Chuck Roast and Sunset

     You know how it is when you find yourself right smack dab in the middle of a perfect sunset?  You could be at home, on vacation, in the mountains, by the sea, on a plane, in a highrise, near, far, high, low, so long as you are facing west.  And it is stunning.  It clearly takes your breath away.  It makes you happy.  Provides you with some inner feeling of calming serenity.  Some proof that this planet is a perfect system and you want to hold onto the moment, the feeling, as long as you possibly can.  But you know.  The moment is fleeting.  So you think the next best thing would be to capture it on film.  To have forever.  A memory that will for all times evoke these very emotions that are welling up in you right this very moment.  So you snap a shot.  And then another ad nausuem because, hey it is digital and you CAN just delete. And you figure, somewhat smugly, with your mad camera skills and the glorious vision presented, you might just win some sort of photography award with it's stunning beauty.

    The next day you whip out your photography device to relive the magical moment and it's just, not.  The colors are flat, there is too much shadow, or not enough light, and the sun just looks, I don't know, wrong.  Or maybe that only happens to me. Or maybe the glass of wine I was enjoying while watching the sunset made the pictures seem so perfectly able to capture the moment.  I will have to say something similar happened when photographing the PlannedOvers for this particular post.  They are just not.  Not appealing, not artistic, and Not covered in cheese.  Even though I swear I saw him take the photo and he swears I told him I would take the photo, it's not there.  But what was there, was the taste.

     It began on a rainy day, a day good for both book reading and slow cooking, a day to put the industrial food vaccuum storage system to good use. And I did do just that. I got a mess of chuck roast, cubed, seared and and slow simmered it in a pretty neutral base with garlic and onions until falling apart tender.  Allowed it to cool then bagged, sucked, and sealed to be used PlannedOver style for many meals to come.   In fact one week saw this particular PlannedOver become yet another PlannedOver with the creation of two distinct dishes.

     Monday saw the addition of onions and mushrooms, in a roux of beef broth,  made rich with the addition of sour cream all served over egg noodles.  It was a big hit.  Allrecipes has a good place to start here. Thursday took the PlannedOvers from Monday, with a mess of sauteed peppers and onions, on a toasted hogie roll, topped with melted cheese for a different take on a Philly Cheese.

     But just like the elusive sun in the western sky, brown stew meat just don't photograph the way you intend.  You just have to trust the empty plates.

"Beef Stroganoff"

Philly Cheese - photographed sans cheese

Happy Eating!