Roast Beef with Spicy Parsley Tomato Sauce

It's funny how you see recipes you want to try and then sometimes just forget about them. That is the case with this recipe. I saw it several months ago and thought it looked great and put it on my list to try. Somehow it got pushed further and further down the list until I had almost forgotten about it. Then I saw the episode of Everyday Italian last week where Giada makes this dish and remembered saving it to try. So I decided I would put it on the menu for the week. It turned out pretty well. The roast was a little tough, but I thought the sauce was great! I really enjoyed it with my pasta. I'm not sure if I would make the recipe again as it is. I will be saving the sauce recipe though. It's slightly spicy and there's a subtle bite from the red wine vinegar that I thought was so good with the roasted tomato flavor.

Roast Beef with Spicy Parsley Tomato Sauce

Beef Roast:

1 (2 to 2 1/2-pound) sirloin tip or chuck beef roast
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 Roma tomatoes, cut in 1/2
2 teaspoons herbs de Provence
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Spicy Parsley Tomato Sauce:

1 1/2 cups fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

To make the beef roast, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Season the beef with salt and pepper. Season the tomatoes with salt, pepper, and herbs de Provence.

Place a medium, heavy roasting pan or Dutch oven over high heat. Heat the olive oil. Sear the beef over high heat on all sides. Turn off heat. Place the seasoned tomatoes around the seared beef and place the pan in the oven. Roast until a meat thermometer reads 130 degrees F. for medium rare, 135 for medium, about 30 to 40 minutes. Take the roast out of the oven, tent loosely with foil, and let rest for 10 to 15 minutes. The internal temperature of the meat should rise 5 degrees F more and the juices will redistribute into the roast.

To make the sauce, place the parsley and garlic in a food processor and pulse until the parsley is finely chopped. Add the red pepper flakes, salt, red wine vinegar and the roasted tomatoes from the beef pan and process until pureed. Add the olive oil in a steady stream with the machine running.

To serve, slice the roast and place on a serving platter. Drizzle a little sauce over the meat. Serve the remaining sauce in a small bowl alongside.

Maple Braised Pork Chops

I really love the food blog community. I get so many great ideas and dinner is hardly ever boring anymore. I can barely keep up with all the great recipes I have saved! Well I've had this recipe saved for a couple weeks but it's been getting pushed back and pushed back because we've been so busy and I haven't been doing as much cooking as usual. So I finally decided I wanted to make this for dinner tonight. Well wouldn't you know I didn't have the brown sugar that the recipe calls for. I get so frustrated when I get ready to make something and then realize I don't have one or more of the ingredients. But I was determined to make it anyway so I improvised a little. It still turned out really good even without the missing ingredient. The great combination of flavors still came through in every bite.

Maple Braised Pork Chops

1-2 lbs pork ribs (I used boneless pork chops)
maple rub (recipe below)

Maple Rub

• 2 tablespoons real maple syrup
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 2 teaspoons onion powder
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar(I used a little granulated sugar and extra syrup just for sweetness because I was out of brown sugar)
  
• splash of worchestershire sauce
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup chicken stock for the bottom of the crockpot
  

1. Combine above ingredients in a bowl. Consistency will slightly clumpy and paste like. Coat pork ribs with this paste using your hands - a basting brush isn't as effective.
2. Place coated pork in a dutch oven or in a shallow baking pan. Bake in a preheated oven at 300 degrees for 3-4 hours OR Place coated pork in your crockpot and cook on low for 6 hours.

Prep time: 5-10 mintues

Cook time: Oven: 3-4hrs Crockpot: 5 to 5 1/2hrs

Serves: 4

(I baked my chops in the oven at 400 degrees for about 25 min and then broiled for a couple min. I added a little chicken broth in the bottom of the pan. My maple rub was a little thinner than it probably should have been because of the extra syrup. Still good though.)


Adapted from: Tara's Pork Chops
Original Source: Joelen's Blog

Chicken Enchiladas with Chili Gravy

I finally got around to making enchiladas tonight. This is actually the first time I've made them and they turned out very good. I've had a recipe for chili gravy saved for a long time now and decided to use that as the sauce for the enchiladas. I have no clue where I got the recipe, but I think it was from someone's blog. If anyone knows whose it could be, please let me know! Anyway, we had these tonight with seasoned brown rice. It was all very delicious, although not very healthy.

Chicken Enchiladas

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
1/2 a green bell pepper, finely chopped
1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups chili gravy (recipe follows)
4 flour tortillas
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onion and peppers and cook for about 5 min. Add shredded chicken and stir. Add salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Remove from pan and set aside. Using the same pan, make the chili gravy as follows.

Chili Gravy

Ingredients:
1/4 cup lard (I used vegetable oil)
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
1-1/2 tsp powdered garlic
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp dried oregano (Mexican oregano is preferred if it’s available)
2 T chile powder (either homemade or a dark brand such as Gebhardt’s or Whole Foods)
2 cups chicken broth (or water) (I used half water, half chicken broth)

Method:
Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.
Stir in the flour and continue stirring for 3 to 4 minutes, or until it makes a light brown roux.
Add all the dry ingredients and continue to cook for 1 minute, constantly stirring and blending ingredients.
Add chicken broth or water, mixing and stirring until the sauce thickens.
Turn heat to low and let sauce simmer for 15 minutes. Add water to adjust the thickness. Makes 2 cups.

Once the chili gravy is done, add 1/2 a cup to the chicken mixture and stir. Spoon the chicken mixture into the flour tortilla shells and roll up. Spread another half cup of the sauce in the bottom of a baking dish and place the rolled tortillas in the dish. Top with the remaining cup of sauce and shredded cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 20-25 min.

Original Source: Homesick Texan
(I finally found out where this recipe came from!)

My Pasta Creation

I made up this pasta dish a while back and it's my husband's favorite dish. He requests it at least once a month. However, I don't necessarily make it every month because it has way too many calories. But it's a nice treat every once in a while. I decided to give in and make it over the weekend just for my hubby.


Penne with Chicken in a Cream Sauce


1 box penne pasta (farfalle works nicely too)
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup chicken broth
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp italian seasoning
2 chicken breasts, cut into cubes
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Cook pasta as directed on package. While it's cooking, heat olive oil in a pan and saute chicken. Add salt and pepper. When chicken is done, remove from pan and set aside. Melt butter in the same pan and cook garlic for about 2 min making sure not to burn it. Add chicken broth, heavy cream and italian seasoning. Stir to combine. Add chicken to the sauce and let simmer for 5 min. Add parmesan cheese to help thicken the sauce. Add more salt and pepper to taste. Next add drained pasta to the pan and let heat through for another 4-5 min.

*If the sauce doesn't thicken enough, add a little flour and stir before adding the pasta.