Barbecued Pork Salad

 A few weeks ago, I needed to fix something for my lunch at work.  When I checked out my fridge, I found I had some roast pork, celery, onion, red pepper, radishes, some cooked asparagus and some black olives.  The roast pork had been glazed with a barbecue sauce so I decided to play that up by using some barbecue sauce in the salad.  It turned out to be a very tasty lunch that I will make again, probably this week since I made another pork roast today.  Since asparagus season is over here, I will  add some frozen, thawed peas.  The recipe is for just one serving, but it could be easily multiplied to serve more.

Barbecued Pork Salad
1/2 c. chopped cooked roast pork, chicken, ham or beef
1 to 2 ribs celery, finely chopped
2 thin slices onion, finely chopped
1/3 c. red pepper, chopped
3 to 4 radishes, quartered and sliced
6 spears asparagus, chopped
3 to 4 black olives, halved and sliced
2 T. mayonnaise
1 T. barbecue sauce
barbecue spice
croutons

Combine pork, celery, onion, red pepper, radishes, asparagus,and olives in a small bowl.  In another small bowl combine mayonnaise and barbecue sauce until well blended.  Combine with pork and vegetables until well blended.  Sprinkle with a dash of barbecue spice.  Chill and serve topped with croutons.  Makes 1 serving

Linking to these great parties:
Make the Scene Monday
Monday Funday
Manic Monday
Sweet Sharing Monday
Inspiration Monday
Busy Monday
Made by You Monday
Melt in Your Mouth Monday
Recipe Sharing Monday
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Marvelous Monday

Montreal Pot Roast

I fix pot roast quite often as it usually makes enough for several meals, and hubby can eat the leftovers on the nights that I work.  One of the things I do to vary a pot roast is to use different seasonings on it.  One of the seasonings that I use often is the Sorta Montreal Steak Seasoning that I posted recently.  It gives the meat a little bit of a kick.

I use a Corning Ware casserole dish (that I have had forever) which can be used both on the top of the stove and in the oven.  A Dutch oven can also be used.  If neither of these is available, brown pot roast in a skillet and transfer the meat to a 9x13-inch baking dish.

Most of the time, I serve pot roast with mashed potatoes and gravy as that is hubby's preference.  My preference is to cook the vegetables with the pot roast so I do that from time to time.  Hubby doesn't eat cooked carrots as a side dish, but he will eat them in stews, soups, casseroles, and when cooked with a pot roast   If the vegetables are cooked with the meat, pot roast is an easy-to-do, mostly hands-off, one-dish meal, and that is something I really, really like.

Montreal Pot Roast
1-2 T. olive or vegetable oil
3 lbs. boneless chuck roast, or other pot roast meat
1-2 t. Sorta Montreal Steak Seasoning
1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce
1 t. beef bouillon granules or broth base
6-8 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
6-8 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch x 1 1/2-inch sticks
2 medium onions, cut into wedges
2 to 3 ribs celery, cut into 1-inch chucks
1 c. water, divided
1/4 c. flour

Heat oil in a range-top/oven-proof casserole, Dutch oven or a skillet.  Rub all surfaces of roast with the seasoning.  Place in hot oil and brown on all sides.  Remove from heat.  If using a baking dish, transfer meat to it.  Add tomato sauce.  Fill sauce can with water to rinse out and add to tomato sauce.  Add beef bouillon and stir a bit to blend the water, tomato sauce, and bouillon.  Cover and place in 350-degree oven for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.  Add potatoes, carrots, onions and celery to the casserole or Dutch oven, arranging the vegetables  all around the meat.  Cover, and continue to roast in oven another 45 minutes to 1 hour until vegetables are tender.  Remove meat and vegetables from the liquid.  If using a baking dish, pour the liquid into a medium saucepan.  Add 1/2 c. water and heat until boiling.  Mix 1/2 c. water and 1/4 c. flour together until smooth and stir into pot roast liquid.  Stir and cook until gravy is smooth and thickened.  Serve gravy with pot roast and vegetables.  Makes 6 to 8 servings.

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Hasty Tasty Sauce on Fried Cube Steak

Happy Monday all and a warm welcome to my new followers.  Thank you for taking time from your busy lives to read this blog.  It is truly appreciated.  I hope what you find here proves to be useful.

We like cube steak, but I don’t always want to make chicken fried steak with it.  This is what I sometimes do instead.

Hasty Tasty Sauce is a way to stretch steak sauce out a little bit.  Although I served the sauce with fried cube steak, It can be served with any kind of steak or meatloaf.  The sauce flavor will vary somewhat depending on the kind of steak sauce that is used.

I think I might have actually gotten a somewhat decent picture of a hunk of meat.

Fried Cube Steak
cube steak
flour (about 1/2 c. per 2 cube steak)
salt and pepper or other seasonings
vegetable oil (enough to cover the bottom of skillet)

Place flour in a shallow container.  Add salt and pepper or other seasonings to taste and mix well.  Pour oil into skillet and heat on medium-high heat until it is hot.  Coat both sides of cube steak in the flour mixture.  Place in hot oil but do not let them touch each other.  Cook  about 5 minutes, turn and cook about 5 minutes more until done.

Hasty Tasty Sauce
1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce
1/3 c. steak sauce
2 T. brown sugar, packed
1/2 T. vegetable oil

Combine tomato sauce, steak sauce, brown sugar and vegetable oil in a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil.  Turn heat to low and keep warm.  Makes about 1 1/3 c. sauce.  This will keep for a week or so.

 

Linking to:  Hunk of  Meat Monday

Melt in Your Mouth Monday

Must Try Monday

Mop It Up Monday

Making Mondays Marvelous

Made by You Monday

Mangia Monday

This Week's Cravings

Steak Strips in Leek and Red Pepper Gravy

When I purchased leeks for this month's  Eating the Alphabet, I wasn't sure what I was going to do with them.  After I picked a recipe to post, I had extra leeks.  This is one of the recipes that I made.  Although I rarely cook with leeks, I put red pepper anywhere I can get away with it.  The combination of leek and red peppers sounded good to me.

I had purchased some London Broil (round steak) on sale and wasn’t quite sure I what I wanted to do with it.  None of the recipes I found appealed to me.  Maybe because it has been so hot here the last few days, and I didn’t want to use the oven.  I ended up putting together something that did sound good to me and could be done on the stove top.

I remembered a Season Salt mixture that Tiffany had posted over at Eat at Home.  I adapted it and coated all my steak strips with the seasoning salt.  This gave lots of flavor to the gravy.

I served this over mashed potatoes, but it could be served over noodles or rice.  Hubby approved, and I will be making this again.

Steak Strips in Leek and Red Pepper Gravy
1 leek sliced into 1/4-inch rings
2 T. olive oil, divided
2 t. Kosher salt
3/4 t. coarse ground pepper
1/4 t. paprika (smoked if you have it)
1/4 t. garlic powder
1/4 t. onion powder
3 or 4 turns of Spice Islands Chipotle Chili Seasonings Grinder
1 lb. thick cut round steak cut into 1x2x1/4-inch strips
1 (14 oz.) can beef broth or two cups water and 2 t. Better than Bouillon Beef Flavor Paste
half a medium size red pepper cut into short julienne strips
3 T. flour
1/3 c. water

Place leeks in a bowl of water and swish around to remove any grit and dirt.  Pour water off.  Rinse leeks again and drain.  Place leeks in a clean dish towel and squeeze to dry.  Heat 1 T. olive oil in a medium skillet.  Cook leeks over medium heat until soft.  Remove from skillet and set aside.  Meanwhile combine salt, pepper, paprika, garlic and onion powder and chili seasonings in a medium size bowl.  Mix well.  Add beef strips and mix well.  Make sure that all strips get some of the seasoning salt mix.  Heat second T. of olive oil in the same skillet that you cooked the leeks in.  Add steak strips in a single layer and brown well on both sides.  Remove steak strips to the container with leeks as they brown adding more strips to skillet until all strips are browned.  Return leeks and steak strips to skillet.  Add broth and red pepper.   Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover and cook 30 to 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Mix flour with 1/3 c. water until well blended.  Slowly add to skillet mixture, stirring constantly.  Boil 2 to 3 minutes until mixture is thickened to gravy consistency.  Serve over mashed potatoes, noodles, or rice.  Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Linking to:  Mop It Up Monday
Must Try Monday
Melt in Your Mouth Monday
Recipe Sharing Monday
Hunk of Meat Monday
Mangia Monday

Herb Rubbed Sirloin Tip Roast

I make sirloin tip roasts a lot.  I can still purchased a sirloin tip roast on sale here for $2.49 a lb. which is much less than chuck or similar cuts.  I also like that a sirloin tip roast can actually be roasted instead of pot roasted if that is what I want to do with it.

Recently I was looking for a new recipe and found Herb Rubbed Sirloin Tip Roast over at allrecipes.  I changed the ingredients some and gave the recipe a try.  I liked that the seasonings were mixed with the olive oil which made a nice paste that was easy to apply with a pastry brush. This is a method that I am going to adopt for other rubbed meats.   We liked it a lot, and I will be making this roast often.  The rub has a bit of a kick to it, so omit the chipotle and reduce the cayenne pepper if it is too much.
 
I do like to stud my roasts with garlic which gives the meat a subtle garlic flavor.,  You can see the pieces of garlic in the slices in the photo.   My hubby likes his meat well done, and I like medium rare.  To compromise when making a roast, I usually cook the meat until it is medium, than he takes his slices from the outside, and I take mine from the middle.

Herb Rubbed Sirloin Tip Roast
adapted from allrecipes

2 t. regular paprika
1 t. smoked paprika
1 T. kosher salt (1 t. if using regular table salt)
1 t. dried dill weed crushed
1 t. garlic powder
1/2 t. onion powder
1/2 t. freshly ground black pepper
1/4 t. freshly ground chipotle chili  seasoning (This is a Spice Island Grinder product), optional
1/4 t. cayenne pepper (increase to 1/2 t. if not using the chipotle)
1/2 t. dried thyme, crushed
1/2 t. ground oregano
2 T. olive oil
1 (3 lb.) sirloin tip roast
1 to 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

Combine seasoning ingredients and olive oil.  Let stand for 15 minutes.  Meanwhile poke slits in the meat with a knife and insert the garlic slices into the slits.  Cut the garlic slices in half if necessary.  Place the roast on a foil-lined roasting pan.  Spread the seasoning paste on all surfaces of the meat.  Place in a 350 degree oven and roast to at least a temperature of 145 degrees for rare.  This will take at least one hour, longer for beef that is more well done.  Let stand 15 minutes before serving.  Serves 8 or more.

Linking to Hunk of Meat Monday

Cooking from the Blogs-What I Made

Recently I made a couple of blog recipes that I managed to take photos of.  Both of these were great and will go into my regular recipe rotation.

Since I make lunch for hubby and me every day, I am always looking for something new that will provide more variety than my old standbys.  I had seen this recipe for French Dip Crescents and Easy Au Jus over at Mommy Loves Food and included it in one of my Friday Finds.  When I ran across deli roast beef at a great sale price, I bought some to make this.  I used cheddar cheese instead of  Swiss.  These were very good and hubby said that he would eat them from time to time.  I had two left over that I took for lunch at work.  Although the meat was a little dry, they reheated nicely in the microwave.  I liked the homemade au jus very much, but I would double the recipe next time so that I could put some in the freezer as we used all of it.

In my last Cooking from the Blogs post, I had made Roasted Potato Stacks which were very good.  Those were made by stacking slices of potato in muffin pans.  This time I made Crisp Roast Potatoes from Amanda’s Cookin  which was her Secret Recipe Club recipe this month.  For this dish, you slice the potatoes thinly and place them on their edges in a baking pan.  She used shallots.  I didn’t have any so use red onion slices instead.  I halved the recipe since there were just the two of us and knew that there would still be leftovers.  I used a 7x11-inch baking dish and ended up using about nine medium potatoes to fill the dish.  I mixed some garlic powder with the butter and olive oil that is poured over the potatoes and used Spice Islands Rosemary Garlic Grinder as my seasonings.  Hubby said the these reheated well in the microwave when he fixed them for dinner the next night.  This was another fun way to serve potatoes, and I will make these often.

Greek Roast Beef

Good Monday morning.  Thanks for taking time out of your busy lives to stop and read this blog.  I hope that what you find here is useful to you.

I have mentioned that I only cook evening meals three time a week due to my work schedule, and often cook roasts, casseroles, and other meals that will leave leftovers for my hubby to eat the four nights I am gone.

Saturday I decided to try a Greek inspired roast using a cooking method that was on a recipe card I picked up at a local grocery store.  The recipe was for a sirloin tip roast.  I didn’t look carefully enough at what the roast was that I took from the freezer.  It turned out that it was a rump roast so I used that.  It turned out fine so either a sirloin tip or a rump roast could be used.

A commercial Greek seasoning can be used or you can make your own. One recipe that I have used is here at Food for My Family.  I like that one because it doesn't call for dried mint which I don't always have on hand.  The recipe called for cooking the roast in beef broth and red wine.  This combination plus the Greek seasoning made a very flavorful gravy.  I also cooked some onions and carrots with the roast.

I like to stud my beef roasts generously with garlic.  To do this  I make half inch or so slits with a point of a sharp knife and insert slices of garlic into the slits.  I usually make these about 1 inch apart all over the roast.  This takes two to three cloves of garlic.  This step is optional, but if you like garlic, it adds great flavor to the beef.

I am personally not very fond of beef roast cooked in a slow cooker, but I am sure one could be used for this recipe if desired.

An explanation about the photo.  Our weather has been very overcast, and we often lose daylight as early as three o'clock.  Since we don't eat until around seven, I had to settle for taking a picture of the roast the next day after it was cold.

Greek Roast Beef
1 3-4 lb. sirloin tip or rump roast
2 to 3 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
olive oil
2 to 3 teaspoons Greek seasoning
small amount of vegetable oil
1 c. beef broth
1/4 c. red wine
1 c. chopped onion
1 c. baby carrots, halved lengthwise

Trim roast of any excess fat.  If desired stud roast with slices of garlic.  Brush olive oil on all surfaces of the meat.  Rub roast with Greek seasonings.  Heat a small amount of vegetable oil in a oven-proof Dutch oven.  Brown meat on all sides.  Drain off any excess oil.  Add beef broth and red wine.  Cover and roast at 300 degrees for 1 1/4 hour.  Add onion and carrots and roast another 45 minutes.  I cooked my roast to medium 160 degrees.  Remove roast from cooking liquid.  Cover with foil and keep warm.  Use a slotted spoon to remove carrots and onions to a oven-proof serving dish.  Cover and return to turned-off oven to keep warm.  Remove fat from cooking liquid and measure the amount (I had 3 cups).  Mix about 2 T. flour for each cup of cooking liquid with a small amount of water.  Stir until flour/water mixture is smooth.  Slowly add to the cooking liquid while stirring to mix well.  Continue to stir and bring to a boil.  Stir and boil for a few minutes until gravy is of desired thickness.

Linking to:  Ingredient Spotlight
These Chicks Cooked
Wow Me Wednesday-Polka Dots on Parade
Whatever Goes Wednesday
Wow Me Wednesday-Ginger Snap Crafts
Hunk of Meat Monday

Chinese Filled Buns

Last weekend my daughter said to me she was craving Chinese Filled Buns.  So I made some.  This was something I used to make all the time when the kids were at home. I don’t make these as often now because I love them, but I hate them.  If these are in my fridge, there is a constant battle between my mouth and my hand.  Every time I walk by the fridge, mouth wants my hand to reach in and get a bun.  Hand resists, mouth insists.   For me, these are like eating popcorn. I can easily eat a whole loaf of bread’s worth in an afternoon

Although somewhat time-consuming, these are very easy to make; and there is a lot for the effort put in.  They are good hot or at room temperature.  They make great picnic food, appetizers, and snacks.  The basic idea can be used with fillings other than what I am posting here.  Some ideas:  ham or bacon  and eggs, Italian sausage and cheese, taco meat, barbecued meat or chicken, ham and cheese just to name a few.  Also, the two fillings can be served in flour tortillas if one doesn't want to go to the effort of making the buns.  Kids like to help make these by stretching out the dough balls. I found this recipe in Sunset magazine sometime in the 80's. 

My photos aren’t great, but I am going to try a little bit of a tutorial.

You will need 3 loaves of frozen bread dough,  thawed until just pliable, about 1-2 hours.  (I forgot to take a photo of the bread.)

To make the pork filling, which is what I made, you need the ingredients  below.

You cut the pork butt into 1/2-inch cubes, pour a garlic, ginger, soy marinade over them, brown the cubes, add a cornstarch, soy sauce, sherry, water mixture to thicken them up.

The thickened mixture will look like this. Set aside to cook.

You cut each loaf of bread into 16 pieces.  Roll each piece into a ball and stretch the dough ball out to about 4 inches, just as if you were making mini pizzas.

 

Place 1-2 T. of filling into the center of the dough circle.  I use about 1 1/2 T.

Pinch the edges of the dough ball together, and place on greased baking sheet.  Repeat with all the pieces of dough.  Let rise in warm place 20-30 minutes.  Bake at 350 degrees about 20 minutes.

.

Chinese Filled Buns (Bow)
3  loaves  (3 lb.) frozen bread dough

Choice of Filling below. Other fillings may be used, try taco meat, ham and cheese, Italian sausage, etc.

Remove bread dough from freezer and thaw as package directs, covering it with a moist cloth or brushing surface with salad oil; thaw just until the dough is pliable, 1-2 hours at room temperature.  Meanwhile prepare filling.

With a lightly floured knife, cut a thawed loaf in half lengthwise and then cut each half into 8 equal-sized pieces, making 16 total pieces.  Roll each piece of dough into a ball.  Pull and stretch the dough as if making a mini pizza until it is about 4 -inches in diameter.  Place 1-2 tablespoons of the filling in the center of each round; pull edges of dough up around filling and tightly pinch together to seal.  Place buns, pinched side down, about 2-inches apart, on a greased cookie sheet.  Cover and let rise in warm place until puffy and light, about 20-30 minutes.

Brush each bun with melted butter.  Bake in a 350-degree oven for about 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.  I also like to brush with butter when they come out of the oven.  Serve warm, reheated or at room temperature.  Repeat with remaining two loaves.  Makes 48 filled buns.  Store buns in refrigerator or freeze.

These can be made ahead, and, in fact, we like them better after a day or so in the refrigerator.  To heat individual buns from refrigerator, place in microwave and heat 30 seconds.  If doing more, increase the time by 15 seconds or so for each additional bun.

Buns may be frozen.  Flash freeze on a baking sheet, then seal tightly in a freezer bag.  To reheat, place the frozen buns, uncovered, in a 350-degree oven for about 25 minutes or until heated through.

You may use chicken breasts or thighs in either of the recipes below.

Chinese Pork Filling
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 t. grated fresh ginger root (or 1/4 t. ground ginger)
2 t. sugar
2 T. soy sauce
1 1/2 lbs. boneless pork (such as butt), cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2 t. sugar
1 T. cornstarch
2 T. soy sauce
1 T. sherry
1/4 c. water
1 T. vegetable oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped

Combine garlic, ginger, sugar and soy sauce.  Add pork cubes to this mixture and stir to coat.  In a small dish combine sugar, cornstarch, soy sauce, sherry and water.  Mix well and set aside.  Heat oil in a large frying pan or wok over high heat.  When the oil is hot, add pork, cook, stirring frequently, until browned, about 5 min.  Add onion and continue stir-frying for about 2 minutes more or until onion is limp.  Stir cornstarch mixture into pork; cook, stirring, until sauce boils and thickens, about 30 seconds.  Skim off and discard any fat.  Cool.

Curry Beef Filling

1 t. curry powder
1/8 t. cayenne
1/2 t. sugar
2 T. soy sauce
1 t. grated fresh ginger root (or 1/2 t. ground ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 lb. boneless beef (such as top round), cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 more t. curry powder
1 T. cornstarch
3 T. water
2 T. soy sauce
2 T. vegetable oil
1 med. onion, finely chopped

Combine curry powder, cayenne, sugar, soy sauce, ginger and garlic.  Add beef and stir to coat.  Combine second curry powder, cornstarch, water, and soy sauce.  Set Aside.  Heat vegetable oil in a large frying pan or wok over high heat.  When the oil is hot, add beef and cook, stirring, until meat is lightly browned, about 2 min.  Add onion and continue stirring until it is limp, about 2 min.  Add cornstarch mixture to pan and cook, stirring, until sauce boils and thickens, about 30 seconds.  Cool.

Monday-DIY Groceries:  Biscuit and All-Purpose Mixes

Linking to This Chick Cooks,  What I Made Wednesday, Ingredient Spotlight

Steak Cubes with Butter Crumb Dumplings

This  recipe originally used 2 lbs. of round steak cut into 6 portions.  I  cube the meat instead and use 1 to 2 lbs. round steak, depending on how many people I am feeding. The meat seems to go further that way.  I also use the Cream Soup Mix that I posted on Monday and add vegetables to the original dish to make it a one-dish meal.  We like our dish saucy, so I double the gravy ingredients.

If you choose to cut the steak into larger pieces, coat the meat with some seasoned flour, then pound it with a meat mallet, and coat it with the flour again before browning it.  This will help to get some flavor into the meat.  Round steak is inexpensive, and I use it a lot; but sometimes it does not have much flavor..

You can make this without rolling the dumplings in the buttered crumbs, but it is much better if you take the time to do it.  You may omit the poultry seasoning in the dumplings or use another herb.

Steak Cubes with Butter Crumb Dumplings
1-1 1/2 lb. round steak, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 T. salad oil
1/3 c. flour
salt or seasoned salt
pepper
1 can cream of chicken soup or 1/3 c. Cream Soup Mix and 1 1/3 c. water
1 can water
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
1 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen vegetables (mixed vegetables, peas and carrots, broccoli, California blend, carrots, etc.)

Heat salad oil in a skillet.  Combine flour, salt and pepper in a plastic bag.  Shake steak cubes in the flour to coat.  When oil is hot, add steak cubes and cook until well browned on all sides.  Transfer to a 9x13-inch baking dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray.  Add the frozen vegetables to the meat.  Combine the soup or soup mix and 1 1/3 c. water, with the 1 c. water and the salt and pepper in the skillet in which the meat was browned.  Heat until boiling.  Pour over the meat and vegetables.  Cover.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until meat is tender.  Remove from oven; increase oven temperature to 425 degrees.

Butter Crumb Dumplings
1 c. fine dry bread crumbs
1/2 c. melted butter, divided
2 c. flour
1 T. baking powder
1 t. poultry seasoning (omit or use other seasoning if you want)
1/2 t. salt
1 c. milk

Mix 1/4 c. melted butter into the bread crumbs combining until all the crumbs are well coated.  Combine flour, baking power, poultry seasoning, and salt.  Stir well.  Combine 1/4 c. melted butter and the milk.  Stir into the flour mixture.  Stir until dry ingredients are moistened.  Mixture will not be smooth.  Spray a kitchen tablespoon with cooking spray.  Drop dough by rounded spoonfuls into the buttered crumbs; roll dough in the crumbs until coated.  Place on top of meat and vegetables.  Bake 20 to 30 minutes until lightly browned on top.  Makes  6-8 servings.

You will probably have buttered crumbs left over, put in a freezer bag, freeze, and use later.

I am linking this recipe to Potluck Sunday at Mommy's Kitchen.

Monday:  DIY Groceries-Cornell Mix