Monday, June 14, 2010

Chef Beej

I bought a new cookbook a couple of weeks ago. This is not a strange thing, I work in a book store and we sell rows and rows of cookbooks. What's new is that I actually bought one. I browse through them all the time but either the recipes don't appeal to me or the ingredients would take a month of Sundays to track down. But not this one:




Now don't let the word 'diet' turn you off. The recipes in this book are just normal recipes except they include carb count, calories etc. As far as I can tell, that's all that means.

ANYWAY, I decided to try a recipe a week out of this book. Last week I made this New England Seafood Chowder:



New England Seafood Chowder

Ingredients
4 pounds haddock fillets, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
1/4 pound uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/4 pound bay scallops
4 bacon strips, diced
3 medium onion, quartered and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups diced peeled potatoes
4 cups milk
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon lemon-pepper seasoning
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Directions
Place haddock in a Dutch oven; cover with water. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Add the shrimp and scallops; simmer 10 minutes longer. Drain, reserving 2 cups cooking liquid; set liquid and seafood aside.
In a soup kettle, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp; drain on paper towels. In the drippings, saute onions until tender. Stir in flour until blended. Gradually stir in reserved cooking liquid. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Reduce heat. Add potatoes; cover and cook for 15-20 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
Add the milk, seafood, butter, parsley, salt, lemon-pepper and pepper; heat through. Sprinkle with bacon. Yield: 15 servings (3-3/4 quarts).



Now, I changed it a bit, used flounder and only 2 lbs of it and added a lb of scallops and a lb of shrimp and then I cut everything else in half. It was incredibly good. (Just don't do what I did; I inadvertently flavored the bacon with finger..ouch.)

Tonight I made this, a pepper crusted beef roast accompanied by a horseradish sauce:




PEPPERY ROAST BEEF

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon seasoned pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 boneless beef eye round roast (4 to 5 pounds)

HORSERADISH SAUCE:
1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons prepared horseradish
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
Directions
In a small bowl, combine the oil, seasoned pepper, garlic, thyme and salt; rub over roast. Place fat side up on a rack in a shallow roasting pan.
Bake, uncovered, at 325° for 2-1/2 to 3 hours or until meat reaches desired doneness (for medium-rare, a meat thermometer should read 145°; medium, 160°; well-done, 170°). Let stand for 10 minutes before slicing.
In a small bowl, combine the sauce ingredients. Serve with roast. Yield: 10-12 servings.


This is what the pepper coating looks like prior to being put on the roast:



I used several different kinds of seasoned pepper and it was WONDERFUL!

Here it is on the roast prior to cooking:




Now, the horseradish sauce is great, too, but let me warn you, it packs a wallop.(but I like that.)

Touch of Home has a good site which not only has all the recipes from the book but also you can push a button and they will put together the grocery list for you. I like that.

13 comments:

  1. I like cookbooks a lot. They're fun to flip through and good starting points. Strangely, I rarely follow recipes accurately. As well, just about every time I make something, I make it a bit differently. That may not be good form but I can't help that.

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  2. mister anchovy, I used to love to go to antique barns and look through the old cookbooks. I especially love the ones where someone had written little things about the recipes in the margins.

    I think it's Better Homes and Gardens that re-released their cookbook from the fifties. You would not believe the quantity of butter they used! Recipes have changed for sure.

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  3. I LOVE cookbooks and have tons of them. :)
    Your dishes look wonderful! Mmmm...now I'm hungry again. :P

    ((Hugs))
    Laura

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  4. they both sound good even though i dont care for chowder...

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  5. I need to find a new recipe for next week. Hmmm...so many choices!

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  6. Well, my skinny ass has no need to lose weight being as I eat to live and not live to eat. I have two cookbooks, old ones, the kind that some would claim will make you fat, it's not working.

    Of course it's been some time since I was dewormed.

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  7. Some day, you'll have to come over and look at my Amish cookbooks. They're old-world style recipes. I also have some cookbooks from the 30s and 40s, two from the 60s, and then three that are a bit more modern. Plus, a bunch of "international cuisine" cookbooks.Yeah, I got a lot of them but....Good eating!
    My next cooking challenge is going to be "Jewish" food- maybe we should try it together. :)

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  8. Billy, worms?? Are you eating a lot of raw pork?? :)

    Anon, I know quite a few Amish recipes. In fact, the pickled egg recipe I posted a few months back is a standard Amish recipe. My dad was born in Pennsylvania and I have a few of his mom's recipes, tho they certainly were not Amish!

    Speakng of worms, my plum tree was soooo loaded with fruit that the branches were touching the ground with the weight. I so would have loved to make plum jam but the plums were wormy.

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  9. I'm so hungry reading this...your roast beef looks divine!!!

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  10. Why thank you! Candy, you might be interested in that Taste of Home site because I THINK they have a section on vegetarian recipes.

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  11. Billy, worms?? Are you eating a lot of raw pork?? :)

    You missed my humor?

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  12. Nice Blog. Interesting that we have the same name and same profession!

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  13. Why hello, Chef Beej! I checked out your site; pretty nice, indeed!

    I am not a professional chef, I simply love to cook. Have any recipes you want to share? ;)

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Go ahead, you can do it! Just whistle if you want me. You know how to whistle, don't you? You just put your lips together and BLOW....

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