Rib-Eye Roast

6 pounds of rib-eye, perfectly roasted. Need I say more? No. Here we go...


Rib-Eye Roast

Ingredients

1 6 lb. boneless rib-eye roast
1/2 c. olive oil
4 cloves of garlic
4 green onions coarsely chopped
2 T. coarsely chopped flat leaf parsley
2 T. coarsely chopped rosemary
zest of 1 lemon
1/2 T. red pepper flakes
1 t. salt
1 t. fresh ground pepper
2 large carrots cut into large chunks
1 med. onion cut into large chunks
16 oz of beef or vegetable broth
8 oz of water


Marinade

In a food processor add the garlic cloves, green onion, parsley, rosemary, lemon zest, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper
Process until combined, set aside

In a greased 9 by 12 pan add the beef or veg broth, water and pile the carrots and onion to sit under the roast

Rub the marinade on all sides of the roast, place on top of the carrots and onion, cover and let marinade for at least 12 hours

Method

heat oven to 450•

Let the roast sit out at room temp while waiting for the oven to heat

Place the roast uncovered in the preheated 450• oven for 30 min

After 30 min reduce the temp to 325• and cook for an additional hour to hour and a half for med-rare to medium. 135• med-rare, 145• medium, 155• medium well.
After removing from the oven place the roast on a cutting board and let it sit for 20 minutes before carving. Meanwhile, remove the vegetable chunks from the roasting pan and reserve the au jus to serve on the side
Slice and serve!

lobster salad lettuce cups

It's been a couple of weeks since I've blogged any new recipes, I have quite a few that I need to get on here... but I've been busy! Yes, I am using the cliche excuse of being busy!
As I am writing this my 2 yr old is chattering in my ear and asking me for about 10 different things, Mickey Mouse, cheese, milk, water, Elmo, a lolli pop, you name it. Oh well, at least the other boys are entertaining themselves. Moving on...

I don't cook very often with expensive ingredients, but when I find a good deal at the store I don't want to pass it up! I scooped up a pound and a half of this lobster already removed from the shell at a smoking price! I knew I would use it for something and here it is, one of my appetizers for Christmas Eve dinner

lobster salad lettuce cups

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs of cooked lobster meat
1 head of butter lettuce
1c. of mayonnaise
the zest of 1/2 of a lemon
1 T. of finely chopped chives
1/2 T. of chopped flat leaf parsley
1 T of capers
salt and pepper to taste

Method

take the lobster meat cut into bite size chunks and mix with the mayonnaise, lemon zest, chives, parsley and capers
add salt and pepper to taste
rinse butter lettuce and break off the leaves from the stems
the outer leaves may be too big to use for this appetizer, so use the middle to inner leaves (I saved the larger leaves to add to a salad)
place the lettuce cups on a platter and fill each one with about 2 T of the lobster salad and serve!

Stromboli

This little package of goodness has become a holiday tradition in our household, every year from Thanksgiving to New Years I end up making this bad boy about a dozen times! I made this one for a Christmas party that we went to on Saturday and it was a hit, I had a handful of people come up to me and tell me that I needed to try it. So I had to break the news to them, yes the blonde can cook! Make this once and I guarantee you will make it again, and again...and again. You just can't go wrong with meat, cheese and bread!


Ingredients

2 T of minced garlic
appx 1/4 c of olive oil
1 loaf of Italian or French bread dough
(you can make your own or buy it, I use Rhodes frozen French bread dough)
1/3 lb of sliced genoa salami
1/3 lb of sliced provolone
1/3 lb of sliced pepperoni
4 green onions chopped
about 2 roasted red bell peppers (these can be bought in the jar or you can roast your own, see below for roasting instructions)
1 egg white mixed with a splash of water

*Roasted red bell peppers*

The idea here is to char the skin.
Turn your oven on to broil-hi, place the bell peppers directly on the oven rack. Let them roast for 5-10 min on each side or until they look burned. Take them out of the oven and place in a bowl, seal tightly with Saran wrap (this will help the skin separate from the pepper) after they are cooled remove the skin, stem and seeds, then shred into strips with your hands. Your house should be smelling amazing at this point!



Method

Pre-heat oven to 350
If using frozen dough thaw out according to package directions then let it sit at room temp for about 20-30 min before rolling it out
Heat olive oil and minced garlic on med-low for 5-8 min being careful not to brown the garlic
Take the sliced salami, provolone and pepperoni and cut into strips
On a floured surface roll out the dough to almost the size of a cookie sheet
Place the dough on a parchment lined cookie sheet
With a brush apply mostly the garlic from the garlic/olive oil mixture to the center of the dough leaving the outer 2 inches around the dough un-oiled (do not use all of the oil, it will come out too greasy if you do)
Layer the strips of salami on the dough leaving the outer 2 inches bare
Layer the provolone over the salami then layer the pepperoni on top
Arrange the bell pepper strips over the pepperoni then sprinkle on the green onions
With kitchen shears cut a dozen one-ish inch strips on both long sides of the dough, make sure you have the same amount cuts on each side
Start at one end by pulling the end of the dough up onto the meat/cheese filling then take one dough strip from each side, gently pull to stretch and twist together (see pic below) do this until your package is complete
Brush the dough with the egg white
Place in heated oven for 20-25 min or until golden brown
Let cool for 10 min then use a pizza cutter to slice in between the bread strips

Ice Bowl

Bringing back the ultimate 70's appetizer, shrimp cocktail! I've always struggled to find a way to keep these puppies cold during a party, then the other day I bought a new set of Pyrex bowls and as I got them out of the box and stacked them into each other it occurred to me, pour some water in between them and make an ice bowl! You can decorate with a variety of garnishes, for this one I used lemon slices, rosemary sprigs and brightly colored flowers. This would also be a great idea for an ice bucket at a party

Directions:
Find 2 bowls in 2 different sizes, just not too far apart in size
Place the smaller bowl inside the bigger bowl
Place 1-2 cans of food inside the smaller bowl to weigh it down, otherwise it will float
Fill with water in between the two bowls
leaving an inch of room at the top, tape the bowls together so they stay centered
Fill with your garnishes and use a wooden skewer to arrange them in the water
Place in the freezer for at least 12 hrs
About 20 min before you are ready to serve take your ice bowl out of the freezer and let it sit, then gently remove the small bowl from the top, place a hand towel over the ice bowl and flip over to remove it from the larger bowl
If it's a little stuck (like mine was) place the bottom of the large bowl in a bit of warm water to loosen it and try again

Peppermint Bark

For those of you that don't know me I don't dabble too much into sweets, I LOVE food just not the sugary kind. But since the holidays are coming up I figured I'll mix it up a little and take a go at it with some peppermint bark. Let me just say...SUCCESS! SO good and so easy to make with only 3 ingredients. It's like Christmas in a package!

Ingredients:
1 bag of milk chocolate chips
1 bag of white chocolate chips
1 cup of crushed candy canes

Method:
seal candy canes in a ziploc bag and crush with the end of a rolling pin or a meat mallet until there are no large chunks
melt milk chocolate chips over a double boiler (if you don't know what this is google it)
spread the melted milk chocolate in a thin layer on about an 18 in. piece of parchment paper (not too thin, you don't want to see any parchment)
sprinkle 1/3 of the crushed candy canes onto the warm chocolate then
place in the fridge until hardened, about 20 min
mean while, melt the white chocolate over a double boiler
once melted spread the white chocolate over the hardened milk chocolate,
sprinkle the remaining crushed candy canes on top and this may sound weird, buuuttttt spray your hand with non-stick spray so the melted chocolate doesn't stick and gently press the crushed candy cane into the warm chocolate
place in the fridge to set for at least 30 min
break apart and enjoy!

All turkey'd out? Not me!

We host Thanksgiving dinner at our house every year, this year... 35 family and friends! So being more safe than sorry I roasted 2 turkeys, combined weight of 40 lbs. Needless to say I have a lot of leftover turkey! What to do? Well Friday night we had Thanksgiving all over again, meaning the usual turkey with gravy, stuffing, mashed potatoes ect. Then Saturday and Sunday rolled around and I didn't want Thanksgiving anymore! ***insert some creative brainstorming*** I thought why not some white turkey chili (more to come on that one) or a turkey melt? So there you have it, I am off to Sprouts to get some bread and cheeses to concoct a warm, gooey, cheesy, perfectly toasted turkey melt.

Ingredients:
2 (or more) slices of sourdough bread
1 slice each of cheddar, havarti and provolone cheese
appx 2 T of grated or shredded Parmesan cheese
a handful of cooked, shredded turkey
a bit of butter or margarine

Method:
Heat sauté pan over medium heat
Spread butter or margarine on one side of each piece of bread
Sprinkle parm cheese on the buttered side of each piece of bread
Place one slice of bread buttered side down in the pan
Layer the cheddar cheese, then turkey meat, then remaining cheeses and top with the second slice of bread buttered side up
Cook 3-5 minutes on each side until golden brown
Let it cool for a few minutes then slice and enjoy!


Colleen