10261 upgrade your boring Recipes

i use a 3 1/2 to 4 lb chuck roast, well marbelized with fat, and if you can find a bone-in roast, that s better yet (but it s almost always boneless chuck that you find at the grocer). i like to quickly rinse the roast in cold water just before i lay it on the cutting board to coat it with seasoned flour. place the following ingredients in a small baggie and shake the closed bag to mix it up, flour, salt, garlic salt, crazy mixed-up salt (if you can tsp get this seasoning, use seasoned salt instead, but jane s is by far the best), pepper, use your hands to generously pat the seasoned flour into the roast, on both sides, flipping the roast a couple times and repeating the process., in a dutch oven or roasting pan large enough to hold the roast, heat 1 tbsp oil over medium high heat - you want your pan and oil to be hot enough to sear the roast well when you put it in the pan. when the oil is just about to the smoking point, put the roast in and cover the pan. let the meat sear until nicely browned on the bottom, then flip the roast. let it sear for a minute or two on the second side, then add, beef stock (i much prefer the boxed stock to the canned broth - it just seems to give the gravy a much richer taste in the end), cover the roasting pan and place it in a pre-heated 300 degree oven. roast for 4 to 5 hours, until the meat is fork tender and falls apart easily. i check the roast each hour, quickly opening the lid, just to make sure the stock has not evaporated. as long as your pan has a good seal on it, this shouldn tsp happen. but if necessary, add more stock to the pan., an hour before the roast is done , prepare the mashed potatoes. peel 6 large red potatoes (these work better - at least for me - because they are much moister than the russets, so the mashed potatoes are creamier); cut into 1/4th, and place them in a large saucepan - rinse the cut potatoes 2 times in cold water, then cover them in fresh cold water and place the pan over medium high heat; boil until tender. this is usually about 30 minutes, but it depends on the size of your cuts, so just cook them until you can easily insert a fork into a potato. drain potatoes well, reserving 1 cup of the water for the gravy. add the following to the hot potatoes, butter, sour cream, milk, salt, crazy mixed up salt (use regular salt or garlic salt if jane s salt is not available), pepper, i use a hand masher , but you can use an electric mixer or however you chose to mash the potatoes into a creamy yet firm texture. add more milk if potatoes are too stiff. place the mashed potatoes in a buttered casserole dish, cover with foil, and place in the oven to keep warm while you make the gravy., prepare the gravy, melt 2 tbsp butter, stir in 1/4 cup flour to make a paste, stir in enough beef stock to thin the paste enough to pour., finished roast from the pan and place it on a plate; cover meat with foil to keep warm., place the roasting pan over a medium flame and bring the liquid to a gentle boil (i usually seem to have about 1 1/2 to 2 cups liquid in the pan when the roast is done - if you have less, just use the beef stock to increase your liquid)., use a whisk to gradually whisk in the butter/flour/stock liquid., add 2 tbsp beef base - i use tone s (i prefer beef base to buillon - has a richer flavor and is really worth having on hand, but if you can tsp find this, try knorr s beef buillon extra large cubes), add the 1 cup of reserved potato water, add 1/2 cup beef stock, taste the gravy and see if you want more seasoning. i usually find i don tsp need to add anything at this point, since i have the seasoning from the flour coating and the stock and the beef base. if you think you need more seasoning, add salt and pepper to your taste. beef base will also give you more saltiness., keep the gravy warm while you uncover the meat and use 2 forks to pull the meat apart into small to medium chunks., you are now ready to assemble...

any liquid can be reduced just by heating it - but why would you want to do that, answer comes back to two of our old friends, flavor and consistency (texture)., by reducing any flavored liquid you intensify its flavor and at the same time thicken it. you can continue this process until what you have left is a syrup if it contains sugar, or a sauce if it does not., this is 1 of the most important tools in the kitchen , believe it or not, because a great sauce can rescue an indifferent meal., literally any liquid can be reduced ., a few uses, wine is frequently used in cooking , both as a marinade and as an addition to sauces for meat., there are some problems with it though, 1 of which is that you need a really good wine and quite a lot of it to produce a reasonable sauce for, say, six people., on the other hand , if you use pure grape juice and reduce it to a syrup, that syrup, added to any sauce (or gravy if you prefer) will lift it into the realms of gourmet ., more , you don tsp have to make your reduction on the night you prepare your meal. you can reduce a liter of grape juice at any time to the consistency and flavor you want; then just store it in the fridge., you can do the same thing with any fruit juice - prune is sensational - and store it until needed. just about all of them will do things for ice cream, pies or tarts that will have your guests demanding the recipe, pork with apple sauce use a carton of fresh apple juice from the supermarket and reduce it. and if you want a real sensation add in a glass of apple brandy during the reduction process., are you getting an idea of how simple this is, take any carton of fresh stock straight of the shelf and reduce it. you will transform it into something even the manufacturer won tsp recognize. but beware, you need to start out with good quality in the first place, because when you reduce a liquid you intensify all the flavors, and not just the good ones., if it s salty to start with, for example, it will be salty beyond belief by the time you ve reduced it even by half. so if you are going to use a supermarket stock, make sure it s an extremely good 1., believe me when i tell you that stock cubes should not be used for reduction sauces., thickeners, because you will be tasting as you go (won tsp you ), you may find that you get the flavor you want before the desired consistency is reached., a couple of hints right now for your sauces., sweet ones can be thickened successfully without loss of color by adding in liquid glucose early on in the reduction process. surprisingly, this will add little in the way of sweetness and produces a beautiful velvety sauce when whisked., if you get it wrong and add too much, no problem. stir in a little extra water to thin it., reduction pans, reductions need to happen rapidly in serving to preserve flavors. and the greater the surface area of the liquid the faster the water will evaporate., however you may want to whisk something into the sauce while its cooking - such as butter or olive oil for example - and for that i find a small wok is best; 1 with a handle., a wok is less likely to reduce so fast that the sauce is burnt while your back is turned. but try both methods and see which you prefer. you may even end up using something totally different., no magic to this. whatever works for you, that s what you should use, in this and everything else to do with cooking., just bear in mind that what you re after is speed and ease of use. as well as a great tasting result, of course. :>), keeping, if they should dry out , simply add a little water and heat through., sauces containing meat juices of any kind must be frozen if you re going to keep them, and should be brought to boiling point before being used again. there is no need to thaw them out to do this, in fact it s better not to. simply drop the frozen cubes into a saucepan, melt them over a gentle heat, and then bring swiftly to the boil., why do you do this to avoid food poisoning, that s why. you are making sure that any bugs introduced into the sauce during the preparation process are killed off., worry , this will not be because of anything you have done wrong (i hope!), but because bacteria are part of our everyday lives and they exist in every kitchen, however clean., in fact your food , and especially your meat, is crawling with wildlife that you will never see. don tsp worry about them. careful handling and simple precautions will ensure that these miniature monsters can never multiply enough to harm either you or your guests.

spice cake mix or 1 (18 oz) box german chocolate cake mix, eggs (or as called for by your cake mix), oil (or as called for by your cake mix), water (or as called for by your cake mix), white cake mix, eggs (or as called for by your cake mix), oil (or as called for by your cake mix), water (or as called for by your cake mix), vanilla instant pudding mix, vanilla sandwich cookies, tootsie rolls, new kitty litter box, new kitty litter box, pooper scooper

eggs, whites only,at room temperature, brown sugar, butter or 1/4 cup margarine, melted, shelled walnuts (or a mixture of your choice) or 1 lb shelled pecans (or a mixture of your choice) or 1 lb shelled cashews (or a mixture of your choice) or 1 lb shelled peanuts (or a mixture of your choice)

all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, eggs, lemon extract (your preference) or 1 tsp anise extract (your preference), orange juice, butter, sugar, milk, orange juice, lemon extract (your preference) or 1 tsp anise extract (your preference), candy sprinkles , for shaking over cookies

olive oil, onion, garlic cloves, minced, red potatoes, head cauliflower, mild chopped green chilies, grated monterey jack cheese (or 1 of your choosing) or 1 1/2 cups havarti cheese (or 1 of your choosing) or 1 1/2 cups brick cheese (or 1 of your choosing), jalapeno pepper (optional)

leeks , trimmed of tough tops, leave 3 to 4 inches of green on white of leek, extra virgin olive oil, bay leaf, potatoes, peeled and sliced, salt and fresh cracked pepper, to taste, good quality chicken stock (i use 4 cup. stock, 2 cup. water), garlic cloves, skin removed, whole grain french bread, cut into small pieces, thick slab bacon , 1 (1/2-inch), chives, sliced thin for garnish, crusty bread (make your favorite recipe in your bread machine, i make the dough in the machine and transfer to a b)

corn kernels (right from the cob or frozen), bell peppers, diced, onion, diced, garlic, minced, butter, smoked bacon*, diced and cooked (reserve grease), russet potatoes, diced (i don tsp bother peeling), chipotle peppers, diced, adobo sauce, smoked paprika (can sub sweet or hot paprika, if desired), cumin, chicken stock, juice from 1 lime, fresh cilantro, chopped, half and half, kosher or sea salt and fresh ground black pepper, pan recipe of your favorite cornbread , but if yours is a very crumbly recipe(like we usually use) pick 1 with slightly more flour and liquid or add a bit more to yours. if it s too crumbly, it won tsp cut into bite sized squares, butter, garlic powder, ground chili powder (like chipotle, or pasilla, but can sub cayenne, if desired), coarsely ground sea salt and fresh ground black pepper

philadelphia cream cheese, marshmallow creme, cantaloupe (or any fruit to your liking) or honeydews (or any fruit to your liking) or pineapple (or any fruit to your liking) or strawberries (or any fruit to your liking) or watermelon, cubed (or any fruit to your liking)

beef arm roast or 3 1/2-4 lbs chuck roast or 3 1/2-4 lbs blade roast, oil, salt, fresh coarse ground black pepper, prepared horseradish (not the cream added kind, the real-deal !!), prepared whole grain mustard (use your favorite !) or 1/4 cup spicy brown mustard (use your favorite!) or 1/4 cup dijon mustard (use your favorite!), beef broth, 2 if your roast is 4 lbs. (or more ), onion, sliced, red potatoes, unpeeled, quartered, carrots , peeled, cut into thick slices (can ease this step with baby !), butter

yellow cake mix or 1 (18 oz) package white cake mix, eggs (or as called for by your cake mix) or 3 egg whites (or as called for by your cake mix), oil (or as called for by your cake mix), water (or as called for by your cake mix), milk, evaporated skim milk, sweetened condensed milk, vanilla

tuna in water, drained, cream of mushroom soup, water or 3/4 cup milk, your choice, elbow macaroni or 8 oz shell macaroni, onion, chopped small piece, stalk celery, chopped (optional), american cheese, shredded monterey jack cheese (your favorite ) or 1 cup cheddar cheese (your favorite) or 1 cup swiss cheese (your favorite)

lemon cake mix or 1 (18 oz) package white cake mix, eggs (or as called for by your cake mix) or 3 egg whites (or as called for by your cake mix), oil (or as called for by your cake mix), water (or as called for by your cake mix), rhubarb, cut up 1/2 inch pieces, minute tapioca, sugar, strawberry jell-o gelatin dessert or 1 (3 oz) package raspberry jell-o gelatin

chicken broth, sliced celery, diced carrot, cooked egg noodles (your choice ) or 1 cup bow tie pasta (your choice) or 1 cup macaroni (your choice) or 1 cup spiral shaped pasta (your choice), fresh tuna, flaked or 1 (3 oz) can tuna in water, drained and flaked, chopped parsley, dried basil, crushed, pepper

chopped chicken (amount to your liking) or turkey (amount to your liking), chedder cheese for chicken (amount to your liking), swiss cheese (amount to your liking) or mozerella cheese for turkey (amount to your liking), catalina dressing (depends if you re dipping, or speading), wheat bread, toasted

all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, eggs, white sugar, milk, canola oil, lemon , juice of, peach jam (or your favourite filling...) or 2 1/2 cups apricot jam (or your favourite filling...) or 2 1/2 cups chocolate (or your favourite filling...) or 2 1/2 cups nuts (or your favourite filling...) or 2 1/2 cups figs (or your favourite filling...)

sliced chicken breast, chicken stock, taco seasoning (your choice , i prefer ortega), salsa (your choice , i prefer herdez-medium), diced tomatoes and green chilies (lime and cilantro flavored, i prefer rotel), soft flour (your choice ) or corn tortilla, hard taco shells, tortilla chips (your choice), sour cream, shredded lettuce, shredded taco cheese, salsa verde (your choice , i prefer herdez)

first , cut your shark into small, thick pieces, about an inch or an inch square. you are trying to make big bite size pieces so they will cook right but can be picked up and eaten easily., next , melt about a stick of butter (more or less depending on how much you are making) with about a tbsp of olive oil in a large bowl - you can do this in the microwave or on the stove and then reserve into a large bowl. let the melted butter/oil cool but do not let it re-solidify., coat the pieces well with kosher salt and ground black pepper. set aside to allow the bites to come up to room temp if they were in the fridge or on ice., ok now it is time to make the spice mixture for the bites. you will want to make enough to liberally cover the bites, but not too much that you are wasting all your spices. how much you need depends on how many bites you are making., in a small bowl, combine roughly equal parts of the following, paprika, chipotle powder, ground cumin, garlic powder, ground mustard, ginger powder, add to this some amount of chili powder and cayenne pepper. this will considerable heat, so adjust how much you to your and your guest s tastes. (note - you could forget all of these spices and just coat with your favorite blackened or cajun seasoning, but it won tsp taste as good of course).