Simple Roast Beef

3 pounds chuck roast beef

3 tablespoons kosher salt

2 tablespoon fresh cracked pepper

2 tablespoon vegetable oil

Marinate the beef in salt, pepper overnight. Take the roast out 1 hour prior to cooking to bring to room temperature. Preheat oven to 225 degrees.

Sear the roast in the vegetable oil on a fry pan to get a nice browned outer crust.

Transfer the roast to a roasting pan and finish cooking in the oven for 2 hours. Leave roast in the oven for an additional 30 minutes with the oven turned off. Do not open the oven.

The roast will be perfectly done.

Sweet and Salty Chicken Drumsticks

Try this take on Chinese food. It is easy to prepare and healthy for you. Add some steam broccoli or snap peas on the side and you have a complete meal. Let me know what you think…

For the chicken:

¼ cup Hoisen sauce

¼ cup honey

2 tablespoon of soy sauce

3 large garlic cloves mined

1 tablespoon of ginger minced

12 chicken drumsticks

Toasted sesame seeds and spring onion for garnish ( about 2 tablespoons each). Score the chicken. Marinate the chicken over night in mixture of hoisen, honey, soy garlic and ginger mixture.

Preheat the broiler setting. Transfer chicken into a baking dish, lightly oiled. Cook until the chicken is done, about 15 minutes, rotating the chicken for even browning. Transfer chicken to a large platter.

For the rice:

Place Jasmine rice in a rice cooker and follow instructions on the package.

Snap Peas:

Steam 2 cups of snap peas in the steamer for 15 minutes or until tender but not over cooked.

Serve immediately. Enjoy!

Chicken Stew with Lentils

Want a nice warm dinner waiting for you when you get home that feels that you slaved all day in the kitchen? Be sure to try this out. It is my ultimate chicken stew with lentils.

2 lbs chicken drumstick

1 cup black or yellow lentils

2 cloves of garlic

2 onions finely chopped

1 can diced tomato

4 teaspoon red wine

1 tablespoon tomato paste

2 cups chicken stock

1 tsp dry thyme

Place all ingredients with the chicken on the top

Cook on low heat for 8 hours.

Serve with long grain Basmati rice.

Spicy Beef Liver

Do you care for Spicy Beef Liver? Well, I made one yesterday , It was delicious and I would like to share with you.

Ingredients

1 lbs beef liver cut into small cubes and soaked in plenty of water for 10 mins

1 medium onion chopped fine

4 cloves of garlic

½ tsp fresh ginger

1 heaped tbs of tomato paste

1 heaped tsp of coriander powder (available at supermarkets in the spices isle)

1 level tsp of garam masala (available at supermarkets in the Indian food isle)

1 tsp of salt

½ tsp of pepper

½ cup of fresh chopped flat leaf parsley

3 tsp of vegetable oil

Method

Heat oil over high heat in a large skillet and brown the onions till golden brown. Add garlic, and ginger and saute for 1 min lowering the heat to medium. Careful not to burn the garlic as it will turn bitter. Add the tomato paste , coriander powder and garam masala pepper and salt. And fry for one more minute till you smell the toasted spices.

Add the strained and pat dried liver pieces and raise the heat back to high. Stir well to incorporate all the spices through the meat. Let the meat cook in medium heat, stirring frequently, for twenty minutes till the meat is nicely fried.

Turn the heat of and add parsley leaves. Serve immediately with heated pita or Naan (Indian Flat bread) and raita… recipe follows.

Raita

½ cup full fat yogurt

¼ cup finely chopped cucumber

1 tsp of finely chopped onion

Salt and pepper to taste

Mix all the ingredients together for a cool dipping sauce to accompany the spicy liver.

Egg Fritfata for Dinner

In this economy eggs make a great source of protein, and can be made into various entrees as well. Here is my favorite. I hope you enjoy it. Let me know if there are variations or other egg recipes that you like.

Ingredients:

1 12 ounce box egg fettuccine pasta

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 teaspoon grated or ground nutmeg,

Salt and black pepper

1/4 cup chopped parsley

12 extra large eggs, beaten

2 to 3 Ham Steaks, pan seared for 1-2 min on each side.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it. Add pasta and cook 6 minutes -- to a chewy al dente. Pasta will continue to cook in frittata. Drain and reserve.

Heat a large nonstick skillet with oven safe handle over medium high heat. If all of your skillets have rubber handles, cover handle tightly in foil to protect it. Add oil and butter and melt together. Add cream and reduce for about 3 minutes. Add cheese and nutmeg, salt and pepper. Toss sauce with cooked pasta to coat.

Add parsley and beaten eggs to the skillet and stir gently to combine. Allow the eggs to set up on the bottom of the pan and become firm. Transfer pan to hot oven and bake 10 minutes, until golden. Serve from the pan or transfer to a platter. Serve hot or cold, cutting frittata into wedges and serve with Ham Steaks.

Another Georgian Delight - Khinkali

Khinkali is the Georgian version of dumplings or Ravioli. They are filled with meat and spices and boiled in large pot of salted water. The Meat can be substituted with lamb for filling.

For the dough:

4 cups of flour
1 1/2 cups of water
1/2 teaspoon of salt

For the filling:

Mix of 2lbs ground beef and pork
4 peeled and ground onions
1 cup of freshly chopped cilantro
1 cup of freshly chopped parsley
1 teaspoon of ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon of ground red hot pepper
1 cup of water
1 teaspoon of caraway
Salt to taste

Preparation:

Start with mixing the ground meat, onions and herbs. Stir in the spices into the meat mixture, add cup of water, salt and mix it thoroughly. Set aside.

One trick making khinkali is to mix flour with warm water. Pour the flour into a basin, sprinkle it with salt, add water and make the dough. Flour the board and roll the dough out not too thin. Cut circles with a help of a glass with 6-8 inches of diameter. Roll each circle out and place a teaspoon of filling in the center of each round. Fold up and wrinkle the edges of the dough like dumplings.

Place them in salted boiling water for 10 to 15 minutes.

Khinkali are served hot, with no garnish other that coarsely ground black pepper. And there is an art in eating them…

Leftovers

No worries for leftovers, since they are better the next day, just fry khinkali in butter with yogurt and enjoy it for breakfast.

Georgian Savory Cheese bread - Khachapuri Recipe

Georgian cheese bread, Khachapuri (Khacho-Cottage cheese, Puri-Bread) is one of the most delightful of all Caucasian specialties. It is made in different shapes and sizes. It varies region to region, but my favorite one is Imeruli Khachapuri, which typically made in most parts of Georgia. Although Georgians are not accustomed to eating out frequently, every little town or village have tiny cafes hot and fresh khachapuri is served everyday.

Ingredients:

2 ½ Cups of self raising flour.

¾ teaspoon of salt.

1 large egg

½ cup full fat plain yogurt.

1 tablespoon vegetable oil.

2 tablespoons of butter.

Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl, and make a well in the middle. Pour in the egg, oil, and yogurt and stir into the flour, to make a soft dough. Transfer the dough to a floured board and knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Shape the dough into a ball, cover with a linen or cotton (not terry cloth) kitchen towel, and let stand for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Divide the dough into four equal parts. Butter two baking sheets.

On a floured surface, roll out one of the balls to an 1/8-inch-thick square.

Brush the dough with some of the melted butter. Dip your fingers in melted butter and pull the edges of the dough in different directions, stretching it evenly until it is almost transparently thin. Don't worry if the dough tears, as you will be folding it up. With a sharp knife, trim the edges of the dough to form an even square. Fold the square in half, brush the surface generously with melted butter, and fold in half again crosswise, to form a smaller square. It should be approximately 6 to 7 inches. If it isn't, pull it out slightly to fit the dimensions.

Brush the square with butter. Shape one-fourth of the filling into a ball and place in the center of the square. Fold in the corners of the square like an envelope. With your palm, flatten the pie so it is about 1 inch thick. Brush the top with melted butter, and carefully transfer to a prepared baking sheet.

Repeat the procedure with the rest of the dough and filling.

Bake the pies in the middle of the oven until golden brown; about 35 minutes. Serve warm.

Cheese Filling

10 ounces mozzarella cheese, grated

8 ounces feta cheese, preferably Bulgarian, crumbled

2 tablespoon unsalted butter cut into small pieces

1 large egg

Salt, to taste .

In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients except the salt and mix well.

Season with salt, if necessary.

Makes 4 pies, to serve 8

Two Quick Meals - Bruchetta and Shrimp Linguini

Today I am going to try a quick meal as I really do not feel the mood to be in the kitchen long. As an appetizer, I am going to make some . I have some day old French bread in the fridge. I am going to do Shrimp Linguini for the main course. And for dessert I am doing Marshmallow fondue. The total cooking time should be less that 20 min. Enjoy!

Bruschetta:
4-5 slices of day old crusty bread.
1 clove of garlic.
Olive oil to drizzle.
1 fresh tomato
2 slices of havarti cheese.
Toast the slices of bread drizzled with olive oil in a preheated oven at 350. Once the slices are toasted about 4-5 min, cut the garlic in half and run on to the hot toasts. Top with slices of tomato and havarti cheese. Place back in the oven till the cheese melts and is bubbly.


Shrimp Linguini:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 pound extra-large shrimp, peeled, divined
3/4 cup marinara sauce
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/4 cup Fat Free Sour Cream
2 slices bacon, cooked, crumbled
4 ounces refrigerated linguine, cooked, drained

Heat oil in large skillet on medium-high heat.
Add shrimp; cook 3 to 5 min. or until shrimp turn pink.
Do not over cook or the shrimp will be tough.
Reduce heat to low; stir in sauce, peas, sour cream and bacon.
Cook until heated through, stirring frequently.
Add hot pasta; toss to coat.
Marshmallow Fondue:
10 1/2 ounces milk chocolate, finely chopped
10 1/2 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
48 marshmallows

In a double boiler or a pot on top of a pan with water melt the chocolate, and the cream.
Transfer to a microwavable dish for easy reheating, and serve with marshmallows that have been skewered.

Keeping with the St Patrick’s theme recipe

Today I am trying the following recipe for dinner. It should take about 40 min and sounds like a hearty meal that should be comforting as well as filling. Try it out and let me know what you think. Include any variations that you suggest… Easy Sheppard’s Pie 1 lb. ground beef 2 cups hot mashed potatoes 4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) Cream Cheese, cubed 1 cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese, divided 2 cloves garlic, minced 4 cups frozen mixed vegetables, thawed 1 cup beef gravy.

1. Preheat oven to 375ºF. Brown meat in large skillet about 10 min. Drain excess fat.

2. Mix potatoes, cream cheese, 1/2 cup of the shredded cheese and the garlic until well blended.

3. Stir in the vegetables and gravy into the browned meat.

4. Spread evenly onto 9-inch square baking dish.

5. Layer the top with potato mixture.

6. Top off with remaining 1/2 cup shredded cheese. Bake for 20 min. or until

7. heated through and top is golden brown.

Makes 6 servings.