Roast Beef and Carrot-Tater Mash

Roast beef is a classic dish for one reason in my books: it's the dish that keeps on giving... roast beef leftovers are fantastic! I have roast beef sandwiches (I use this carrot-tater mash as spread, it's divine), beef stroganof, beef stir-fry with snow peas and water chestnuts, beef burritos... oh man. I set myself up for a week of delicious and easy meals when I make roast beef. But when it's fresh out of the oven, oh boy, I have to have roast beef and mashed potatoes!


Makes: 8 servings roast and potatoes


Ingredients:

• 1 eye of round roast
• 1 small yellow onion
• 1 cup red wine
• Sprig of rosemary
• 3 russet potatoes
• 3 medium-sized carrots
• 3 tablespoons butter
  
• 2 cups milk, room temperature
  
• 1/2 cup feta cheese
  

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 F. Season the eye of round generously with salt, pepper, and cumin then place in a baking dish. 
2. Roughly chop the onion then place around the roast (I use an 8x8" pan so the onion is packed in right next to the roast). Drizzle the roast with a bit of canola oil, then pour the red wine over the onions. 
3. Bake the roast uncovered in the middle of the oven for 20 minutes per pound. 
4. When there is 20 minutes left for the roast, begin prepping the Carrot-Tater Mash by peeling the mashed potatoes and carrots. Chop them into 2 inch pieces then place them in a large pot, then cover with water. Bring to a boil, then turn to medium heat and cook at a fast simmer until the carrots are fork tender. 
5. Remove the roast from the oven when it's finished roasting, (the potatoes and carrots should still be simmering) then set on a cutting board and tent loosely with foil. Let the meat rest for at least 15-20 minutes before slicing.
   
6. Drain the carrots and potatoes, then place them in a large bowl. Blend them on low with an immersion blender, gradually adding in the butter, milk, and feta. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve with the roasted eye of round. 

Enjoy!


Suggestion: You can use the red wine roasted onions for a topping or blend them into a gravy if desired, or you may just discard them.

Chicken Sandwiches with Cambozola and Roasted Garlic

I love using leftover chicken or turkey or beef for my sandwiches! There is something about eating a sandwich with leftover meat or poultry, it's like the homemade-ness of it lends a deeper flavor (or maybe just a deeper satisfaction in knowing that you're using up leftovers!).

I try to roast up something each week, like a chicken or a big beef roast so that I can have easy leftovers throughout the week to have on hand for my meals that week. One of the best and easiest ways to use up leftover meat is to put it in a sandwich! I love sandwiches with pretty much anything on them (it's a curse, really), but I do have a few favorite flavor combos and this is on the top of my list. It does call for a few extra steps that usually go against the whole "quick and easy" nature of sandwiches (see the roasted garlic recipe at the end), but trust me, it's soooo worth it.


Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup chopped chicken
  
• 2 slices sourdough bread
• 1 tablespoon peach chutney
• Cambozola wedge (may use brie if you don't like the chunks of blue cheese in cambozola) 
• 2-4 cloves roasted garlic (or as many as you prefer!)

Directions: 

1. Preheat the oven to 425 F. 
2. Slice as many pieces of cambozola as desired to put on one piece of sourdough (I like 3 medium-sized slices). 
3. Spread the garlic cloves across one slice of sourdough. On the other slice, spread the chutney.
   
4. Put the cambozola on the garlic-spread slice of bread, and top the chutney-spread slice with chicken.  Put the sandwich halves face up on a baking sheet and bake for 8 minutes. 
5. Remove the open sandwich from the oven, then put the sandwich together. Eat while it's hot!

Enjoy!




Simple Roasted Garlic: 
Preheat the oven to 425 F. Slice off the top 1/2 inch of a head of garlic, so that each bulb is exposed on top. Place the head on a square of foil, drizzle with olive oil. Wrap the foil up around the garlic head and pinch it shut. Place in the middle rack of the oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until the garlic is fork tender. Let cool for 5 minutes, then use a knife to pop out each garlic clove, reserve in a small jar or even a ziploc bag. Hint: roasted garlic can punch up any dish... think mashed potatoes, quiches, pizza, alfredo/marinara sauce... the list goes on!

Ponzu-glazed Asparagus

Ponzu sauce is one of my new obsessions. It's perfect for dipping eggrolls or skewered chicken, it's yummy tossed with rice noodles and prawns, and glazed onto your favorite veggies like snow peas, baby corn, green beans, or, like this recipe, asparagus.  This is my favorite way to eat asparagus now!


P.S. this is the perfect side dish for my Asian-style ribs.

Makes 4 small side servings

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 3 tablespoons water
• 4 tablespoons ponzu
• 1 bundle of asparagus
  
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced

Directions:

1. Chop off the tough end of each stalk of asparagus and mince the garlic, set aside.
   
2. Heat a large skillet to medium-high heat. Once the pan is hot, add the asparagus and water (in that order). Cook the asparagus until barely tender, about 4 minutes. Pour out the excess water (if there's any left), then add the butter, garlic, and ponzu. Simmer over low for 15 minutes, until ponzu has reduced to a glaze. Serve hot!

 Enjoy!

Escargot-stuffed Mushroom Caps

I recently got turned onto these delicious bites, and it was love at first whiff. Well, not exactly. Escargot in a can, not so delicious smelling. But after you soak them in water, saute them in butter with garlic and scallions and stuff them into mushroom caps?... oh my. It's love all the way!

I'm not sure how it is in the States, but right next to the cans of escargot are little seasoning packets. I love the packets because it takes the escargots to an entirely new level of yum, but I'll provide spice suggestions just in case.

The first time the BF and I ate these with ribeye steaks and asparagus, and we were stuffed because it was so delicious but it was definitely too much food.The next time we had these, we just had asparagus on the side and it was perfect.


Makes  4 appetizers or 2 large sides.



Ingredients:

• 1 can escargot
• 3 cloves garlic
• 12 mushrooms, white or brown
• 1 scallion
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup white wine
• 3 tablespoons cream cheese
• Escargot seasoning packet
  

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 F. Open the can of escargot and rinse them thoroughly. Place them in a bowl, then cover with water. Let sit for 5 minutes (or more!) before you start preparing the rest of the dish.
   
2. Prepare the mushrooms for stuffing by cleaning them (wet a paper towel and rub them down) and then removing the stems. The easiest way to do this is to "pop" them out by pinching the stem as close as possible to the cap, then twisting your hand to pop out the stem like you would a cork in a bottle. You can also peel the caps if you're feeling wild. Place them in a lightly greased baking dish gill-side up.
   
3. Finely chop the garlic and scallion. In a large saute pan melt the butter over medium-low heat, then add the garlic and scallion. Cook for 3-5 minutes, then add the escargots and wine. Turn the heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes. 
4. Add the cream cheese and the spice packet (or the desired spices, see suggestions below) and increase the heat again to medium-high. Cook for 10 minutes, until the wine-cheese mixture has reduced and thickened up. 
5. Spoon the escargots into the prepared mushroom caps and top with parmesan (about 2-3 escargots per mushroom). Bake for 15-20 minutes and serve hot. 

Enjoy! 



Seasoning suggestions:

• Garlic powder, parsley, lemon juice
• Paprika, rosemary, thyme
• Garlic powder, cayenne powder, cilantro