Out of The Snow & Into The Kitchen

 

Here in Northern NY it’s officially Winter!

Which means it’s finally time for that hearty Beef Pot Roast you’ve been dreaming about since July.

And what better way to cook it than by digging out the ol’ crock pot? Slow cooking your roast in a crock pot will ensure tender meat bursting with flavor. It will also produce an enticing, robust scent that will drift through your house all day long, luring humans and animals alike...

Even Bonzo can't resist!

If you’re like me, you may discover a hidden sense of nostalgia behind this scent, awakening fond childhood memories of returning home after playing in the ice and snow, being greeted by the warmth of a fire (or at least the radiator, in my case) and smelling the sweet aroma of carrots and onions cooking in the kitchen. 

Fragrance is a powerful thing.

Now that the snow is falling, It's time to go "back to the future". You will need the following ingredients to do so (yes this is a recipe!) :

Olive Oil, 2-5 tablespoons

Thyme, 7 sprigs- strip leaves off 3 sprigs, leave the remaining 4 intact 

Parsley, 3 sprigs- strip leaves off 2 sprigs, leave the remaining 1 intact

Garlic, 5 cloves- 3 halved, 2 finely chopped

Salt & Pepper to taste

Chuck Roast, 1 (approx. 3lbs)

Red Wine, 1 cup  (not essential, but adds flavor)

Onion, 1 peeled and roughly chopped

Leek, 1 Cleaned, Prepped, and Chopped (see video here)

Carrots, 5-7, peeled and cut into thirds

Celery Stalks, washed and cut into pieces

Bay Leaf, 1

Portabello Mushroom (optional), 1/2 chopped into small pieces

Fingerling Potatoes, 8-10 halved

Water or Broth

Butter, approx. 1/2 stick

Flour, 1/4 cup 

and a crockpot of course!

Overall cook time is approximately 1 day, as you will need to season the roast at least a day in advance.

Before you begin, remember, nothing tastes better, smells better, feels better, and is better for you than fresh, real food. And that's what this recipe is. The end result is well worth any time and effort spent, as it is both delicious and nutritious, and once cooked, will provide several days' worth of meals, freeing you up to spend more time wrapping xmas gifts or playing outside in the snow ;) But let's not forget all the fun you'll have chopping, dicing, and mixing in the kitchen first!

You will begin by seasoning your chuck roast: 

A) Combine olive oil, leaves of 2 parsley sprigs, leaves of 3 thyme sprigs, salt and pepper.

B) Rub mixture onto chuck roast with fingers, making sure to coat entire roast.

C) Return seasoned roast into fridge to marinate over night or preferably longer.

     

After your roast has been properly seasoned for a day or two, you are ready to begin!

1) Add the following to your crockpot:

-1 onion

-1 leek

-1 carrot

-2 celery stalks

-3 garlic cloves (halved)

-4 thyme sprigs 

-1 parsley sprig

-1 bay leaf

2) Dig out enough space in center of crockpot to place your roast. Add 1/2 cup wine (optional) and enough water or broth to come almost to the top of the meat. Set crock pot on low heat and cover.

3) After approximately 1 hour: stir veggies and turn meat for even cooking. Continue to turn meat approximately every hour.

4) After 4 to 5 hours, add the following to pan and place over stovetop on medium heat:

-2 tbsp butter

-splash of broth or water (to prevent burning)

-remaining carrots 

-remaining celery

-potatoes

-salt & pepper to taste

-extra herb sprigs if desired

Saute veggies on all sides for 3-5 minutes to add flavor.

5) Remove Veggies from pan and add to crock pot.

***This is where I added my special ingredient: fresh picked, home grown tomatoes. Although the recipe doesn't call for tomatoes, I was fortunate enough to be given them by a generous neighbor of mine who grows her own in the backyard:

Adding kindness never hurts

6) Add remaining wine to crock pot, if desired.

7) Continue to cook on low heat for 3 to 4 more hours, totaling 8 hours approximately. Depending on your particular model of crock pot, your roast may cook faster or slower. Continue to check your roast by cutting off small pieces and tasting. When the meat is very tender and can be cut with ease, your roast is ready. Vegetables should also be soft enough to bite into.

Time to make the gravy! What is a delicious roast without a savory, rich sauce to go with it? 

8) Extract juices from crock pot (there will be plenty). 

9) In a medium-small saucepan, heat juices over medium-low heat. Add mushroom (optional). Cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.

10) Add flour while mixing vigorously with fork or whisk. Add more juice from crock pot if necessary.

10) Add remaining butter. Salt & pepper to taste.

Gravy should be thick, but if so desired, to thin out simply add more juice from crock pot, milk, or broth.

And voila!

You are ready for an incredibly satisfying supper, complete with what I hope to be some of your fondest childhood memories.

And remember, cooking is just another way we can live in the moment while savoring our past :)

Eat To Live & Live To Give

Now that I have cable again (uggh!) I've been bombarded with cheery commercials all promising unparalleled holiday joy. As a wise woman once sang, “I am a material girl” and it’s painfully obvious that I am “living in a material world”.

Every year we spend billions “making merry”. As a culture we tend to overdose on materialism. I think it's okay to enjoy the finer things in life, but in moderation. After all, what are we working for if not to be happy, enjoying food and gifts with our loved ones? 

With that being said, I still empathize with those that have grown disenchanted by the holidays, those that look around and see selfish, instant gratification-obsessed, unhappy people. So while I think nothing wrong with the enjoyment of giving and getting the material things in life, it’s no secret that for many people, the holidays have become the least wonderful time of the year.

A Plea For The Bee

Every morning I wake up, wash my face, brush my teeth and head to the kitchen. I put water on the stove and wait for it to boil. After steeping a tea bag for a minute or two, I stir in a spoonful of clover honey. One spoonful, not much, right?

Maybe not to us. But to a honeybee, who can only produce one-twelfth of a teaspoon in her lifetime, a spoonful of honey is a plethora. Suddenly, honey doesn’t seem so expensive when we consider the fact that “for one pound of honey, the bees visit over two million flowers and fly the equivalent of two-and-half-times around the world” (Salisbury). But honey is expensive, and the true costs are only now becoming clear.

Taste of Transcendence: Feeding the Guru at Punjab's Golden Temple

Thousands of pilgrims outside the Golden Temple in Punjab, India (photo taken from andysworldjourneys.com)

Recently, there has been a lot of talk about overpopulation and food shortages. What comes up time and time again is the so-called “futility” of trying to feed the 7 Billion+ people that make up our global society. I’ve heard people say that it can’t be done and it’s useless to try, that it’s those people’s faults for producing more mouths to feed. People say that’s life. 

Mostly I hear it spoken of casually, abstractly, as though starvation were something to be accepted and tolerated, like say, losing the game or catching a cold. Sure it sucks, but again, that’s life, says the person with the fully stocked pantry.

Actually that’s not life. That’s death, the absence of life. And while death may be part of life, starvation most certainly shouldn’t be. But is it actually possible to feed every mouth on our planet?

Replacing Meat With Life- and one courageous guppy! This is March So Far...

 

What you see before you is my breakfast, a bowl of oats and almonds with fresh blueberries and of course, milk. It was my first meal of Meatless March, and it was so good, I had it for breakfast the following Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday!

For the last week or so I've been keeping a food journal to chronical my month long journey. It's helping me to stay focused and make sure I'm getting all the nutrition I'll need without meat in my life. It's also proof incase someone asks.

So far I've consumed 3 veggie burgers with spinach & portabello mushroom, 6 eggs, potatoes, toast, broccoli, spinach & artichoke dip, calamari, more mushrooms and spinach, chard, baby kale, 7 bananas, 1 grilled cheese sandwich, one mini cupcake, talapia, red kale, quinoa, 1 spoonful of apple sauce, carrots with roasted potatoes, 1 slice of plain pizza, more kale, more talapia, and hell of a lot of bread. Oh, and two slices of my favorite chocolate mousse cake from Whole Foods (an early start to the birthday festivities). 

    My supper last Friday: talapia, quinoa, and fresh red kale. Bon appetit.

I might have missed a meal or two, but you get the idea. So far I have not craved meat, even last Sunday when my whole family enjoyed a grass fed, organic roast right in front of me. What can I say? I'm too busy tasting life I guess- I got two cavities filled, reunited with a long lost friend, went blonde, adopted and rehabilitated a dieing guppie and passed my road test at the ripe age of (almost) 29! Delicious. No, but in all seriousness, I honestly have not been tempted and I think it's owed to the fact that I am really inspired to become better and make a positive change, not to mention I just really love vegetables :)

   The newest addition to the family: Lil Guppreet, my new guppie!

                                    Who are these two trouble makers??? Together again!

One, not so tasty change I have noticed though, is that I've been feeling somewhat fatigued, just in the last day or two. A lot has been going on, so there's no reason to assume it's diet related; I have been living at different people's houses for the last 2-3 weeks, learning how to drive, and drinking a bit more moonshine than I probably ought to be (not before or during driving of course). Hopefully as life gets back to "normal" I'll regain my energy, but thanks to the food journal I've been keeping, I realized that regardless of my current happenings I do need to introduce more seeds, beans, and other legumes into my diet for optimal health. So stay tuned because Ill be researching the best vegetarian "meat replacements" and trying out some new recipes over the new few weeks!

Until then, enjoy the unseasonably and downright strange warm weather and as always, happy eating!

    Artichoke, spinach dip

       I bet you wish this was your breakfast: fried egg with portabella mushroom and spinach

From breakfast to blonde; beauty comes in all forms.

Shout out to my amazing hair stylist Jamielynn for this stunning work of art! I'm feeling lighter inside & out!

    My aunt and I found this little guy abandoned, freezing, starving, and choking from lack of oxygenated water! He was the lone survivor of 6 guppies all left in a dark basement for 1 month! But somehow he managed to survive- #revenantfish. But it is, after all, the season for us Pisces and what better way to celebrate that than by adopting a fish? After buying a new tank, water filter, heater, food, and all the other essentials, Guppreet is doing much better and finally eating! Tomorrow we will redecorate his tank and bring him a friend :) There's nothing like kindess to rekindle a life.

Happy Birthday to me! Finally, after two degrees, living nearly a decade of my life in Jersey, and traveling (some of) the world, I am a NYS licensed driver! And all before the age of 29! Life tastes pretty sweet :)

The Last Supper

As promised, waffles!

Supper, breakfast, it's always a good time for waffles

And not just any waffles, Belgium Waffles! Belgium is most famous for the following foods: waffles (duh!), french fries*, chocolate, speculoos, and in some places, such as Brussels (where we were), Mussels. The diet has been described as combining the heartiness of German cuisine with the attention to detail afforded by the French. Being situated between the two nations, this most certainly makes sense, and for the most part I would have to agree. So which food was my favorite? Keep reading to find out...