Words (Almost) Fail Me

Again, not what I had planned to make today but when I was talking to my most excellent butcher at Pal's, I noticed these little crown rack pork roasts. Basically, it was a crown roast, quartered. It even came with little paper hats for the ends of the ribs! (For lack of tape, I was not able to take a picture of the roast with the little paper hats *sad music*).

Okay, I let it rest until it lost the chill from the fridge then I seared it really well with a mix of butter and olive oil. I threw it into my little baking dish because it was just the right size and covered it with... Dijon Tarragon Dip! Yep, I made it a couple of days ago just for dip but figured that it would probably work as a pseudo rub. I slathered the stuff all over the top and sides of the roast, inserted the thermometer and stuck it in a 325 F oven.

As good as that church Pageant dinner was last year, I did overcook that roast a bit. I was on the thermometer this time like a bloody hawk and as soon as it hit 160 F I pulled it out and tented it with aluminum foil until it reached 170 F.

I made mashed potatoes with cream and butter (left over from baking) and cooked some carrots in the steamer above the potatoes. Meag made a Honey/Lemon Dilly Sauce for the carrots (I think we all know that one) and the meal was on.

It was a really generous cut of meat after I sliced it into four chops. The potatoes were pretty close to lump free and the carrots were a nice bit of tangy in the middle of all of the savoury goodness.

There's one chop left (we had a guest for dinner) and I think I might have to wrestle Meag for it.

I'm going to be writing another post about the potatoes. It really deserves a post of its own.

**Note: A small roast takes about 2 hours to finish at this temperature. When I made it again and looked over the recipe (see, I learned to check the post before I start) I noticed that I hadn't put in the time. Good to know whether you should start approximately 6 hours ahead or approximately 2 hours ahead, doncha think?**

Bison Beef Tourtiere

This one was originaly from the 'zaar, (#21803), but I didn't have any pork today, so I used ground bison instead. TASTY!!

1 lb lean ground beef

1lb ground bison/pork

1 lrg onion (I used VE 3 onion dip mix)

1 lrg potato

1 stalk celery (forgot this time but it is good)

4 cloves garlic (used powder this time, real is better)

6 whole cloves

1 tsp allspice

1 tsp sage

1 dash of pepper

3 c boiling water

4 tsp beef stock powder

1 tsp vegitable stock powder

2 boxes of deep dish pie crust or crust for 2 pies, covered.

1) scramble fry the meat, drain if need be, and add onions.

2) into the slow cooker put; the finely diced potato, celery, the minced garlic the spices and the meat.

3) mix up beef and veg stock powder with the boiling water, and pour it into the slow cooker

4) cook it up all day, or half a day, or low, or high for a few hours and then drain the stock off, and fish out the whole cloves.

5) into the pie dishes (1/2 the meat = 1 pie) and wrap the crust with foil to prevent the edges burning. bake @ 375 for ~ 20-25 minutes or until the crust is brown.

serve with a salad, peas and some bread. We had veg for dipping tonight and roasted red pepper dip and sun dried tomato dip as well as some hot dips, extraordinary cheese dip and the pesto artichoke dip (both hot) was really good.

My Gran's BBQ ribs - extra addictive!

So, I gotta say that blogger is a pain in the ass! I have been locked out for weeks!

Anyway, my Gran's ribs. I got the meat on supper sale on Sat, and so yesterday they made their way into the oven! My cooking experience started with a walk down memory lane, and I can safely promise you some more of my Gran's recipes.

Love you Grandma.

Oh Happy Day! My house smelled ammazzzzzing! Give it a try, you'll be sorry!

1 c water
2/3 c white vinegar
2/3 c ketchup
1/2 c brown sugar
2 tbsp of corn starch and some cold water to mix it in

So, I doubled the recipe, and it was great - for the brown sugar, I used 1/2 c of golden sugar, and 1/4 each of dark brown sugar, and even darker brown sugar. What a taste! The dark and darker sugar really (positively) effected the sauce!

First off, I seared the meat and scored the backs of them. (With S $ P)and layed them out in my roaster 1 layer deep (think this makes a difference in how the sauce gets later, so get a bigger roasting pan!) and set the oven to 325 F.

Mix everything except the corn starch into a med pot and boil it up, then mix the cornstarch and water, and add it to the pot. Let it thicken (wisk it here girls) and over the ribs it goes.

I had no propane for the BBQ, so into the oven they went, all afternoon. oh, my .......

Wish I had a photo everyone, cause it was GLORIOUS! Served the crack with rice and steamed brocolli and the husband was happy! (Happy meaty tummy ;-) )