Campfire Beans

A few weeks ago, we had a sneak peek into summer on our Coastal corner of California. We seized the moment, to fire up our Weber grill, and to invite friends for a backyard barbecue.

For the menu, I decided to make Beef Brisket, Homemade Barbecue Sauce, and Cole Slaw. To round out the meal, beans seemed like the perfect choice.   I do love beans, that's for sure. My family likes the California Barbecue Beans I've posted before.  I'm always on the lookout for Ranch Style beans.  I recently saw a Pioneer Woman episode, on Food Network, for these campfire beans.  Since they're made with pinto beans, one of my favorites, this seemed like a good time to make them.

When I make pinto beans, I usually soak them overnight.  PW didn't soak hers, so I went along for the ride.   Just plan on four hours to allow the beans to cook low and slow.

Rinse and clean 4 cups of pinto beans.  Smoked Ham hocks (or shanks) give a smoky flavor to beans, so I tossed in a couple of them, covered the beans with water and cooked them for a couple of hours; check every so often that the water doesn't evaporate, which mine never did.

The funny thing is, Ree's recipe doesn't specifically say what to do with the ham hocks.  I simply removed them, and pulled them off the bone, chopped them, and set them aside.

 

The veggies include diced onion and two red bell peppers.   I decided to use only one red bell pepper, and plenty of minced garlic-- about 4 large cloves.  The spices includes chili powder, salt & pepper, but added cumin, because I love it.

I veered off from the original recipe, by added all of the vegetables and the spices, at the same time, to the cooked beans-- then I let this cook for a couple more hours.

I added the chopped ham,  and turned the pot down to a low simmer, until the beans thickened.

 Yep, they thickened nicely...

The smoked brisket turned out perfectly-- and I will share that recipe next.  My husband did a great job with that brisket-- my mouth waters, just remember that dinner.

 TASTING NOTES:  What I liked about these beans is the smoky flavor from the ham hock.  I don't regret using only one bell pepper, as opposed to two.  I served the beans with hot sauce, on the side.  The next time I made these,  (during the last 20 minutes or so) I added two jalapenos...a little too hot for me!  However, I think 1/2 a fresh jalapeno will make these perfect and would add even more flavor.  The beans received a lot of compliments, from our dinner guest.  They weren't any leftovers, either.

So far, this Memorial Weekend is off to a chilly, drizzly start.  So far, the forecast isn't looking so "hot".   That won't stop us from doing some grilling for this three-day "unofficial" start of summer.  Sunny days will come in no time at all, and this gives us an excuse to go to a matinee-- along with the rest of the crowds.

A printable recipe card is at the end of this post.  If you can't view it, click here to see it.

 

Pork Chops with Wine & Garlic

On most week nights, I still come home wanting to eat home-cooked food-- as opposed to bringing  home take-out.  I'm pretty much the Chief Cook in the house, and I need meals that come together quickly.  I often resort to pan-searing meat and making a pan sauce.  I love pan sauces.  They transform boring old chicken, pork or beef into something that resembles restaurant quality food.  It couldn't be simpler. When the Pioneer Woman recently posted this recipe, I knew that this would be dinner. That very night!

I stopped by my meat market, and picked up two luscious pork loins.  I already had the rest of the ingredients on hand-- red wine, garlic cloves, beef broth and balsamic vinegar.  So, here we go-- the pork is seasoned with coarse salt & black pepper. Then it's seared in a screaming hot skillet with a little oil and unsalted butter.

I did something a little differently that "PW" does... I prefer to sear my meats on one side until golden brown, and then put them into a 425F oven to roast them.  (I already had baked potatoes going, so it was convenient  to do this.) This method pretty much assures me that the meat will be moist.  I roasted these for about 4 minutes, then removed them and lightly covered them in foil.   (Otherwise, just flip them more a few more minutes, because you'll finish cooking the pork in the sauce.) To the skillet, I added about 8 peeled cloves of garlic, and tossed the about on medium heat until golden brown. Look at all the brown deliciousness on the bottom of the pan...flavor, just waiting to happen!

So, now I add some red wine, a bay leaf and let that bubble and reduce for a few minutes. Last, I add some beef broth and the chops and let them simmer for a few minutes more.

I add a bit of balsamic vinegar, and swirl the pan a bit...

For a final ta-da, I turn off the heat and add some unsalted butter and whisk it in.

I served this with a baked potato, and a salad with a light white balsamic vinaigrette.

TASTING NOTES:  I do consider pork to be the "other white meat" and we love it.   I realize that this isn't exactly a child-friendly dish, but my baby is already a grown young man.  The garlic was sweet, and cooking it removed any kind of strong garlic "bite".  I wish I had added even more garlic cloves. The sauce was so flavorful, with that very subtle tang of balsamic.  Loved this dish. Love, love. This recipe is going into my regular rotation for those nights when I'm hungry, but tired.  Super easy to make, and good enough to serve company for dinner.  Thanks, Ree!

A printable recipe card is at the end of this post. 

Warm & Comforting Blackberry Cobbler

I haven't even begun to get started with any kind of Christmas Shopping, let alone baking. Zip. None. Nada.  My Winter Break vacation doesn't begin until December 23rd, and I'm taking a few night classes.  In a nutshell, I'm busy!   I've got just a couple of weekends to try and get some baking and a few edible gift ideas-- and I'm not sure if I'll be able to pull it off.  Sigh. I'm telling you this, because I'm not posting Christmas recipe ideas that will inspire you.  Epic fail.  I will! But, in the meantime, I'm sharing just regular ole food that I'm been making for my family-- including this very simple dessert  that was a smash hit with my men.  It was quick to make, and that's a blessing on a work night. I didn't need to pull out my mixer, nor did I need to buy any special ingredients.  My son has been asking me to make it again. Soon.

Fresh blackberries were on sale, while I was shopping for Thanksgiving.  My husband loves berries almost as much as he loves bacon.  Not together, of course.  I had bookmarked the Pioneer Woman's Blackberry Cobbler recipe, that she featured with her Perfect Pot Roast recipe (the one that I adapted to be one of my best versions, if I do say so myself.)

 Wash your berries (frozen work fine, too), and pat the dry.  (The blackberries were huge!)

This is so easy to make, with pantry staples that you most likely already have.   Preheat the oven to 350F and either butter or spray a baking dish with non-stick spray.

 
You need flour, baking powder (I don't use keep self-rising flour on hand, but you can use that instead and omit the baking powder), milk, 1/2 stick butter and sugar. 

Whisk in the melted butter...

Whisk the dry ingredients, add half of the sugar, whisk in the milk until just blended and pour into a dish.  How fast is that?!

Sprinkle the berries, evenly over the batter.

Sprinkle 1/4 cup of the sugar over the berries...

...Bake until golden and bubbly (about an hour). Ten minutes before it's finished baking, sprinkle a couple more tablespoons sugar over the cobbler.

This is best served warm...

I love the caramelized edges, from the extra sugar that was added while it baked.

Whipped cream is good, on top.  But, I went for a quality vanilla ice cream.  It's my favorite way to eat cobbler-- melted ice cream nice and cold, a bite of warm cobbler...

VERDICT:   What do you think?  Fantastic!  Sweet, but not over-the-top.  It was gone in no time, flat. The Pioneer Woman's recipe menu of her Perfect Pot Roast, followed by this Blackberry Cobbler is a perfect Sunday Supper kind of dinner that is sure to please.  This dessert is a keeper, and it's so worth sharing with all of you.

I would like to announce the winner of my Blog Anniversary Giveaway. Thank you, to each one of you, who left such nice comments.  I enjoyed reading each one, and tried to visit your blogs (always fun for me to do).   I used Random.Org to choose a number and it's....

Awwwwwwww, it's Susan!  Susan has been a long-time follower of my blog, and I enjoy visiting her's, too.    Susan, please email me at foodiewife@gmail.com with your shipping address, so I can get your King Arthur Flour goodies off to you right away!

You can find a printable recipe, for the cobbler, a the bottom of this post.  Hopefully, I'll get some Christmas/Holiday recipes posted to share with you.  Come to think of it, I need to find time to catch up with y'all who are already have your gifts bought, wrapped and under the tree.   Where does the time go, for we working folks?

Perfect Pot Roast with Creamy Mashed Potatoes (My Way)

I've made many pot roasts in my life.  I've made them in my slow cooker, pressure cooker and in the oven.    I've been reading The Pioneer Woman's food blog for three years.  I even bought her cookbook, when it first came out-- and I've posted many of her recipes.   Every so often, Ree will post something with salad greens... or vegetables....or soups.  She's not always about comfort food, you know!  However, when I recorded an episode of PW's new Food Network show, and I watched Ree make her Perfect Pot Roast... well, my mind was set on making it.  However, I didn't exactly follow Ree's recipe.  I will tell you, in advance, that this is the best pot roast that I've made so far!

 Behold, a nicely marbled piece of 5 pound chuck roast... (season with salt & pepper)

 Three yellow onions and whole carrots...

 A Dutch oven, in my opinion, is my favorite way to braise.  I liked Ree's idea of cutting the onion in half, instead of chunks.  With a little olive oil, just give them a nice brown, remove and set aside.

Add a little more olive oil, and toss in the carrots (cut in really large chunks). Give those a nice sear, and here's my own touch-- in the last 30 seconds, add two whole cloves of garlic. Set those veggies aside...

 Add some more oil. and keep that Dutch Oven hot!

 Now, sear the meat.  Hear that sizzle!

...and give that meat a beautiful sear on both sides, and all around. 

 

Remove the meat.

I'm lucky enough to have an herb garden, where I could cut three sprigs of fresh rosemary and thyme. We're about to build some flavor for the braising liquid.

Ree tosses her herbs into the broth.  I wanted to tie them, so I could easily remove them. (I don't particularly care for bits of rosemary floating around in my gravy).  I have kitchen twine, but I save the rubber bands from when I buy celery.  I think they're easy to use, and then I just toss them.

I decided to deglaze all that beautiful brown bits with some red wine-- oh, about 3/4 cup.

 I added about 3 cups of beef stock.  I had to add something that Ree did not...

Tomato paste. I love that richness and depth of flavor and color it adds to sauces and braising liquids.

TIP:  At a restaurant supply store, I buy a package of those small plastic containers that you find in take-out foods.  I freeze 1-2 Tbsp. portions of tomato paste, once I open a can and only use a portion of it.  I also freeze leftover chipotle peppers and pesto sauce.

With a sharp knife, I carefully cut about 1 Tbsp. of frozen tomato paste...

...then, tossed it into the braising liquid.

Please pardon the out of focus Tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce.  Again, this was another layer of flavor that I added to Ree's original recipe.  Trust me, this adds a lot of flavor! Give it a taste... adjust the seasonings with more salt and pepper, if you feel it needs it. 

Add the meat back into the pot. Toss in the two garlic cloves. 

Set the tied herbs into the liquid.  Tuck those beautifully caramelized carrots and onions along the sides... nice, and cozy.

NOTE: In reading the many comments people left about pot roast, some people said that the carrots should only be added at the end, lest they become mushy.  I set aside half of the carrots, to test that theory. I'll let you know.

Add enough beef stock so that the liquid comes up to about halfway of the meat. Put the lid on, and put into an oven, preheated to 275F.  Relax, and let this cook low and slow for 2-3 hours.

Of course, you could put all of this into a slow cooker.  On a lazy Sunday, I'm content to use a Dutch Oven.  It's just my preference.  

So, it's been about 3 hours, and I have to tell you-- the pot roast smells so good!  I decided to add the remaining carrots and let this go for another 45 minutes.

Pot roast. From scratch. No onion soup mix.  This is home cookin'!

 Toss away the herbs. They've done their job well.

The meat is very, very tender.  NOTE:  I recently watch Anne Burrell (Food Network/Secrets of a Restaurant Chef) make a pot roast, and she ties it so that slicing the meat is much easier.  In the future, I'm definitely going to do this. 

Overall, the meat was easy to slice.  I debated thickening the braising liquid into a thick gravy.  But, I decided not to.  Truth be told, I was hungry!

I made these Creamy Yukon Gold Mashed Potatoes, earlier in the day.  My secret to terrific mashed potatoes is to use a food mill, and I don't peel the potatoes.  I stir in a combo of cream cheese and butter, and some heavy cream. Yes, the fat gram police aren't pleased.  Once in a while, I say, live it up... and these potatoes are the best you can make.  I simply heated these in the last half hour that the pot roast was cooking-- right next to it.  They were hot, and steamy.  Serve the pot roast, and veggies and gravy right over a mound of creamy mashed potatoes.  Dig in!

VERDICT:  Seriously, this is the best pot roast I have ever made!  Let's start with the sauce-- the red wine, tomato paste, garlic and Worcestershire sauce kicked up the flavor a lot.  The meat was tender.  I loved the caramelized large chunks of onion. Yummy! The carrots were not mushy. They were sweet, and I couldn't tell the difference between the carrots I cooked at the beginning vs. the end.  The rosemary and thyme herbs were perfect, and I much preferred not having them in my sauce.  I did not regret that I didn't make the gravy thicker with flour or cornstarch.  The next day, the pot roast was even better!  Sadly, there were not enough leftovers to make pot roast soup.  With all due respect to The Pioneer Woman, my additions to the her recipe were an improvement.  We loved this recipe, and I can hardly wait for that first  California frosty cold winter night to make this again.  

A printable recipe card, with my adaptions, is at the end of this post.