.  Dude (formerly known as Baby) and I were curled up on his parent's couch in their new place watching a kid movie.  

No this waited just fine on Monday - Beef Shank.  It was new to me out of our local meat.  I want more.  It is a poor cut.  Tough and hard to cook.  But delicious if you have the time.   It needs to be braised.  To braise, add good oil to a heavy pot and get it screaming hot.  Add the meat with tongs.  An onion well chopped.  Be careful.  Move it around a bit so that it doesn't stick and brown it on all sides.  Don't worry about cooking it in the middle.  And, now is the time for the Ove-Glove. 

Just cook it hot and fast on the outsides, turning it with tongs or other tools.  Once browned remove it and you have the most delicious stuff. 

Chefy people call the next part deglazing, but it isn't rocket science.  Use a spoon to loosen any stuck parts from the bottom of the pan. They are flavor.  Add a cup of good beef stock, a can of tomatoes and a can of tomatoe sauce, a t. salt. 

So I find myself home and cooking somewhere around early Oprah.  A rare thing.  I put the meat back in.  Use the spoon to break up the tomatoes and set it for a slow simmer.  Husband comes in and says it smells really good.  Kisses my neck.  I'll give you a couple months to stop that!

I'm cleaning out the freezer because I tend to stock it in the spring and summer.  I freeze the most interesting things.  This is a cup of small white beans.  I cooked a whole bag back in December for some soup or stew and froze this cup for later and here we are.   

Add the white beans.   I was about to add more seasoning, maybe some Italian Seasoning, but I'm glad I waited.  It really didn't need it.  Put the lid on and simmer on low for 2 hours.  

Let's see. What should I do with this delicious looking bone?

 

Oh, no. Look what happened. 

Oh well, the sous chef has been very good. 

With spaghetti, a little braised beef shank, a little sauce, a glass of wine.  You know what I'm saying?

  

Week end Beef Short Ribs from the Pioneer Woman

Let's start with a picture of my favorite sous chef.

I've been trying to make something each weekend that I simply can not make on a week night.  I really enjoy visiting blogs that are clearly a huge labor daily.  And I don't want to offend anyone.  My reality in the moment is that I come home on a week night after a full days labor to another workplace.  No other way to say it. 

Giving myself a creative corner to work in for a few hours on the weekend keeps me from being all frumpy and slumpy in the long run and helps me to stay in touch with myself.  My mother's daughter.  An American home cook.  A lover of food.  A lover of home and hearth, even though I must venture out each day for work.  

Now, I want you to stay here, so I'm giving the link to the recipe late in the blog.  Beef Short Ribs.  I have most everything in my freezer.  I'm just that kind of girl.  But I don't have this.  It took a trip to the grocery store and a consult with the butcher, but she hooked me up.

It starts with browning the ribs in a large heavy bottom pan.  Hot oil, meat, significant heat.  Not a skill to be under estimated by a beginning cook.  But an important one lots of cooking styles. 

It really struck me a year ago when my mom stayed with us.  Age and illness had left her struggling with many things, from talking to walking.   Together one afternoon, we made Julia Child's Beef Bourguigon.  She couldn't go to the lady's room by herself, but she could brown meat in hot oil.  Some part of the brain of a good cook remembers the important stuff.  Brilliant baby was just really a baby then.  I was so impressed with how well she held him, even though she had trouble with so many other physical stuff.  http://dinnerattheosbornes.blogspot.com/2009/12/visit-with-my-mom.html    

Set the browned meat aside. My mom used a pie plate to hold things and pushed them to the back of the stove.

Now the sauce. I followed Pioneer Woman's recipe almost exactly, which is rare for me, but just saying.  Go to the link below for the recipe. 

Cover the ribs with the sauce and put in a 275 degree Fahrenheit oven.  I covered it with foil for a while, but uncovered it for the last about half of the cooking time.  3 1/2 to 4 hours total time in the oven. 

Pioneer Woman recommends cooling the ribs and refrigerating them for several hours or overnight.  Then removing the meat from the bones, draining off the excess fat and heating the remaining meat and sauce.  I was unaware that Pioneer Woman was so delicate.  I set them aside while I made other side dishes and tended to my household.  But then, I removed the bones and strained off the fat.  I have my mom's heat-proof fingers.  I can take anything.

I took husband a taste while he continued with his work.  Got his attention.

And the sous chef's.  I mean really.  What self-respecting Golden Retriever isn't interested in this.  

Served it with buttered fettuccine and Italian flat leaf parsly.  And I assure you that there was a brocolli side dish.  I never seem to photograph the stuff that's good for you. 

Remember to cook.  

Oh, and the recipe. 

 http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/03/short-ribs-in-tomato-sauce/

Go forth and be happy.

Meatball Monday #1

I've learned something fairly important.  The hamburger that we got from the rancher, the local cow from Battle Ground, is so much better that I can't even think to go back to hamburger from the grocery store.  I didn't know that the quality would be so much different.  I mean hamburger.  Really?  But this is leaner and just noticeably nicer.  The texture is smoother.  It cooks out so crumbly with a little bit of crunchies.  Just better.  Makes me wonder what we've been eating.  

What I didn't get was enough steak.  What I got too much of was big roasts.  I'll be doing this differently next time.  It may take a couple times to figure out exactly what we like the best.  The rancher who we got it from said that they sometimes have what she called a hamburger cow.  By that she means a cow that just all goes to hamburger.  I can feel more experimenting coming on.

It is handy to have some meatballs premade in the freezer.  They can turn into spaghetti, sandwiches, Swedish meatballs and many other things.  The premade meatballs you find in the freezer section of your grocery are much fatter.  And much less really flavor.  And much less wholesome.

Basic Meatballs

1 lb lean ground Beef

1 egg

1/2 c. quick oats or bread crumbs

1/4 finely chopped onion or shallot or 1 T. dry minced onion 

1 or 2 large cloves of garlic minced
2 t. Worcestershire sauce

1/2 t. each of salt and pepper. 

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  Add all ingredients and mix to combine.  Anyone who knows me knows that I am not ashamed to enjoy this part.  Your hands are your best tool.  Remember I said that. 

I like small meatballs.  Easier for the kiddos to eat.  Easier for the ladies watching their figure to pick out the number they think they should have.  Makes nice appetizers.  Swedish meatballs with a toothpick as an appetizer.  Good for the holidays.  Just saying. 

Bake about 10 minutes.  The time may vary depending upon how big you make them and the meat itself.  If you've got doubts, break one open to make sure the pink is gone. 

I sometimes turn them over half way between baking, but it isn't required.  Just makes the brown on both sides.  When done, put them on a paper towel lined plate to drain and cool.  Freeze them in a zip lock bag until you need them or use them immediately.  Food made simple. 

Remember to plan ahead.

Date Night at the Osbornes

We've lived on somewhat less income over the last couple years.  The recession changed our world, but I really don't mind.  We got into the habit of date nights with a movie and something nice to eat at home.  We work together and live together.  We are together 24/7 and we both have strong personalities.  We've been married forever.  We need date nights.
Tonight, I've got cube steak.  I'm planning on turning it into a sort of chicken fried steak with mushroom gravy and mashed potatoes with brocolli.  Both of us had two parents who grew up in Oklahoma.  His parents ended up in California.  Mine in Oregon.  But we are Okies at our core, both of us.

I should mention that this meal was inspired by Rocquie at SageTriffle.blogspot.com.  I do not know her, but she made a lovely dinner very similar to the one I'm making tonight for her own husband. 

http://sagetrifle.blogspot.com/2010/09/cube-steak-with-mushroom-onion-gravy.html

It is exactly what he likes, so thanks to Rocquie for the inspiration.

Chicken Fried Cube Steak and Mushroom gravy.

1 lb cube steak.   Cube steak is one of the tougher cuts that has been run through the butcher's equipment to render it softer and easier to use.  It has a lot of beef flavor if handled well.  This is from my freezer stash of the 1/2 cow we bought.

I pounded it some more with my meat mallot.  If you don't have one, I recommend it.  But a small sauce pan is what my mother used.  Hold the handle and pound away.  Remember to be happy. 

Cover the meat with butchers paper.  Or the sack from a package of crackers or cereal, which stands the pounding better than plastic wrap or wax paper.

Now sprinkle some flour over top and move the pieces around to coat them.  Sprinkle on the salt.  I don't have a recipe for this type of cooking.  This is my Mom.

A skillet good and hot with several tablespoons of good oil.  Tongs are the best tool here.  Lay the meat in the hot oil and brown on one side.  Move them around a bit and keep the temperature hot so the coating stays on.    Turn them over as they brown.  And over again until done.

Into the warming drawer, you go. If you don't have a warming drawer, cover them with a lid and stick them on the back of the stove. 

Now for the gravy.  Scrap up the brown bits on the bottom of the pan.  That's the flavor.  Bring up the heat.  Another T. canola oil and 1 T. flour.  Stir to blend as it heats.  Add a good pile of sliced mushrooms.

Then add Alpenrose milk.  As the liquid approaches a simmer, the flour thickens it.  Add more milk until it is the right thickness.  You may want more salt and pepper.  Taste at this time and decide.  And a big spoon of Tillamook sour cream for richness. 

And we have a happy husband.  We watch a movie named "Date Night."  It seemed appropriate for the occasion, but it was completely stupid.  It may make sense if you are from New York, but I've never been there and, for me, the humor was just stupid. 

Remember not to skip Date Night.

Comfort food at the Osbornes - Sage and Cheese Meatloaf and Roast Garlic Mash Potatoes

We are both a little down in the dumps tonight.  Nothing really.  Just tired.  A comfort food night is in order at the Osbornes.  This should actually feed 4 people, but it makes good sandwiches the next day if there are 2.

Sage and Cheese Small Meat Loaf
1 egg
3 T. chili sauce
1/3 c. commercial bread crumbs
4 T. shredded swiss cheese (Gruyere is also good)
1 t. dry onion
1 garlic clove minced
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. rubbed sage
1/8 t. pepper
3/4 lb to 1 lb ground beef

Combine all ingredients in a bowl.  Clean hands are the best tool.  Don't be shy about smushing this through your fingers.  It needs to be well mixed.  I won't tell anyone if you enjoy how it feels.  Take off your rings before and wash your hands after.  Just stuff we all learned in kindergarten.

Oh, and if you don't have chili sauce, Ketchup with a couple shakes of hot sauce is fine.  I'm not one to run out and buy an ingredient, just 'cause the recipe calls for it if I don't have a plan to use the rest of it.

Shape it into a slightly flattened ball.  Place uncovered in a 350 degree oven for 50 - 60 minutes.  This is not fancy.  You won't see it on Food Network.  But you can do it on a week night when you are tired.  And you don't have to go to the grocery store first.

I might mention that I've laid pieces of bacon across this prior to baking many times, but not tonight.  If you do that, cut them to fit and press them into the meat just a bit so they don't curl up as they cook.  I've also added a little more chili sauce and 2 more T. cheese on top once cooked and bake an additional 4-5 minutes. 

A little down in the dumps are you?  Here are your choices: 

1. Mall therapy including a nice meal out.  Not a bad plan if it fits the budget, but does it really make you feel better?  My experience with that is it is very, very temporary.
2. Go to bed and have a Pitty Party. I'm not one to criticize.  I've been there. 
3. I don't know what?  Drink a bottle of wine.  Eat a carton of ice cream.  Not my thing so I don't know if that makes you really feel better... but my feeling is No!
4. Or Sage and Cheese Meat Loaf and Roast Garlic Whipped Potatoes.

I vote for #4.  What do you think?

Oh, and if you make sandwiches out of this.  Good bread toasted, Ketchup or chili sauce or barbecue sauce, melt some mozzarella cheese on it.  A big pickle and a glass of milk.  I'm just saying.

Remember to feel good.

Oh, and the roast garlic mashed potatoes are next.

Oh, and this post is linked to the Hearth N Soul Blog Hop. 

http://girlichef.blogspot.com/2010/09/hearth-n-soul-blog-hop-volume-15.html

and Simple Lives Thursdays at Glowfglins

http://gnowfglins.com/2010/09/23/simple-lives-thursday-11/

Check it out.

Local Meat

For some time now, it has been my plan, my intention, my goal to change our eating habits.  More local food and more fruits and vegetables.  We really need to stop importing food from Peru and China.  No offense to those who live in Peru and China, but we really used to be good at feeding ourselves and others.  We used to be a land of abundance.  Back then, farmers and ranchers could make a career and life supporting themselves and their families.  But then we got too smart for our own good.  Kids earning money in the summer by picking strawberries and beans - Just isn't happening any more.  And we aren't better for the change.  The kids I know aren't better off sitting at home texting each other between video games and movies.  I'm just completely over that whole thing.

So the absolute truth is that I haven't made a lot of progress towards my goal of feeding us better.  The forced remodel didn't help any.  Not that we do that badly, really.  Compared to most people I see in the grocery store, we eat almost no food from the freezer aisle or from boxes, ice cream and cereal excepting.

I have my excuses.  I have a job and always had.  I don't have all day to do these things.  All those stay at home moms who are now mad at me, I'm sorry and I really don't mean it.  When I come home, I'm hussling around doing those things that I think are necessities.  But wait a second, maybe eating better is a necessity.

There is one fundamental change that we have made.  Meat.  My husband eats meat and insists on continuing that, so I can just give up any ideas of eating less of it.  The next best thing is to take more responsibility for it.  We decided to eliminate the whole hormone and antibiotic thing, which can't be good for anyone, including the cow.  Standing in front of the meat cooler at the grocery store wondering what we are going to eat this week is a habit I want to break. 

So here is what we did.  We bought a 1/2 cow from a local rancher some months ago.  We discussed with her what they will feed the cow, confirmed that there would be no hormones and antibiotics, discussed their plans to fatten it and butcher it.  We paid a $200 at that time to put a hold on that meat.  When butchered, our 1/2 cow had a hanging weight of 345 lbs, for which we paid $1.95 per pound.  We also paid 1/2 of the $75 kill fee.  Our total cost was $707.75 to her. 

It hung at the butcher for a week.  We went there and made decisions with them how they would cut it.  How much would be hamburger, what size the roasts and steaks would be, how much would be stew meat and cube steak?  We paid the butcher $194.27 for her work.  (Yes, both the rancher and the butcher were women and I didn't do that on purpose.)  Our total cost was   $902.47 / 345 = $2.61/ lb on average. 

Do you want to see 1/2 a cow looks like?

Isn't this cool?  No pun intended.

Remember to look your food in the eyes when you can.

Local Meat

I recently determined to find a local source of meat.  I live in a rural area within an easy drive of a metropolitan area. There are open fields and working farms near where I live.  But, finding local meat is not as easy as I had hoped.   There is a butchers shop in the country not far from where live, rural Clark County, Washington.  I mean, it is a little building on its own with nothing else around it.  I stopped by it a couple days ago and was delighted to see a lovely big butchers counter and refrigerated cases.  I asked where the meat comes from.  The lady said "Iowa."  They just cut it up and sell it. 

I asked where the chicken comes from.  She said "Its Foster Farms."  They buy whole chickens and cut them up just like Safeway does!  I asked whether there was any meat that was local in their shop.  Seems the meat for the sausage comes from Charlton, Oregon.   They add the seasoning and make the sausage on site.  Well that's not too bad, so I bought some.  And she put me on her list for the next time they had local meat.

It should be feasible for local ranchers and farmers to market what they grow.  Isn't it?  I want there to be small entrepreneurs producing a needed product with pride and selling it to their neighbors.  That's where money comes from, not the government.  I want children of business owners to learn to be productive and self sufficient people.  You can't buy prosperity at Starbucks.  I want to know and have some control over where my food comes from. 

But this is where I find myself on a bright sunny day doing the first grilling of the season.  

The big grill is still stored in the shed, but the smoker works just fine.  Husband has it heating.  We are both happy, talking about good times.   

We are joking that the neighbors will be jealous. 

Yum.

Now for the salad.  Caesar salad with homemade Caesar dressing and homemade croutons.  I'm all over croutons, but I'm still tweaking with the dressing recipe, so I'll come back to it later. 

The Romaine came from Safeway.  Then, I dropped by Diane's only to find out that she had perfectly acceptable Romaine!

This buying local food thing can be hard.  Now I have Romaine planted in raised bed 1, so we'll be eating this Caesar salad for a while. 

At last, spring seems to be coming.  All is well at Casa Osborne. 

Remember to live a real life and question the matrix.