A place to record the great, the good, and the really bad recipe served at dinner at The Taj McCall along with a Family Rating System.

Monday, November 21, 2011

The Best Pot Roast Ever

I spent a lot of years trying to find the very best pot roast recipe.  This is it.  Sure it's not as easy as throwing it in the crockpot, but it's sooooo much better.  


Pot Roast:
3-5 lb. chuck roast (one with a lot of marbling)
2 tablespoons (or more) olive oil
2 onions, quartered
8-12 carrots, peeled and cut into 2-3 inch pieces
coarse salt
fresh ground black pepper
1 cup red wine
1 (32 oz.) box beef broth
4-5 springs fresh rosemary

Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Heat the oil in a large dutch oven until hot, but not smoking.  Quickly brown onions, but don't cook all the way through. Remove from pan; repeat with carrots.  Liberally salt and pepper the roast on all sides.  When you've removed the carrots, you may need to add more olive oil and bring it up to heat.  Sear the roast on all sides (it won't cook all the way through, either), making sure it's good and brown.  Remove from pan.  Deglaze pan with the red wine and make sure you scrape up all the brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pan.  Return the roast to the pan, and pour the onions and carrots on top.  Pour in the beef broth.  Submerge the rosemary into the broth, no need to pull it off the stem.  Cook in the oven for 3-4 hours.  3 hours if it's a 3 lb. roast.  4 hours (or more) if it's a 4 lb. roast or bigger.  You'll know its done when the meat is juicy and literally falls apart.  If it seems dry, you need to cook it longer.  Serve with mashed potatoes (preferably THESE) and pan juices.

Adapted from THE PIONEER WOMAN

Family Rating:
Brad: *****
Jordan: *****
Eli: *****
Phoebe: *****
Overall Family Rating: 20/20

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Tortilla Soup

Tortilla Soup
2 cups cooked, shredded chicken
olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
1/2 red bell pepper, finely diced
1/2 green bell pepper, finely diced
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2-1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 can Rotel tomatoes
48 oz. low sodium chicken broth
5 cups water
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
3 1/2 tablespoons cornmeal
5 corn tortillas, cut into strips
For garnish:
sour cream
cut up avocado
lime wedges

Heat olive oil in a large stock pot and add onions and peppers.  Cook until tender.  Add garlic, chicken, and seasonings.  Pour in tomatoes, chicken broth, water, and black beans and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes, uncovered.  Add cornmeal to a little water and stir.  Pour into soup and simmer for 30 minutes.  Check seasonings and adjust as necessary (I always end up adding a lot of salt). Turn off heat and allow to sit for 10 minutes or so.  Five minutes before serving, add tortilla strips.  If I don't have tortilla strips, I skip this step and serve the soup with chips.  Let each person add whatever garnishes they choose.

*This soup freezes well.  Before adding tortilla strips, ladle out half the soup (taking care to have a nice mixture of broth and "goodies") and let cool.  Pour into a ziplock bag and freeze.  To reheat: bring to a boil and add tortilla strips.

Adapted from THE PIONEER WOMAN

Family Rating:
Brad: ****
Jordan: *****
Eli: *****
Phoebe: **
Overall Family Rating: 16/20

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

BBQ Meatballs

These are the best meatballs ever!  I always plan to make a big batch and freeze half, but we never end up having that many leftovers.


BBQ Meatballs
1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
3/4 cup oats
1 cup milk
3 tablespoons very finely minced onion
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
plenty of ground black pepper
4 tablespoons oil
1/2 cup flour
1 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons vinegar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
4-6 tablespoons finely minced onion
dash of Tabasco

In a bowl, combine ground beef and oats.  Pour in milk, then add the onion, salt, and pepper.  Mix thoroughly. Roll into tablespoon sized balls and refrigerate 30-45 minutes.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat oil in a large skillet over high heat.  Dredge meatballs in flour and brown in oil until lightly brown.  Place in a 9x13 inch baking dish.  Stir together ketchup, sugar, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, onion, and Tabasco and pour over meatballs.  Bake for 45 minutes or until bubbly and hot.  Serve with mashed potatoes.

Family Rating:
Brad: ****
Jordan: ****
Eli: *****
Phoebe: *****
Overall Family Rating: 18/20

Friday, November 4, 2011

White Chicken Chili

White Chicken Chili
1 32-oz. box chicken stock
1 can white beans, drained and rinsed
1 can corn, drained and rinsed
1/2 of the meat from a rotisserie chicken
1 16-oz. jar mild salsa
8 oz. pepper jack cheese, grated
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper
sour cream, for garnish

Place all ingredients, except cheese and sour cream, in a stockpot over medium-high heat.  Heat till hot.  Stir in cheese until melted.  Serve with sour cream and chips.

Adapted from RACHAEL RAY

Family Rating:
Brad: ***
Jordan: ***
Eli: *****
Phoebe: **
Overall Family Rating: 13/20

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Skillet Pasta

I got this recipe from my youth minister's wife when I was in college. It was one of the first things I made as a new wife.

Skillet Pasta
1 lb. ground beef
salt, pepper, garlic powder
2 1/2 cups water
3 cups mostaccioli or penne pasta
1 jar spaghetti sauce
8 oz. grated mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Brown beef in a large skillet.  Drain.  Season beef with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Add 2 1/2 cups water and bring to a boil.  Place pasta in the water and make sure it's covered.  Let boil until pasta is tender (this always takes longer than the box instructions tell you). Stir in spaghetti sauce.  Taste to adjust seasonings. Pour mozzarella over the pasta and then the Parmesan cheese.  Replace cover and let sit 3 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Family Rating:
Brad: ***
Jordan: **** (It gets an extra star because it's so darn easy and fast!)
Eli: ***
Phoebe: *****
Overall Family Rating: 15/20