Monday, November 27, 2006

Mincemeat for Pies and Filled Cookies



Some folks like mincemeat...others don't. In any event, here's a recipe worth trying. We've made this recipe over and over again for the past 41-years. If you DO like mincemeat, then you are in for a real treat.





Ingredients:

1 Orange peel Grated
1 Lb. Ground Beef (wild game – deer, antelope is particularly good) and will work here fine)
Enough water to cover the ground beef
1 Lb Apples
2 ½ Cups Currants
2 ¾ Cups Raisins
½ Cup Brandy
½ Cup Dry Red Wine
¼ Lb Citron
1 tsp salt
1 TBS ground nutmeg
1 ½ Cups sugar
1 Cup Apple Cider
1 TBS cinnamon

1 Cup meat liquor (broth after boiling ground meat)

Boil ground beef (or game) for about 45-minutes and let it cool in the water; save 1-cup of the broth. Put all ingredients in a big pot -EXCEPT for the brandy and wine. Simmer very slowly for 1-hour while stirring occasionally. Let cool to luke warm, then add brandy and wine. For best results, refrigerate it and let it gather the flavors of the brandy and wine which will further tenderize the product. If you’re not going to use it right away, pack in sterilized jars and pressure cook for 60-minutes at 10-Lbs of pressure.

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Saturday, November 25, 2006

Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding



After eating pounds and pounds of turkey and ham for Thanksgiving, we're ready for something different for the Christmas food fest. For the past 15 years, it has been a standing beef rib roast for us. The leftovers are delicious for sandwiches, or you can make your own roast beef hash. The following is a summation of the roast beef dinner.


Roast Beef

This may seem like a very different way of roasting a prime beef cut, but I can guarantee you will never go back to your standard method.

Prime Rib Roast or rib eye at room temperature (very important)

Dijon or brown mustard

Fresh thyme (Lots of it)

Fresh garlic cloves minced

Kosher salt

Freshly cracked black pepper

Place the rib roast, bone side down, starting at the tail or narrow end, make a flap by cutting the fat strip on top of the meat, going toward the thicker part, as far as you can without severing it. Lay the fat strip back, and set aside. If you can get a roast with the ‘lip’ on, that’s the way to go. Mix Dijon, thyme, garlic, salt and pepper in a small bowl.

Spread this mixture on the meat underneath the flap/lip which you just made. Replace the flap and use kitchen string to loosely wrap the meat to keep the flap in place as it roasts, otherwise the flap will curl up. Place the roast in the oven in a shallow roasting pan.

Make sure your roast is at room temperature before you place it in the oven, otherwise you will have an under cooked roast at the end of the cooking cycle. Set the oven temperature at 500° degrees F.

Multiply the roast poundage on the package times 5 minutes to determine the amount of time the meat will roast at 500° degrees F. Be as accurate as possible! Example: if your roast weighs 5.53 pounds, then multiply 5.53 (pounds) times 5 (minutes) which equals = 27.65. This means you will roast your meat for (27.65) or 28 minutes.

At the end of the 28 minutes, turn the oven temperature off. Leave the roast in the oven for at least 2 hours - or more according to your liking as to doneness. During this 2 hour+ time, do not open the oven door as the meat is still cooking. This time is primarily for rare.

Serve with steamed asparagus, green beans, or Brussels sprouts. Mashed potatoes and gravy are aslo recommended. Plan for having brown and serve rolls. Yorkshire pudding is strongly recommended and is posted here further down on the list.



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Saturday, November 18, 2006

Dinner Rolls




For quick and easy, foolproof dinner rolls try this recipe.







6 to 6 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3 T. sugar
2 pkgs. Yeast – (5-Tsp)
2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup milk
2 T. butter

Note: Also a good recipe for loaf bread. If making dinner rolls add 2 TBS of honey.

In a large bowl, combine 2-1/2 cups flour, sugar, yeast and salt. Heat water, milk and butter (plus honey if using) to about 120 degrees. Gradually add to the dough ingredients; beat 2 minutes at medium speed. Add another 1/2 cup flour, beat two minutes at high speed. Add additional flour to make soft dough. (Good time to switch to dough hooks). Place in greased bowl, cover and let rise to 1-1/2 times or doubled.

Punch dough down and shape as desired.

Bake 375 for dinner rolls, about 20 minutes or until suitably browned on top. Brush with butter when done.

Hearth Braid 400 degrees for about 25 minutes.

Makes about 12-Dinner rolls

For rolls, divide dough into 12-pieces and shape into balls with a lot of tension on the tops. Place side-by-side in lightly buttered glass baking dish.

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