Roast Beef and Stilton Melt inspired by A Fatal Grace

Thinly sliced roast beef, horseradish and stilton blue cheese spread, and peppery arugula snuggled between slices of buttered French bread and grilled to perfection.

Barton & Guestier Chateau Magnol and Instant Pot Beef Brisket #Winophiles

Beef Brisket doesn't have to take all day.  You can feel free to go to work, run your errands, go on a shopping spree, or go for a hike.  When you get home, pull out your trusty Instant Pot and dinner will be ready a short time later.

I paired this dinner with a Bordeaux Blend from Barton & Guestier for our French Winophiles event this month......

Beef Roast on a Spit and the Weekly Menu #LitHappens

Cooking this New York Strip Roast on the rotisserie creates an amazing crust on the outside.  Place a pan of root vegetables underneath the roast as it cooks and all those delicious drippings flavor your vegetables and gives you an amazing dinner without much hands on work.

I was inspired to make this Beef Roast on a Spit after reading the Kitchen House, our Lit Happens selection for August.

Roasted New York Strip Loin and the Weekly Menu including Thanksgiving #SundayFunday

This New York Strip Loin Roast is coated with fresh herbs and cooked to a perfect medium rare.  It is the perfect entree for a holiday dinner.  

The Sunday Funday Bloggers are getting ready for the Holidays.......

What shall I do with this leftover Strip Loin Roast?

Got Beef?  I made a strip loin for Christmas Dinner and it was delicious.  I had some leftover and it was way too good to waste so I decided to make this Beef in Red Wine Sauce.  It turned out lovely and will be making return performances whenever I have leftover roast to use.

Being faced with all the Christmas Leftovers inspired me to write you a poem........

Pot Roast Soup and the Weekly Menu

When planning my Weekly Menu I try to incorporate any leftovers into another meal during the week.  This Pot Roast Soup is the perfect way to enjoy that leftover pot roast as an entirely new dinner.

C'mon in.  I will share this great way to use leftovers and tell you what's on the Menu this week......

Beef Pot Roast with Apples and Onions #FoodieExtravaganza

When Fall weather hits, I immediately start craving warm, homey comfort foods.  This pot roast flavored with apples and onions fits the bill perfectly.  You are going to want to mash some potatoes because the gravy is to die for!

It's time for Foodie Extravaganza........

Brasato al Vino Rosso with Montefalco #ItalianFWT

Beef braised until it is fork tender in red wine and aromatics.  This is comfort food at it's best.

I made this meal to pair with a wonderful Italian wine from Montefalco.  Join us this month as our Italian Food, Wine and Travel group serves up bio dynamic wines.

Celebrating St. Nicholas Day #WinePW

St. Nicholas Day is celebrated each year on December 6th.  This is a popular holiday in Europe.  They celebrate by leaving small gifts in the shoes of their loved ones.

St. Nick visited our house and left a couple of small gifts for Marissa that she found when she awoke in the morning.  That evening we celebrated with a German feast paired with some wonderful wines provided by Winesellers, Ltd.  

Mississippi Roast #SRCReunion

We are having a Secret Recipe Club Reunion!!!   I am so excited.  This group, led by Sarah of Fantastical Sharing of Recipes, was the first cooking group I joined as a blogger.

My regular readers know that I now belong to a plethora of groups and even administer Fish Friday Foodies and Soup Saturday Swappers.

I join groups not only for cooking inspiration but for the camaraderie and support offered by the members.  I have so many people that I consider friends now even though we haven't yet met face to face.

I also have several that I have had the pleasure of meeting in person and they are as wonderful in real life as they are in virtual reality.

One of the most fun members of this group, Sally of Bewitching Kitchen, is my secret assignment this month.  Sally belongs to several of the same cooking groups and always adds fun to the events.  She is witty, clever, smart and amazingly creative.   All of these attributes are evident each day in her blogposts.

The only problem with being assigned Sally's blog was trying to choose a recipe.  Her recipe index has over 40 categories from which to choose.

This Roasted Beet Hummus caught my eye right away.  I love beets.  What a great idea to use them as the main ingredient in hummus.

These Mini Frittatas would be perfect to serve up for a Mother's Day Brunch, as would this Greens, Grapefruit and Shrimp Salad.  And for dessert?  How about this drool worthy Opera Cake.

I spent a lot of time perusing recipes.  I finally decided that I needed to concentrate on a main course meal that I could add to my Weekly Menu.  I went to the Beef section and found this interesting recipe for Mississippi Roast.  Sally told of how she first saw this recipe on The Chew and disregarded it because it did not sound appealing to her.  Then, one of her blogging friends made the recipe and loved it.  This convinced Sally to make her version and she, too, loved it.  That, along with the fact that this was an easy peasy slow cooker recipe that I knew could be turned into at least two meals for the week, convinced me.

I, of course, made my own adaptations.   I started with a bone in roast because that was what I had in the freezer.  

Other than searing the meat, this is as easy as it gets.  Dump everything into the slow cooker and walk away.  The other adaptations are, again, based on what I had in my cupboards and refrigerator. Olive oil for the grapeseed oil, Miracle whip instead of Mayo. Oh yeah, and I added garlic because, I always add garlic.

I went out and spent the day running errands. When I came home, the house smelled amazing.  I put some potatoes on to boil while I shredded the roast, removing all the bones, fat and gristle.  Returned the meat to the juice in the slow cooker to stay warm while I mashed the potatoes and heated some peas and dinner was served.

It was tender, juicy and delicious.  If you use a boneless roast you could shred it right in the slow cooker.  You would still have to remove any large pieces of fat or gristle.  That is just the nature of pot roasts and why, after being braised, they are so amazingly delicious.

The leftovers were served a couple of nights later in these scrumptious Ranch BBQ Beef Sandwiches.

Thanks Sarah for arranging this reunion.  I have missed everyone. Thanks to Sally for having such an awesome blog with hundreds of recipes from which I could choose.  Make sure you stop by and see what all the others found while sneaking around their assignment.  You will find links at the bottom of this post.

Mississippi Roast

slightly adapted from Bewitching Kitchen

1 chuck roast (3-4 lbs)

salt and pepper, to taste

2 T. olive oil

3 T. butter, divided into 3 pats

8 jarred pepperoncini peppers

2 T. Miracle Whip

2 t. apple cider vinegar

1 T. chopped fresh dill

1/4 t. sweet paprika

2 cloves garlic, minced

Make sure the roast is patted dry and then season with salt and pepper.  Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over high heat until shimmering.  Add the roast and sear until golden brown, about 4-5 minutes per side.  Remove from skillet and place into the crock of a slow cooker.

Combine the Miracle Whip, vinegar, dill, paprika and garlic.  Pour over the roast.  Add the peppers, and the pats of butter. Cook on low setting for 6-8 hrs.

Remove the roast to a cutting board.  It will be falling apart.  Using forks, remove and discard any bones, gristle and large chunks of fat.  Shred the meat and return to the crockpot to rewarm in the juices.  Print Recipe

Let's see what the others have made

An InLinkz Link-up

A Birthday Celebration and the Weekly Menu #MerlotMe

We celebrated our eldest daughter's, Amy, birthday today with a family dinner at home.  It was a wonderful gathering of family and friends and I hope it left our girl with a small glimpse of how important she is to our family.  I was thrilled that most of the kids were able to attend.  We missed Chuck who is out to sea at this writing and we missed most of our TC family but were happy that our Lili was able to attend.

I served up all of Amy's favorite foods, Roast Beef Tenderloin, Caesar Salad, Mashed Potatoes and Birthday Apple Pie ala Mode.

Amy is a beer drinker who occasionally appreciates a glass of Chardonnay or a Margarita.  Frank and I, however, are red wine drinkers and I recently received 6 wonderful bottles of wine from Duckhorn Winery who are sponsoring #MerlotMe which takes place each October.

I posted more about it yesterday, when my Wine Pairing Weekend group shared recipes that paired well with Merlot and chatted about our experience on Twitter.

One of the things that we talked about is that while we appreciate our sponsors and love getting free samples we never post anything other than our true and honest opinion on our blogs.  Our relationship to our readers is much more important to us than our relationships with sponsors and none of us belonging to #WinePW received any monetary compensation for being involved in #MerlotMe.

I was beyond thrilled to receive this package from Duckhorn Vineyards.  Their wines are such a wonderful treat and I always enjoy them.

As we were enjoying the wines provided by sponsors for this event we watched fearfully as fires ravaged the Napa and Sonoma area of California.  We pray for the safety and well being of all affected by this terrible tragedy.

The bottle we chose to open to go with this birthday feast was from their Three Palms Vineyard, established in 1978 and one of California's first single vineyard Merlots, meaning that only grapes grown on this vineyard are used.  It received a 95 point rating with Wine Spectator.

This is an amazing wine.  It stood up perfectly to the tender, juicy, herb encrusted beef.  We enjoyed both bottles that had been provided with this meal and we all thought it was an amazing pairing.

Herb Encrusted Beef Tenderloin

1 (4 lb) beef tenderloin roast (trimmed, tied and cut in half crosswise)

3 cloves garlic

handful parsley 

leaves of 5-6 stems of thyme

leaves of 3-4 stems of rosemary

kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

3 T. olive oil

1 c. red wine

3 T. butter

Place the garlic, parsley, thyme and rosemary in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until minced.  Add the salt and pepper, pulse twice and then run while adding the olive oil to make a paste like consistency. Rub all over the roasts and let rest at room temperature for 45 minutes to an hour.

Heat an oven safe skillet over high heat. Add the roasts and sear on all sides until nicely browned.  Place into a preheated 325* oven and roast, turning every 10 minutes or so, until an internal temp of 120* is reached in the thickest portion. Remove from oven and let rest for at least 15 minutes before slicing.

While meat is resting, place skillet over med high heat and deglaze with 1 cup of red wine, bringing to a boil and scraping any brown bits from the bottom of the pan.  Cook until reduced by half, whisk in the butter until slightly thickened and pour over tenderloin slices before serving.  Print Recipe

I'm closing this post with my Weekly Menu.  Yesterday we had dinner after a Mass of Thanksgiving for our friend, Sister Maryann, who celebrated her 60th Jubilee this year.

Tuesday I will be gone for much of the day taking Aunt Irene to the doctor.  Frank is making Spaghetti for dinner as that is Melody's favorite.

Wednesday, Frank is on his own.  I have food pantry and am going right from there to a DoTerra Oil class at Amy's.

I am looking forward to a fun week and hope that you are too.

Weekly Menu

Saturday
Reception at Sister's after Mass

Sunday-Amy's Birthday Dinner
Corn Chowder
Caesar Salad
Pasta with Crab Sauce
Roast Beef Tenderloin
Mashed Potatoes
Steamed Broccoli
Birthday Pie ala Mode

Monday
Hot and Sour Soup
Sweet and Spicy Chicken
Steamed Rice

Tuesday
Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

Wednesday
Leftovers

Thursday
Slow Cooker Cassoulet

Fish Friday
Seafood Pizza

#MerlotMe Trifecta for #WinePW

Woohooooo....it is #MerlotMe time!!  I am so excited.  Do you remember last year's event?  It was so much fun.  You can read all about it in my post A Triple Food and Merlot Tasting.

Now that you've read that post you can see why I was jump out of my skin excited when Jeff of Food Wine Click, invited the members of our Wine Pairing Weekend group to join again in this event. Take a look at Jeff's invitation post to learn more about this wonderful varietal of wine that seems to get lost in the shuffle somehow.

Wine Tasting 1

Liberty School Merlot

My first wine pairing took place on a busy Wednesday during which we had run errands all day. Now I know people think because we are retired we have tons of time.  Let me tell you....I don't know how we found time to go to work.  Every day is an adventure around here.  Knowing that we were going to be gone all day, I put a rump roast into the crockpot before we left.  We walked into the house after our errands and our mouths immediately began to water.  There is nothing better than walking into a house where a crockpot has been working their fingers to bone slaving over a hot stove.  The smell is amazing.

In fact, it smelled so good that I decided to open up a bottle of Merlot and do a wine tasting.  The first bottle of wine that I received for this event came from The Hope Family wineries, specifically Liberty School.  The winery generously provided me with a bottle of  Liberty School 2014 Merlot. Since this was the first received I decided it would be the first tasted.  I just want to take a moment to say that although I was given bottles of wine for this event by different wineries there was no requirement to do anything other than enjoy them.  I am posting my tasting experience here simply because I wanted to share the information with my readers.  All opinions are my own.

I was not familiar with Liberty School prior to getting a bottle from the FedEx guy.  I did a search and found that Liberty School was named for childhood friends who got together to collaborate on wine making and named their wine after a one room schoolhouse. You can read their story here.  I am familiar with Paso Robles as this is not too far from where my brother lives.  I am visiting in January and I am putting this winery on my places to go and things to do list.

The wine poured a deep garnet.  I swirled and sniffed.  I swirled and sniffed again.  I did not get too much, perhaps some berries but not a strong nose at all.  I took a sip and swished.  I got that nice chalky feeling that I love from the tannins in red wines.  I swallowed and tasted blackberries with a good dose of black pepper.  I took a bite of the roast and gravy.  I had another swallow of wine and sighed....it was a busy day but a good day that just got infinitely better.

Busy Day Rump Roast Dinner

1 rump roast

garlic salt and pepper to taste

1 small onion, cut into chunks

2 stalks celery, sliced into 1" pieces

4 carrots, cut into 1" pieces

4 small red potatoes, quartered

1 1/2 c. vegetable stock

2 T. Worcestershire sauce

2 T. cornstarch

1/4 c. cold water

Place the onion, celery, carrots, and potatoes in the crock of a slow cooker.  Season with salt and pepper.  Place the roast on top of the vegetables.  Season with garlic salt and pepper.  Sprinkle with Worcestershire sauce and add the vegetable stock.  Cook on low heat for 8-10 hrs.  

Remove the roast ota cutting board and let rest while you remove vegetables to a platter.  Strain the liquids left in the slow cooker through a seive into a saucepan.  Place the saucepan over high heat and bring to a boil. Combine the cornstarch and water until smooth.  Slowly whisk into boiling juices from roast.  Whisk and cook until thickened and glossy. Pour over roast and vegetables.  Print Recipe

Wine Tasting 2

J Lohr Cuvee POM

The second tasting took place after a long day of packing for our move.  When we got home from Mass I made up some of my Easy Pizza Dough.  While it was busy rising we were busy cleaning out the garage attic.  Not only was it jam packed with 15 years of our stuff but there was still stuff up there from the previous owners!!

When  we were finished (for the day, we still have a couple more hours of work there), we were more than ready for a glass of wine.  Frank opened the wine and let it breathe while we put together the pizza.

Once the pizza was constructed and placed in the oven we sat for the 17 minutes it took to bake, toasted each other for all our hard work and took a sip of this wine.  I am very familiar with J Lohr wines.  We often buy the Cab and since last year's Merlot Me, we have been buying the Merlot as well.  This, however, was our first time trying the Cuvee.

It poured a deep, dark garnet.  So deep and dark that you couldn't see through it.  A swirl showed heavy legs and a sniff reminded me of berries.  I took a sip and a swish and was immediately rewarded wth that dryness that let's you know there is a lot of tannins in this wine.  We swallowed and noted that it was a heavy wine that I described as Jammy.

My favorite part of the tasting was when Frank said..."I don't know much about describing wine.  I don't know what flavors I am tasting besides wine, but I do know what I like and I like this wine". That there folks is quite the recommendation!!

We plated the pizza and topped off our wine glasses. The pie was a Deep Dish Italian Chicken Pizza. It was a heavy pizza and needed a strong, heavy wine.  The Cuvee, being 85% Merlot mixed with Malbec and a small amount of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc was up to the task.  We enjoyed the wine by itself and we enjoyed it with the pizza.  This is a very nice bottle that I would recommend to those who enjoy a heavy, dry wine.

Deep Dish Italian Chicken Pizza

1 recipe pizza dough (enough for two thin crust or one thick crust) My recipe here.

1 t. olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 lg. leek, white and light green parts, cut in half lengthwise, rinsed well and thinly sliced

8 oz. mushrooms, sliced

salt and pepper to taste

3 lg handfuls of baby spinach

1 pint or 1 (15 oz) can crushed tomatoes

2 T. tomato paste

1 T. Italian Herb Paste

salt and pepper to taste

1 1/2 c. cooked white meat chicken sliced into bite size pieces

2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

1/4 c. grated parmesan cheese

Heat olive oil in a skillet over med high heat.  Add the garlic and leeks.  Cook stirring until fragrant and softened.  Add the mushrooms.  Season with salt and pepper and cook until liquid is released and evaporated and the mushrooms are golden and soft. Add the spinach and cook until wilted.  Remove from heat and set aside.

Place the tomatoes, tomato paste, Italian herbs, salt and pepper in a skillet over med high heat.  Cook until thickened and reduced.  Remove from heat and set aside.

Spread pizza dough into a 10x15x1" baking pan.  Top with the tomato sauce.  Cover with the chicken. Layer the mushroom mixture over all.  Sprinkle with both cheeses and bake in a preheated oven for 15-20 minutes until crust is golden brown and cheese is melted and bubbly.  Print Recipe

Wine Tasting #3

Duckhorn Merlot

The third and final tasting was, again, after a long day of packing.  I loved Duckhorn Merlot when I was first introduced to it last year.  You can read my notes on it here.  When I read my notes I was surprised to see that I had liked it's heaviness.  This year, it was my final tasting and was much lighter than the J Lohr Cuvee.  Very smooth with no heavy tannins and reminiscent of luscious ripe berries fresh from the vine.

I served this up with a baked pasta dish that I had made for my brother and sister in love.  They fondly called this the last supper as they will not eat here in this house again.  The pairing was lovely. I had seasoned my vegetable while they were roasting with some pumpkin spice olive oil and the fruitiness of the wine played off of those spices very well.  

The pasta was to die for but you are going to have to wait for the recipe because I am tired and I still have MORE packing to do.  We get the keys to the house today so we are nearing the finish line. Have a Wine Wonderful Weekend, relax and enjoy the other posts being shared today at #WinePW.

Our Talented Bloggers Share Their #MerlotMe Ideas

• Camilla from Culinary Adventures with Camilla shares “Merlot Shows Its Versatility and Goes +1 With Cheese, Meat, and Chocolate”
• Amy from Cooking with Amy shares “Mushroom Parmigiano Pasta Recipe”
• David from Cooking Chat shares “Garlic Thyme Tuna Paired with a Merlot”
• Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm shares “#MerlotMe Trifecta for #WinePW”
• Michelle from Rockin Red Blog shares  “Welcoming Fall with #MerlotMe and #WinePW”
• Jennifer from Vino Travels – An Italian Wine Blog shares “#MerlotMe with Sausage Baked Ziti”
• Sarah from Curious Cuisiniere shares “Exploring Merlot Wine Pairing with Bolognese Sauce”
• Lori from Dracaena Wines shares “Hello, Can you #MerlotMe?”
• Jill from L’Occasion shares “Evenings with Merlot”
• Lauren from The Swirling Dervish shares “Mercy Monday and Merlot”
• Gwen from Wine Predator shares “#MerlotMe with savory simple fall foods”
• Jade from Tasting Pour shares “Chipotle Chicken Stew and Merlot”
• Cindy from Grape Experiences shares “Wine and Dine: Merlot with Eggplant and Polenta Parmigiana”
• Jeff from FoodWineClick! shares “A Love Affair for Merlot and the Grill”