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.