If everyone planned their meals, this is the only place you would see this symbol!

Listen up, I admit it. I went to the golden arches tonight. I got myself a 1/2 pound of burger goodness. Lucky for me they stiffed me my side order. The good news about that is I saved myself 375 calories. The bad news? I was charged for it.

What happened then? What about my post about avoiding this mess all together?

I could sit here and give you excuse after excuse. What it boiled down to was I violated all 6 points in the previous post:

Where I Went Wrong

I did not pick what I was going to make. Sure, I pulled thick cut pork chops. That was it. I had thoughts of potatoes, maybe some rice, perhaps some carrots. Nothing concrete, see?

Where was the family? Oops, forgot to involve them in the affair. Sometimes it is fun to be a martyr. Well, not always, but sometimes. I will tell you it is easy to dust off accountability.
I had no idea what to do in advance. Life struck today. I am sick, behind at work, in my workouts, and have functions and changes flinging at me left and right. Had I done some things in advance, I would have that less thing to think on, right?
Pre-cooking did not happen. Well, it may not always have to happen, but sometimes it is good to have that stock pre-made, or the brown sauce pulled out. That does count as pre-cooking in my books.

I did not set up my ingredients to get ready to execute the dish. Worse, I wanted mashed potatoes – only to find out that there were no potatoes left. ARRRGGGHHH!!! THE DREADED MEP NIGHTMARE. I drew a blank from that fiasco.

How much easier the Golden Arches were to go to then? Now I am out 25$, didn’t even get what I ordered, but I hope that I have a good lesson to pass off to all of you.

Learning from my mistake – How I am fixing it.

Here is what I am making tomorrow: Pan seared pork chops with apple and raisin chutney. (It is apple season, and I have these nice apples to get rid of!) The side will be roasted acorn squash and puree of potatoes with homemade yogurt and white cheddar.

Pre-making some items. The chutney is simmering as I type this. It will be a nice addition, but it needs to be served cool as well.

Items prepared in advance. I have already brined the chops, peeled the potatoes and put them into water. The acorn squash is cut up and ready to roll.

Tomorrow I will have everything pulled out, ready to roll. This is important, especially if you only have a small window to cook in. The potatoes can stay in a pot of water to put directly on the stove. If there is room, maybe the acorn squash can be set on a baking sheet as well.

How about you? You have succumbed to the drive-thru. What would you do to change that?

image (Fallen Arches) courtesy of iboy_daniel on Flickr under Creative Commons by Attribution 2.0

Disaster! You open up your fridge at the end of the holidays, and sometimes a phantom wings something from the dark depths beyone. Your fridge is so stocked with leftovers that you can’t even see the light, and you are stuck wondering just what the hell you are going to do with it all.

Worse, if you just close your eyes and pretend that the offending packets of wrapped aluminium don’t exist, your shelves will deteriote into a 7th grade experiment. One of the most cardinal sin of REAL food is the waste of that which you do not need.

Respect for food is a respect for life, for who we are and what we do. – Thomas Keller

So what the hell are we to do then? I opened my door last night and was greeted by leftover prime rib, the bones from the roast, mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, brussel sprouts, beef jus, turkey, cranberry chutney, chicken, various cheeses in a macabre state of hackedness. (Hey, I don’t care if the dictionary says it doesn’t exist – you get the picture.)

It would not do to let all that go out the door. I once heard a saying -

When faced with a floor that looks impossible to clean, start with one tile, finish it perfectly, then move on to the next. ~ Anonymous

So here is that start; yesterday I chose the prime rib, bones, mashed potatoes, and mashed sweet potatoes. Here is a transformation to a comfort food that you would not expect from a cut of meat like prime rib. (Hey, you could even do this with a roast if you like, I just happen to have the Lah-ti-Dah prime rib!)

Prime Rib Cottage Pie (AKA pâté chinois in Quebec)

Serves 6

Ingredients:

• 1 medium onion, peeled, small dice
• 1 carrot, peeled, small dice
• 1 rib celery, small dice
• 350 grams (12 oz) leftover prime rib
• 6 leftover bones from the prime rib
• 250 mL (1 cup) beef jus or gravy
• 200 mL (3/4 cup) good red wine
• 750 mL (3 cups) leftover mashed potatoes
• 500 mL (2 cups) leftover mashed sweet potatoes
• to taste kosher salt
• to taste freshly cracked black pepper
• 50 mL melted butter
• to taste paprika

Method:

1. Sweat the onions, carrots and celery together with a tiny bit of canola oil; cook for 5 minutes until translucent.
2. Meanwhile, pick meat off of rib bones; chop into small pieces. I know this is a PIA, but trust me – it is worth it. You can save the bones for your next veal stock excercise. If not – freeze them anyway, because we will do it here one day!
3. Remove fat from prime rib; cut the remaining meat into small dice. You can do what you like with the fat – I like to rub it on my face for those creamy looking cheeks. (I am not serious! Give it to your dog if you like.)
4. Add meat to the pan; sweat for a minute or two to warm through.
5. Add red wine; reduce to 1/10th. Do this gently or risk toughening the meat. That would not be nice, would it?
6. Add jus, reduce until the mixture thickens and coats the prime rib like a gravy. If you do not already love the smells of this dish, go to the doctor now, because something is wrong with you.
7. Combine potatoes together, careful not to completely combine the two. You would like to have some interest in the dish, no? Marbled looks better than orange. It might even be a conversation piece. Sure.
8. Adjust the seasoning of the potatoes and meat mixture with salt and pepper. No going back now, so get it right. Does it need more salt? Pepper?
9. Ladle the mixture into your serving dishes. You can either go big:


You can go big. Notice the marbled effect? Conversation piece, or just plain laziness - You decide!

or you can go individual:



Look how small. One can pretty much serve two people, or maybe one hungry person. Notice the marble effect again. Loving it!

Ah, looks like I jumped the gun with the pictures. You guessed the next steps:

10. Cover the meat/gravy mixture with the combined mashed potatoes; smooth to cover the meat.
11. Score the top with a fork; brush with melted butter. Don’t do it so hard you wreck your rows. Trust me, that sucks.
12. Sprinkle paprika on top of potatoes.I said sprinkle, avoid clumps. One way is with a small strainer.
13. Bake in 175 °C (350 °F) oven for 35-40 minutes or until the top is browned and the meat mixture is threatening to bubble through.

So, that takes care of a prime rib leftover. Do you have any ideas on what you would do with a leftover prime rib? Are you liking what you saw? Wondering what the fate of the turkey will be?

I would love to hear it in the comments.

I posted a confession last week that resonated with a few people. Yes, I tend to hit those bad places in times of need. This morning, whilst running around on my ONE day off this month, I happened to notice a contraption on sale for a hefty mark down:

28$ Canadian for a slow cooker? How can I NOT pass that up?

Now, I can’t even think of why I did not pick one of these things up before? Am I too haughty as a trained chef to use one? Perhaps seeing the one on my step-mother’s counter held me back on the purchase.

Honestly, I have been working crazy hours, and my wife is not into cooking that much. My reasons for buying the contraption are purely selfish. One tires of hearing, “What’s for supper” when you are knee-deep in the juice at work, and are not coming home for a couple of hours.

This machine is supposed to solve that. The ability to set up the dish the night before, refrigerate it, then toss it into the slow cooker before jaunting off to work is something that is too hard to pass up. At the time of this writing, my house smells of simmering stew, and my belly can hardly take it. It is because of this wonderfulness:

Simple ingredients, slow cooking. Can we go wrong?

What is the recipe for this? I cannot really claim it as my own, as I am doing a test from the book that came with the crock:

Crock Pot Beef Stew

(Adapted from Crock Pot Smart Pot’s Owner’s Guide)

Serves 2-4 (I halved the recipe)

Ingredients:

• 800 grams beef chuck, diced
• 20 grams all-purpose flour
• to taste Kosher salt
• to taste pepper, freshly ground
• 600 mL veal stock
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 sprig thyme
• 2 sprigs rosemary
• 2 russet potatoes, cut into 3 cm cubes
• 1 carrot, peeled and sliced into 1 cm slices
• 2 small onions, small diced
• 2 ribs celery, large diced

Method:

1. Combine beef with flour, salt and pepper.Make sure you mix well, otherwise your seasoning will suck!
2. Place meat into Crock Pot.
3. Add stock, garlic, bay leaf, thyme, rosemary, potatoes, carrot, onions, and celery to the pot; mix everything well.
4. Cover and set the timer for 10 hours.
5. DO NOT lift the lid while the stew is cooking, even though you are ready to eat your partner from the delicious smell in your home.

So, what I did here is nothing earth-shaking. I just could not do the recipe in the book as written though. I had to add my touch to it, see?

Next time I plan to sear my meat first, with the flour, and try adding some currant jelly to the mix. Just another dimension.

Score: McDick’s Drive-In: 0 Crock Pot: 1

I will post a few recipes in the coming weeks that will show how I come to terms with this cool invention.

What are your favorite Crock Pot recipes?

Photo Courtesy of stevendepolo of Flickr

This is what the Well Done Chef! is planning for the family the week of July 26th to August 1st, 2009.

I will be working in the night for the 29th, 30th, and the first. Add to that the inventory which must be made on Saturday, and you have a basket of fun! Here is what I have planned for the week:

Also, did you hear that the Taco Bell dog died? So sad, so we are going to eat tacos on Monday in tribute.

Sunday Dinner – Macaroni and pork sausage saute with market vegetables.

Monday - Beef tacos with sour cream, tomatoes, cheese, salsa.

Tuesday - Pineapple pork with Jasmine scented rice, brocolli chow mein, pork and chive dumplings.

Wednesday – Grilled pork chop with rosemary and sage, garlic mashed potatoes, crisp yellow beans.

Thursday – Pepperoni pasta ruffles with tomato and cucumber salad.

Friday – Hotdogs with fries and cheese curds. (Called poutine here.)

Saturday – Risotto with garlic sausage, garden peas, thyme and lemon.

The Elusive Roasted Chicken by Machine is Organic of Flickr fame

This is what the Well Done Chef! is planning for the family the week of July 19th to July 25th, 2009.

Seems like the menu planning is going well. I only ate out once last week, that was Wednesday. See, after working a lot, sometimes you jsut do not feel like cooking. I will just have to redouble the efforts this week. The key to this menu is the pre-preparation. Some things need to be done the night before.

Sunday Dinner – All Dressed Pizza with a nice Italian salad.

Monday - Lime and maple pork loin with roasted peach salsa, green beans.

Tuesday - BBQ Beef burger with onion Kaiser, pickled onions, garden fresh Romas, bib lettuce, served with home cut fries.

Wednesday – Roasted chicken, Tuscan style, green pea rissotto and sauteed zuchinni.

Thursday – Garden tomato soup with lemon and rosemary Chicken and braised fennel.

Friday – Shepherd’s Pie with veggies and dip

Saturday – Penne with Alfredo sauce, minestrone.

The Vegerator by konomike of Flickr

There is nothing worse than saving a few bucks on groceries only to have it go to sludge in the bottom of your crisper. Worse, in a professional kitchen, it is those nickle-and dime produce that can really affect your bottom line. Either way, it makes sense to protect your investment and get the most time out of your purchase. Smart buying means that you only buy as much as you need. What happens when the sale is jsut too much to pass up?

Follow these few tips below to save your produce from going to the crisper in the sky:

Celery

Celery will be happiest if you wrap it in aluminium foil and keep it in the crisper. Take off the plastic bag and wrap it tightly, and your celery will last for months in the crisper. I am not sure why this is, but I can tell you that for about 6 weeks, it will still be crisp as the day you bought it.

Carrots

Finding about carrots was a little difficult, but a good resource here tells us all about how to store them. Of course, it is all about what you buy in the first place. Choose bright orange colored carrots without cracks in the skin. If they have tops, it is important to cut them off. Place them into their own, new plastic Ziploc bag. If your carrots ever get limp, you can slice off the top of the carrot, and refresh them in a bowl of ice water just before you use them. It could take up to a half hour to get the carrots back into shape.

Onions

Okay, this one is a little weird, but it works. Take the best onions you have, remove all loose skin, shoots, etc. Now put them in a pair of panty hose, knotting the panty hose after every onion. The makeshift mobile can now be hung, and everytime you need an onion, you just cut above the knot. The clerk may look at you weird (if you are a guy) when you are purchasing the panty hose, but if it is in the name of saving our produce, why not?

Garlic

You should buy the garlic when the skins are tightly wrapped around the cloves, and there are no green shoots. To store them, either buy a garlic keeper, or make one yourself. Keep the garlic in a dry, cool place to keep for maximum time. (I can usually get about 2 months.) That means it needs to go in a cupboard, not on your kitchen counter.

That covers the basic kitchen staples. Are there any tips that you have for keeping your produce fresh?

Aromatics

Good morning all. This is a little note to let you all know that I have done a guest post over at Tom Naughton’s blog, Fat Head. We are cooking up some real food over there, so check out how to make “real” chicken stock.

Photo Courtesy of Mike Johnson - TheBusyBrain.com

This is what the Well Done Chef! is planning for the family the week of July 5th to July 11th, 2009.

I did not truly stick to last week’s menu, due to veto by L.  Isn’t that always the way it goes?

Sunday Dinner – A crappy McDonald’s Craving. Sheesh, the drivethru took so long, I probably could have made it myself! Interesting note: making Faux Orea Cookies a la Ricardo with L.

Monday - Lime and Palm Sugar Pork Chop with pineapple and mango salsa, green beans.

Tuesday - BBQ Beef burger with onion Kaiser, pickled onions, garden fresh Romas, bib lettuce, served with home cut fries.

Wednesday – All Dressed Pizza with Cheesy Caesar salad

Thursday – Garden pea soup with mint, lemon and rosemary Chicken with braised fennel.

Friday – Shepherd’s Pie with veggies and dip

Saturday – Penne with Meat Parma Rosa sauce, minestrone, (Meat sauce mixed with Alfredo) (Never ate this last week, so here it is.)

my cookbooks by mimundo of Flickr

This is what the Well Done Chef! is planning for the family the week of July 5th to July 11th, 2009.

Sunday Dinner – Barbecue ribeye steak with French fries, mixed salad greens with Balsamic dressing.

Monday - Chicken with fig sauce, couscous. (I will be using fresh figs for my sauce!)

Tuesday - BBQ Pork Chop with potato salad, grilled peppers.

Wednesday – All Dressed Pizza with Home Made Fries

Thursday – BBQ Beef burger with all the fixins, Caesar salad

Friday – Shepherd’s Pie with veggies and dip

Saturday – Penne with Meat Parma Rosa sauce, minestrone, (Meat sauce mixed with Alfredo)

book shelf project 1 ~ striatic {notes} by striatic of Flickr

This is what the Well Done Chef! is planning for the family the week of June 21st to June 27th, 2009.

Sunday Dinner – Barbecue Chicken with French fries, barbecue sauce.

Monday – Pork Chop with mashed potato, carrot salad

Tuesday - Mediterranean style chicken with black olives, lemons, couscous.

Wednesday – Smoked BBQ Pork Ribs with Asian slaw

Thursday – BBQ Beef burger with all the fixins, Caesar salad

Friday – Shepherd’s Pie with veggies and dip

Saturday – Penne with Parma Rosa sauce, minestrone

Sunday – Pizza all-dressed with fries