Beef Roast and Orzo

Of all the Sunday Dinners I've made in my life, this was, by far the easiest. It is exactly impossible to screw up the meat, and virtually impossible to screw up the orzo.

First the meat. You need to have a very heavy pan with a tightly covering lid. I use my dutch oven. It is the best investment in the kitchen. Get one if you don't have one.

Next put in your meat. I used a 3lbs beef arm roast. Use any roast you want (round, pot, etc). The key is to have a cheap cut of meat with some fat on it. Throw it into the pot.

Cover the meat with a 28oz can of tomatoes. Break up the tomatoes with your hands, a fork, a knife, whatever. Then, break apart a head of garlic. No need to peel it, just throw it in.

Cover and put in a 300 degree oven. No need to pre-heat the oven.

Keep it in the oven for 3 to 4 hours. That's it. Salt and pepper to taste once you pull it out.

Orzo is just a pasta. Cook to package directions. Serve meat and tomatoes over the orzo.

Next weekend I'll have to do something more difficult, this was way too easy.

Chili, Rice, and Oh My Gosh!

Wow, it has been a long time since I blogged. Bad Kassie! But I've been busy, or something.

But the weather is right for cooking, so I guess I'll just pick up where I left off.

So, with the weather cool and football on TV, I made some chili today. I never have an actual recipe for my chili, but this one turned out pretty good, so I'll see if I can write it up.

Start by browning 1 lbs ground pork and 1 lbs ground beef. I used organic grass fed beef and organic pork for this. I think with chili, choosing high quality meat matters. You want the meat to stand out and be distinct.

Drain and set aside.

In a Tablespoon or so oil, saute a chopped onion and 5 cloves garlic. I add in a lot of my spices at this time so they can be toasted sort of in the oil. I added in about 2 T. of cumin, 2 T. of cinnamon, 2 t. of cayenne, 6 T. of chili powder, salt and pepper. I use a lot of chili powder because I used the cheap brand. I have a really good spicy Indian kind and 6 T. would be a killer. All these spices are approximate amounts and I adjust by adding more as I go along to see how it tastes. A bay leaf or two would be good here too, but I was out.

I let the onions cook down, careful to not burn them, for about 10 minutes.

Then I add 28oz can of whole tomatoes, 28oz can and a 16 oz can of chopped tomatoes, and a can of tomato paste. For the tomatoes I always use Muir Glen fire roasted tomatoes. They have a really great taste.

Then add in 1 big box of organic beef stock, 1 bottle of dark beer, 1 small can of rinsed black beans, 1 small can of rinsed pinto beans, and the meat. Finally, add in some chipotle peppers from a can. I added in 4 chopped. CJ thought it was too hot. I thought it wasn't hot enough.

At this point, the chili will seem really runny, and it is. Bring the whole thing to a boil, then cover partially and simmer on low for the next few hours. I'd say at least 2. You want to condense all the flavors and reduce the liquid. I cooked mine for about 5 hours today.

You need to stir every 30 minutes or so to make sure it doesn't burn. It really needs to be on low heat or it will burn and ruin the whole pot.

I served with sour cream and cheddar corn bread. It was very good. We now have 3 big servings in the freezer and one in the fridge for my lunch tomorrow.

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Additionally, we got the greatest cooking contraption of all time today- A RICE COOKER. I already cooked up one pot full and portioned it into individual bags and put them in the freezer. This will change how we eat forever. We love rice, but have little patience for cooking it.

Braised BBQ Beef

One of the many food blogs I read is Simply Recipes. Day after day, Elise posts great recipes that I want to cook. The other day she posted the super easy recipe for Braised BBQ Beef Sandwiches, and I had to make them, because I love all fall apart meat.

I followed her recipe almost exactly, except adding 6 or so cloves of garlic. I also made some changes in the procedure, but you know, I've never been one for following directions.

Every Day Food

We don't eat bison and ribs every night. We can't. We both work full time, and I often don't get home until late. On those nights we have leftovers, or takeout, or taco salad.

We eat Taco Salad at least once a week. Lots of lettuce, some beef/beans/chicken, some salsa, and whatever else we have around the house. It is the easiest, tastiest thing we throw together in the middle of the week.
Tonight we had hamburgers on the grill. Boring again.

Pot Roast

Dinner last night was Pot Roast, adapted from this Tyler Florence recipe.


Very tasty.