pot roast

Maybe it's the weather, or the season, or maybe it's all the added stress at work due to the current economic situation. Maybe a girl doesn't really need a reason to crave comfort food. Something simple and satisfying that warms from the inside out after a day or romping in the snow or trudging through the cold.

Many of Mom's best recipes are so simple. Her pot roast is one of those, a few veggies, some meat, a dash of love and perfect meal is born. I was never a picky eater who pushed food around my plate or didn't let my vegetables to touch, but I still had my idiosyncrases. I remember that I used to eat my pot roast in a very specific order; first mash the potatoes and carrots to soak up the juice, then the pearl onions and then the meat (always save the best for last). Then, if there was any juice left, soak that up with a slice of bread, just like Dad. Oh, yes. I am my father's daughter through and through.

This pot roast is the simplest thing ever, and is perfect for any type of variation that pleases you. Every once in a while Mom would add peas at the very end, so that they didn't cook to long. I have left the potatoes out of this recipes, but Mom usualy used red skins or new potatoes.

Pot Roast

1 Sirloin 'spoon' roast, 3-6 pounds
1 tbsp olive oil
4 peeled tomatoes*
1 onion, quartered or a bag of pearl onions
2 carrots, quartered
3-4 bay leaves
Salt
Water

In a large, heavy pot heat the olive oil and salt the roast. Sear all sides of the roast, about a minute on each side. Turn down heat and rest meat in pot. Place tomatoes, onions and carrots around the meat. Pour 2-4 cups of water into the pot, at least until the meat is half covered, and add the bay leaves. Cover and cook on very low heat for at least 3 hours, preferably 5, turning the meat over halfway through. If the broth seems to thin, remove the top and cook uncovered for the last half hour.

*To quickly peel fresh tomatoes wash the tomatoes, cut out the stem and score the top with an X. Place tomatoes top down in a large bowl or pot. Pour boiling water over tomatoes** and allow to sit for several minutes. Remove tomatoes and rinse with cold water if they are too hot to handle. Skins should slip right off.

**I like to save this water and use it to cook the roast in, that way I don't loose any of the tomato juices.

inside out lasagna meatballs

Last night the trainer and I got to see that fantastic Chilean band Inti Illimani and it was amazing. We've been waiting over a two years to go to an Andean concert together. He invited me to one when we first started dating but I couldn't make it. (Listen here)

At intermission I bought their CD to give my parents for Christmas and after the show we had the opportunity to meet the musicians. Neither the Trainer nor I had a pen, but we begged and borrowed and I got all their autographs for my folks. I was so giddy, I've never been to a concert like that I hardly knew what to say to them. Of course, most of them spoke only Spanish which made speaking to them even harder. Good thing I had the Trainer to get me through.

We got home late and lazed around in bad this morning. I dragged myself out of bed and into my sweats for my big cooking day. Burger day, to be exact. I tried a few new things and I got to work on something that's been swimming circles around behind my eyeballs for the last several weeks.

I've been craving lasagna, and when I made that first batch of mock ricotta I thought I knew how to do it. This one pretty much speaks for itself, and I think the squirrel in the tree outside are window wanted some too, he was crying the whole time these were in the oven.

Inside Out Lasagna Meatballs

2 lb ground beef
8 oz ricotta or SCD mock ricotta
1/4 c. (3/4oz) grated Parmesan regiano
1/4 c. (3/4oz) grated pecorino Romano
3/4 c. diced parsley
1/2 c. (1 1/5oz) grated Gruyere
quick tomato sauce*

Mix ricotta, Parmesan, Romano and parsley in one bowl.
Divide ground beef into 2 oz portions. Create thin patties, put tablespoon size portions of cheese mixture in the middle of patties and mold meat around cheese. Place a wire rack in a baking dish or cookie sheet, arrange meat balls on wire rack and bake for 20 min. Serve covered with quick tomato sauce and a sprinkle of Gruyere.

Makes 16 meatballs

Fall Comfort Food

Here I sit, at my small home desk with my cup of Sleepytime tea and a small dish of incinerated nuts (my last attempt at roasting in an unpredictable oven), the first fall rain is pattering against the window and I am finally trying to decompress after a very long four days.

It auction season, all the big houses have sales in the next few weeks, Doyle's, Sotheby's, Christie's, so things are hectic at work to say the least. Our neighbors were evicted and the landlord decided to fully exterminate both the vacant apartment and ours, we're the only two on the floor, on Wednesday. Tuesday the Trainer and I, and his family, had to remove all our clothes and books from the apartment, only to put it all away again Wednesday evening. The past few evenings they have been doing work next door as well, last night until after 11pm.

I'm very glad that I had the foresight to prepare some comfort food last weekend. I roasted a large spaghetti squash and prepared a batch of my Nonna's pasta sauce to go with it. I hadn't planned on eating it every day, but it's warm and comforting, and it's all ready for me to grab from the freezer. I learned how to make this pasta sauce from my Nonna and my uncle and I certainly don't follow a recipe, but I do follow a few guidelines.

Spaghetti Squash

Clean the outside of a spaghetti squash and cut it in half. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place both halves of the squash cut side down on a baking sheet. Bake for 30-45 minutes depending on the size of the squash. When it's cool enough to handle scrape the meat with a fork to create the spaghetti-like strands and scoop out the flesh with a spoon.

Nonna's Pasta Sauce

1lb- ground beef
1- onion
5cloves- garlic
6- Roma tomatoes
4- vine ripe tomatoes
1/2bunch- parsley
2tsp- Italian seasoning (basil, oregano, majoram, thyme, savory, sage & rosemary)
Olive oil
Sea salt

To prep- chop the onions and garlic, wash the Roma tomatoes and remove the stem part and peel the vine ripe tomatoes*

Sautee onions and garlic in olive oil with 1tsp seasoning until translucent.

Remove 2/3 of the onion mixture and place in blender.

Add ground beef to remaining onions and sautee, breaking up into clumps of desired size.

In blender, puree onions and Roma tomatoes.

Transfer meat and tomato puree to a sauce pan, add peeled, chopped vine ripe tomatoes, remaining seasoning and chopped parsley. Simmer for at least 1 hour until flavors are well blended.


*to easily peel the tomatoes score an X over the stem and place tomatoes top down in a heat proof bowl. Cover with boiling water. After a few minutes, rinse in cold water and remove peels