The Roast Revival

I cooked a RibEye Roast for the first time - times 2 - this holiday season.  Having never cooked this cut of beef before I asked the butcher for recommendations.  For my 5 plus pound roast I was given the following instructions:

Bring the roast to room temperature by leaving on the counter for one hour prior to cooking Preheat the oven to 350- Cook for one hour then turn the oven off.  DO NOT OPEN the Door during this time.  Wait one hour.  Then turn the oven back on to 350 and cook 20-40 minutes depending upon your preference for how rare you like your beef.

She told me she had been cooking her roast this way for 25 years and true to her word it came out beautifully!  Now I just need to remember to stop in and let her know how it turned out!

The marbling in a ribeye is a beautiful thing and provides so much of the rich beefy flavor of this particular cut of beef.  Especially when it is hot.  Next day ribeye leftovers that marbling can seem obscene as if somehow overnight in the refrigerator all of the fat molecules joined forces and multiplied - a lot.  I figured I could take advantage of their effort and use a braise to melt the fat and re-infuse the meat -making it tender and juicy.  I fine chopped all I had left and added it to a pan with some remaining au jus and a little broth and simmered it all for about 30 minutes.  Sauteed up a mess of peppers and onions and my Ribeye Roast was reborn into a Philly Cheese Steak.

 Enjoy and Happy Eating!!!

By the way...................Spencer says

A Tale of Two Dips - part Two

The other luscious leftover from our celebrations was a simply divine mushroom pate spread.  Long long ago in a galaxy far far away, no wait - that was just for you MG, faithful reader and mine.  Several years ago one of us got a small tin of Mushroom Pate in her stocking.  I believe it was my mother who took it and developed a simply marvelous mushroom mashed potatoes that is  heavenly and has been oft repeated at holiday dinners.  We had a menu change this year which left me with a tin of pate and a desire to have a mushroomie component to our meal.  I mixed the tin with some sauteed finely chopped mushrooms, cream cheese, and a hefty handful of grated Parmesan.  35 minute stint in a 350 oven produced a creamy, earthy, cheesy - mushroom delightful spread.

And now the fun begins round two with the continuation of the party, the refrigerator clean out party that is. It has been unseasonably cold here, well everywhere for that matter and that has me staying indoors and seeking warmth.  I decided that the perfect second life for our cheesy magic mushroom spread was to become a sauce for pasta.  I took the spread, thinned with a little milk and heated in a saucepan.  I added cooled cooked orzo and cooked until heated through.  Perfect as is or feel free to add some freshly chopped parsley and a little more Parm - never hurt anything!

Happy Eating!! Enjoy!!

A Tale of Two Post Holiday Dips Part One

Tis the season for celebrations and there has been a great deal to celebrate what with the holidays and New Years and family and company.  And celebrations for my family  will ususally mean one or hopefully, more than one snack meal.  The origin of our family tradition began for me as a young child in my parents home where the snack meal was almost favored over a traditional sit down dinner for any special occasion.  The meal can be as complicated or as simple as you wish and the very most delightful thing about this style of eating is little bites of this and that, tons of flavor, texture, and temperatures-  it simply is the best.  Our snack meals over the years have become somewhat legendary with some, namely sister, who insists on certain components to be present for it to even be considered a snack meal.  In this instance, and at her insistence, the object of her utmost desire is smoked white fish and to go along with it, smoked white fish dip.  She loves it and has over the years developed her very own sensational spread.  So of course we have THAT.  But we also have something warmy and something crunchy and something veggie, and we have lots of lots of things that are spready.  And we have conversation, we have laughter, and we create memories, and we have fun.

So after the guests have departed and I survey the scene that is my refridgerator I find myself with an abundance of two such spready things and the hamster starts running and the wheel starts a-turning and low and behold a plannedover is born.Spinach, Sun Dried Tomato, and Goat Cheese Spread is gloriously reborn into a decadent frittata with additional sauteed spinach, a little more goat cheese and some eggs. 

Spinach, Sun Dried Tomato, and Goat Cheese Spread
1 Block of Cream Cheese
Sauteed fresh Spinach or frozen spinach drained and sauteed - with garlic of course
1/4 Cup Sun Dried Tomatoes finely chopped
1/2 of a small log of goat Cheese


Allow Cream Cheese to come to room temperature and blend in remaining ingredients - either by hand or using a stand mixer.  Transfer mixture to an oven proof serving dish.  Heat at 350 for 30 minutes until bubbly and golden.  Serve with crackers or toast points.

This had been baked and enjoyed and is en route to being reborn!!

Spinach, Sun Dried Tomato, and Goat Cheese Frittata
3/4 Cup of PlannedOver  Spinach, Sun Dried Tomato, and Goat Cheese Spread
1 Cup Sauteed Spinach
1/4 of a small log of Goat Cheese
6 eggs

Put all ingredients in a mixing bowl, whisk to combine - pour into a glass baking dish- I used a loaf pan- and bake at 350 for one hour.

Happy Eating!!! Enjoy!

Mashed Potatoes become Gnocchi Part Deux

Happiest New Year to you!!! I can not hardly believe it is 2014.  I hope your holidays were all you wanted and that this glorious year has gotten off to a smashing start!  I hope your resolutions included incorporating plannedovers and delicious food in the New Year!  On to Gnocchi!

So if you have frozen gnocchi - bring a pot of salted water to a boil - drop gnocchi and cook - it is ready when it floats to the surface

I scoop from the water an put in a bowl with a little olive oil until I am ready to use.

Next step is where the magic happens.  I personally find the texture of boiled gnocchi to be a bit redundant lacking any yin to the yang - it's all just the same.  However that same so so gnocchi plus a little butter and some time in a pan-you get the good stuff.  Crunchy outside and creamy pillowy inside in which the two textural components create an end product that is infinitely better than individually. 

In the beginning

Golden Nuggets of Goodness

Like all of the photos?  Let me tell y'all how much flour I got on my phone taking these!  Enjoy!! Happy Eating and Happy New Year!!

A Second Life for Mashed Potatoes Part I

I took a detour from the norm and in lieu of Mashed Potato Pancakes I decided to make a PlannedOver out of a PlannedOver!  Gnocchi, like so many good things in life, is rather time consuming- it is not impossible or even terribly difficult, but if you are going to invest the time - you might as well make it very worth your while.  I started with PlannedOver mashed potatoes and to that added 2 eggs and some AP flour.

Mashed

Mashed with Egg

Potatoes with egg and flour

The amount of flour you will use will be highly dependent on both how wet your mashed potatoes are, and how humid it is outside. You want just enough flour for the dough to hold a soft shape.  If you overwork the dough - you will know it in the form of tough finished product.  Lightly working the dough and keeping it somewhat loose is the key to ethereally light pillow soft gnocchi.  It will take experimentation and you'll probably have some ledden pellets before you achive gnocchi perfection and that is simple part of the learning process.  If it is your very first time I would recommend dividing the mashed potatoes into fourths, add some beaten egg and slowly incorperate AP flour until you think you've got it right.  Keep a pot of salted water on a boil while you work and drop a piece of dough in from time to time to check your work.  Most importantly - have fun with it.

Onto stage two.  We will roll out the dough on a floured surface into long strands.

Then using a fork - cut to your desired length.

Now here is where PlannedOver part two comes into play.  I put all of my gnocchi onto a sheet pan and into the freezer!!

Once frozen I transfer to a gallon freezer ziplock and now you do have an elegant side that is last minute time friendly.

Stay tuned for next week for taking these beauties from blah beige to gorgeous golden brown!

Happy gnocching and Happy Eating!!!

The Roast of PlannedOver Future

So the not so wee one and I recently attended Atlantic Stage's production of "A Christmas Carol"  It was an amazing, and rather large, production with a record cast of 24 actors.  And with the ghosts of Christmas' Past, and Present and Future and it's not so subtle message of "the reason for the season" I got excited.  I've been pretty stoked for the holidays as I am every year with the decorating and menu planning, and anticipation for family arriving and memories created.  What I have been significantly less than stoked about is the buying and the shopping and the finding of the presents.  It is one thing to find a unique and special something for someone, something you know they will cherish and love.  But buying for the sake of

buying is offering me absolutely zero satisfaction.  So I'm not.  I just am not.  Will be interesting to see how this all plays out, but for sure I will be happy about it!

So in honor of the Ghost of Chritstmas Future - I present the Roast of Future PlannedOvers.

This recipe came from Epicurious and the reviews are spot on!  I of course modified with what I had on hand which included Bell's Seasoning, Garlic a splash of white wine and some Smokey Mustard. This product is quite possibly one of my very favorite things and can be added to a myriad of dressings, sauces, vegetables, marinades, and take it to an entire whole new level.

Happy Eating!!! Enjoy!

Patty Cakes and Arancini

So the idea came to me in the form of arancini with my plannedover Spanish rice.  But it was a weeknight and lets be really honest with ourselves in that I am not really partial to deep frying anything.  But the concept was there and that was a good enough start for me!  I followed the premise and basic directions as  Potato Pancakes, using a little egg and breadcrumbs to bind, and then I added a GENEROUS handful of grated Parm.  Because we all know everything is better with cheese!

Formed into pattys

Then a brief stint in the saute pan with a kiss of olive oil!!

Happy Eating!  Enjoy!