Sunday Pot Roast

  Here's a slow cooked pot roast recipe that's very tender with a sauce that is rich and unique.  It's not complicated, but tastes like it.  I was going to give it a french sounding title, but I'm not that clever.  You don't need to make a gravy with the sauce, but you certainly could.  The liquid ingredients aren't exact, so follow your instincts.  Hope you try it.

 Ingrediants
 3 lb beef chuck roast (choose the best marbled one you can find)
 1 to 1 1/2 cps beef broth
 1 tblsp of Demi Glace (I used Minor's Demi Glace)

1 cp Cabernet Sauvignon (if you wouldn't drink it, don't cook with it)
1 medium onion sliced thick
3-6 cloves of finely minced garlic
1 tsp kosher or sea salt
1 tsp ground pepper
1 tblsp olive oil
Couple of sprigs of thyme
Carrots if you desire, I don't

Preheat the oven to 300 F.  I highly suggest a dutch oven for this, but a roasting pan should work fine as well.  Season the roast with the salt and pepper ( more or less as you see fit).  Put the dutch oven on the stove over medium high heat with the olive oil.  When the oil is hot, sear the roast on both sides, about 8 minutes.  Remove the roast, and pour in the beef broth and demi glace.  Scrape the bottom of the pan to insure you get the seared left overs into your sauce.  After the demi glace is dissolved (minute or two), add the wine, garlic and mix well.  Layer the onions on the bottom, and place the roast on top. Put the thyme in the sauce, and cover.  Place in the oven and cook for 3 hours.  How simple is that?  Let me know how your's turns out.

Tomato Basil Soup

Here's a recipe I got from a friend, and "personalized".  The diced tomatoes made this a “chunky” soup with small tomatoes in almost every bite.  Might be too much for some, and I’d suggest just adding another can of sauce.  The soup turned out a little thicker than most soups.  Adding another cup of milk with the roux might help as well.  The roux should be simmered about 10 minutes according to some reputable instructions, to insure the flour loses its graininess and to absorb the liquid, making a silky smooth sauce.  Per my instructions, it didn’t appear to affect the soup in the least. I might try it next time and see if it makes a difference.  After all is said and done, this recipe as it is, turned out to be creamy and delicious.  Bona Petite.

Ingredients  

1        15 oz peeled diced tomatoes (with garlic, basil, and oregano)

2        15 oz. cans of tomato sauce

1        small onion chopped

2        tblsp chopped basil

Roux

1        cup of cold milk

2        tblsp of butter

2    tblsp of flour

Mix the sauce, basil and diced tomatoes in a large pan and put on medium heat. In another pan, add a tblsp of butter, and add the chopped onion.  Stir occasionally until the onions are translucent.  To make the roux, melt 2 tblsp of butter over medium heat.  With a whisk (?), slowly whisk in the 2 tblsp of flour a little at a time.  Continue whisking for about 3 minutes as the roux thickens.  Stir in the cold milk a little at a time and continue whisking for about 2 or 3 minutes as the mixture thickens.  By this time the tomato mixture should be simmering.  Slowly whisk the roux into the tomato mixture till thoroughly blended.  Simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes. Viola !

TBone's Banana Bread

Here's a recipe I made that was culled from many old recipes from the 50's with a couple twists.  It's moist and tasty.  Bona petite.
Prep Time: 15 minutes     Cooking Time: 1 hour
Ingredients
2 cps flour
2 eggs
1 cp sugar
1/2 cp Crisco shortening
4 banana's (medium to large)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
6 Tblsp sour cream
1 cp chopped walnuts (black are the best) optional
Nutmeg ground, optional

 Preheat oven to 350 F.  Cream the sugar, bananas and Crisco together with a fork till thoroughly mixed.  Separate 2 eggs, saving the whites for later.  Add the egg yolks, baking soda, salt, walnuts, baking powder, flour, and stir till all is mixed well, by hand if possible.  Whip the egg whites till firm and fluffy.  Gently fold the whites into the mixture.  Pour into 2 small Pam sprayed bread pans (not sure what they call these small bread pans).  Sprinkle ground nutmeg over the top of the loaves.  Bake at 350 F for about an hour (depending on altitude) normally, but stick a toothpick into the middle to make sure it comes out clean.  It's a very versatile recipe, you can add more banana's or sour cream, and it still turns out very nice.  That's it.

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