Palak Paneer, Pulao, and Roti

Indian food. I love Indian food so much. In fact, being a vegetarian would be a lot easier if I were to just eat Indian food every day. However, sometimes I get in the mood for other types of foods, so...yeah. I'll eat more Indian food and just reduce my meat consumption instead ;). I think that's a fair compromise for now...

Baked Turkey Tacos

When I'm on track with my diet, I prefer to eat raw in the mornings and evenings and eat a healthy, cooked meal for lunch. When I'm craving something a bit more naughty, I make these guiltless, turkey tacos.

Healthy Fried Brown Rice

Healthy Salmon Fried Brown Rice with Kikkoman Soy Sauce (not low-sodium.)

I love Chinese-American food, and I love making Chinese-American food. In the past I have made Orange Chicken, Lemon Chicken, and Chicken Fried Rice. At Chinese-American restaurants, I usually order Orange Chicken or Fried Rice; however, these dishes are usually high in fat and sodium due to the amount of oil, sugar (in the sauces), eggs, and soy sauce.

Mom's Blueberry Salad

As you can see, I didn't bother styling this salad. I just let it be. . .

A little more than 24 hours ago my mom arrived safely at home after spending more than 3 weeks with her favorite and only offspring - me :). While I love her dearly and enjoy spending time with her, I have to admit it is nice to have my bed and my place to myself again. 

On the day I made the pasta on the previous post, my mother volunteered to make the salad *gasp!*. My longtime readers know that my mom doesn't like nor knows how to cook. However, she is the master of chopping veggies and throwing together salad-like meals (case in point - the pizza she decorated).

After spending too much time eating salads from Panera Bread as a graduate student in upstate New York, my mother's tastebuds changed somewhat drastically. So, upon her return to Texas a few years ago, I was surprised when she told me that she now likes olives, which she at one point detested. To make matters worse Also, she became fond of adding various fruits, onions, and nuts to her salad. Now, I know that most foodies like these additions to salads, but I am boring a purist. All I fancy on my salads are lettuce (the simple kind like the water-drenched, nutrient-lacking iceberg lettuce or healthier, romaine lettuce), red tomatoes (mom and I agree on extra tomatoes), cheese, and ranch dressing. If I feel like eating a "fancier" salad, I may add on hard-boiled eggs and cucumbers but nothing more than those two ingredients. 

My favorite thing about this salad? The ratio of tomatoes to everything else.

So, when my mom volunteered to make this salad, I had completely forgotten about the changes in her food preferences until I saw the salad she placed in front of my camera. I instantly gave her my shocked look and promptly said, "Mo-om, it has blueberries, olives, and walnuts in it!" While rubbing her hands together in delight with a fork in one hand she said, "YUM! I know! (pause) Oh! I forgot you don't like those things in your salad! (proceeds to flick her hand nonchalantly) You can just pick them out. They won't hurt!" Thanks a lot, mom!

Fortunately the salad was pretty photogenic. Once we sat down to eat our meal, I did remove the unwanted items immediately to the disappointment of my parental figure. I also made sure to get the part of the salad withOUT the yucky bleu cheese dressing on it. Her pour/action shot was cute, but I wish it would have been ranch dressing instead. 

Anyway, there's no real recipe for this salad. I will just list the ingredients she used and likes to use just in case you feel like venturing out with salads - if you haven't already. I apologize now for not joining you. . . :)

Mom's Blueberry Salad

Arugula

Roma tomatoes

Black or green olives

Fresh blueberries

Chopped walnuts

Hard-boiled eggs

Freshly-chopped mushrooms
Purple onions

Other possible ingredients (feel free to add more in the comments section):

Strawberries

Orange slices (including mandarin oranges)

Chopped Pecans
Romaine Lettuce
Feta cheese

Daring Cooks?: Creamy Mushroom Sauce and Homemade Pasta

I wrote "Daring Cooks" with a question mark in the title because I didn't really follow the instructions in this challenge (and I'm two days late!), but I was inspired by one of the dishes we were requested to make with one of the nut butters.

The July 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge was hosted by Margie of More Please and Natashya of Living in the Kitchen with Puppies. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make their own nut butter from scratch, and use the nut butter in a recipe. Their sources include Better with Nut Butter by Cooking Light Magazine, Asian Noodles by Nina Simonds, and Food Network online.

One of the dishes suggested was Chicken with Pecan Cream and Mushrooms from Cooking Light. Well, most of you know that I don't like any type of nut, so I decided to make a chicken and mushroom dish with homemade pasta to make this dish a bit more fussy so that it could still be sort of a challenge even though I've made pasta before. So, I'm aware that this dish doesn't count as a Daring Cooks' Challenge; however, I tried to make it work for what I like. Do I get half of a point for doing that? :D

 I highly suggest clicking on this photo or opening it on another tab and doing a close-up of the cooked, fresh pasta. It is almost translucent and looks so different from the store-bought, dried pasta. I cooked this pasta for 3 minutes and regretted it because it wasn't al dente, but it was still fantastic. Cook fresh spaghetti for 2 minutes.

Anyway, I took some chicken out of the freezer to defrost for the next day and forgot to put it in this dish! I didn't realize I had forgotten to include the chicken until my mom and I had sat down to eat! After taking one bite of this dish, though, I forgot all about that missing ingredient. This sauce was AMAZING and so flavorful. I made adjustments to the recipe based on the highest rated comment on allrecipes.com and based on what I had in my kitchen and will never turn back. This sauce was so quick to make that I could eat it at least once a week every week for the rest of my life. I loved the addition of sage and the meatiness of the mushrooms. For any lovers of meat, this dish would be perfect as a Meatless Monday meal or any type of meal; you really won't miss the chicken. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make this sauce. This sauce is so good and quick to make. I will be making this again very soon.

As far as the pasta is concerned, it came out perfectly. I usually make fettuccine with my pasta cutter, but my mom wanted spaghetti, so I made that. I don't know if my mom had fresh pasta in Italy, but she claimed that this time was her first known experience eating it fresh. While my mom and I were happily eating this pasta dish, we got into an interesting discussion about the role of homemade pasta versus store-bought pasta (and sandwich bread) when mixed with a good sauce or other ingredients.

HOMEMADE PASTA VS. DRIED, STORE-BOUGHT PASTA: We both agreed that many, not all, store-bought pasta and sandwich bread act more like mere vehicles for sauces, meats, and other ingredients. In other words, some store-bought items serve as a means to a end, i.e., transporting the the savory sauces, and what have you, into your mouth.  Homemade pasta and bread, however, play a larger role in dishes and at times become the star in a dish even if the other ingredients are quite flavorful. In other words, the homemade pasta and bread themselves become refreshing and delectable edible "plates".

Now, the fresh pasta and this creamy mushroom sauce that my mom and I enjoyed were great complements to each other. Both the pasta and the sauce stood out so beautifully that I don't know if I could ever eat this sauce with the store-bought kind.  Okay. . . okay. . .I'm sure that on my lazier days, I will try it out and will just think back to how amazing this dish tasted with the fresh pasta. 

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON HOMEMADE VS. DRIED, STORE-BOUGHT PASTA OR BREADS?

All of these spaghetti came from only half of the ball of dough you will see below.

Pasta Dough

For the pasta dough, I've learned that true Italian pasta dough does not call for any water at all despite the other recipes I've seen online. As I always do when I want an authentic, Italian meal, I turned to ItalianFood.Net for a recipe for my pasta dough. This is now my go-to recipe for pasta dough.

From ItalianFood.Net (click here for the video)

Reduced for 4 people; the source recipe would be more for 6, not 4, people.

100 grams 00 flour (You could sub AP flour. I bought my 00 flour from a local Italian market)
100 grams semolina/durum wheat flour (I used this flour and bought it from Central Market)
Pinch of salt (I used kosher)
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 tsp - 1 Tbsp olive oil (you may need to add more oil if your ball of dough is dry like mine)

Mix the two flours and salt in a bowl and form a hole or well in the middle. Place the eggs and olive oil in the middle. Mix the mixture with a fork well. Form a ball in the bowl, and transfer the ball to a flat surface. Add flour if the ball of dough is too wet, and add more oil if it is too dry.

That little ball of dough is enough for 4 people's worth of pasta. That little cut piece on the bottom left created those two lonnnng layers of pasta in the lower right photo.

Knead the dough until the ball of dough becomes smooth and homogeneous. Cover the ball of dough completely, and allow it to rest for 30 minutes so that the gluten can relax. Work with 1/4th of the dough at a time to form the pasta. If you have a pasta roller/cutter, follow the instructions for your machine. If you do not have a pasta roller, roll out the pieces of dough as thin as you can with a rolling pin as instructed on the video on italianfoodnet.com.

Creamy Mushroom Pasta

adapted from allrecipes

8 oz of fresh or store-bought fettuccine (I used spaghetti)
1 1/2 Tbsps olive oil, separated (1/2 Tbsp for pasta water and 1 Tbsp for sauce)
1 shallot or small onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
4 oz of fresh mushrooms, chopped
1/2 Tbsp of unsalted butter
1 Tbsp of AP flour
1/4 - 1/2 of a chicken or vegetable bouillon cube or 1/4th cup of chicken/vegetable broth
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 Tbsp sage (trust me!)
salt and pepper to taste (don't use too much salt b/c the bouillon is salty. I didn't need any at all.)

Prepare pasta water and pasta:
Bring a large pot of lightly-salted and oiled water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 minutes (2-3 minutes for homemade pasta!), or until al dente. Reserve some of the pasta water to thin out the mushroom sauce later.

While waiting for the pasta water to boil, make the sauce: 
Heat olive oil in a medium skillet or saucepan over medium heat, and cook shallots and garlic until transparent. Stir in mushrooms, and cook until tender. Add the butter, and add the flour after the butter melts to form a roux to thicken the sauce. Stir the roux with the sautéed vegetables for 2-3 minutes to cook out the flour taste. (Don't forget about the boiling water for the pasta! It should be boiling by now!)

Mix in heavy cream and sage. Cook and stir until thickened. If too thick, use some pasta water (i.e., the leftover water from the cooked pasta) to thin out the sauce a bit. You can either toss the sauce with cooked pasta, and season with salt and pepper to serve, or add salt (I didn't add any salt) and pepper in the sauce, and serve it atop the pasta.

Pizza Hut Clone Pizza Revisited

My mom's pizza: tomatoes, olives, mushrooms, jalapeños, onions, sauce, and mozzarella cheese.

In May of last year, I made this clone recipe of Pizza Hut's Pan pizza and was instantly hooked on it. I love thick and thin dough, but my favorite is the thick, pan variety. Even though this recipe doesn't yield a pan pizza exactly like that of Pizza Hut, it is fabulous and less oily. I didn't have any tomato sauce, so I watered down some tomato paste and added Italian seasoning, garlic salt, a little sugar, and pepper. That worked like a charm.

Another burnt creation thanks to my beloved oven. It all still tasted amazing, including the crust. My pizza: pepperoni, sauce, and mozzarella cheese

The maintenance workers came to fix my oven two times, and now it seems to be worse than before. Consequently, I burned my meat pizza and had to watch my mother's pizza like a hawk; hence, there are more photos of my mom's pizza than mine. I probably could have cooked the pizza a couple of minutes more to get more color on the crust, but my mother was pleased with how it looked, and it was well-cooked. Even my gently-burnt pizza was still amazingly good.

My mom "decorated" this pizza all by herself haha. I'm so proud of her.

In the original post, I had promised my mom that I would make this pizza for her in July of last year. Well, I am one year late in my promise, but the month is July, so I'm happy I could make this for her. She said this pizza was the best pizza she had ever eaten, and my mom is a pizza addict who has eaten pizza in New York, Chicago, and various parts of Italy. So, that is a major compliment!

I had only one cast-iron skillet, so I split the dough into two pieces. Once I baked my pizza, I transferred it to a plate and started working on my mom's pizza in the same skillet. I really like making pizza in a cast-iron skillet; it is much easier than making it in a pie plate or on the back of a jelly roll pan.

My mom's favorite part of the pizza was the crust on the top left part of the above photo, so I had to take a shot of it haha.

I hope you make this one day soon; it is a fantastic recipe. I am submitting this post to yeastspotting!

Pizza Hut Clone Pizza

adapted from Real Mom Kitchen

Sauce:
1 (8 oz) tomato sauce (I used one 8oz tomato paste + 1/4-1/2 cup water)
1-2 Tbsp Italian seasoning (or 1 tsp dry oregano; 1/2 tsp marjoram; 1/2 tsp dry basil; 1/2 tsp garlic salt)
1/2 tsp sugar (to offset the bitterness of the tomato sauce)

Combine the ingredients. Allow the mixture to sit for 1 hour while the dough rises.

Pizza:
1 1/3 C Warm water (105F/40C) (OR you could use 1 1/2 cups of WARM milk in place of water and dry milk)
1 pk (2 1/4 tsp) dry yeast (I used active)
1 Tbsp granulated sugar
1/4 C non−fat dry milk
2 Tbsp vegetable oil (for dough)
1/2 tsp salt (I used kosher)
4 C AP flour
approx. 6 Oz Vegetable oil (3 oz. per pan)

Preheat oven to 475F (I cooked at 450). Put yeast, sugar, and dry milk in a large (2 qt.) bowl or mixing bowl of stand mixer. Add the warm water, and stir to mix well. Allow mixture to sit for two minutes.

Then, add oil and stir again. Add flour and salt, and mix until dough forms and flour is absorbed. Turn out on to a flat surface and knead for about 10 minutes (If using a stand mixer, mix the ingredients with a dough hook and then knead the dough for 5-6 minutes.)

Divide dough into two balls (about 450-460 grams each). In two cast-iron skillets (or you can use two 9' cake/pie plates or one 9-inch pie plate and one 9 x 13 dish), put 1-2 Tbsp of oil in each skillet/plate making sure it is spread evenly. Using a rolling pin or your hand, roll/pat out each dough ball to about a 9" circle in the skillet (you probably won't be able to spread the dough to the edges at this time).

Cover with a towel or a plate. Place in warm area and allow to rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Then, pat the dough once more to the edges of the skillet.

Poke holes in the crust or use pie weights, and parbake the crust for 2-5 minutes to prevent sogginess of dough after adding the sauce.

Spoon 1/3 cup sauce on dough. Distribute 1 1/2 Oz. shredded mozzarella cheese on sauce. Place toppings of your choice. Top with 3 oz. mozzarella cheese. Cook until cheese is bubbling and outer crust is brown about 15 minutes. Then brush outer edge of crust with garlic butter.

Chicken, Shrimp, & Chorizo Paella & A Giveaway!

Two years ago, my mother and I went to Madrid, Spain. Once there, I was tempted to try paella, but the presence of seafood prevented me from doing so. You see, the only types of unfried seafood I like are very small shrimp (like in fried rice), baked salmon, and tuna fish in a can. The only types of fried seafood I like are fish (like in fish and chips) and shrimp. That's it. I don't like crab, lobster, mussels, crawfish, or anything else that resembles how it looked when it was alive haha. I don't like slimy food either, so yeah, I had to stay away from the paella. I did, however, try to taste just the rice portion of the paella one day, but I had to quickly wash out my palate (not "palette!") because I could still taste the seafood or clam juice in the rice. From that day on, I had decided that the only way I would be able to have paella would be to make it myself, but at that time of my life, I wasn't a cook at all. So, I just gave up on that dream until a few days ago!

After corresponding with Sarah Jay (read how she started the company!), the founder of Paella Pans, which is a small, family-run business,  I received a pan imported from Valencia, Spain in only a matter of days. 

I found a recipe for Chicken Paella on her website and examined it anxiously every day as I waited for the pan. I almost had it memorized. My yellow-cake friend, Lydia, was with me when the pan arrived, and we were both impressed with how the pan looked and how big it was. I was beyond excited to try it out and felt like the luckiest person in the world.

A couple of days later, I made the yummiest paella I had ever had (out of two paellas total haha!). Lydia said that it looked incredible, and my neighbor said it looked like the real thing even without the big prawns and mussels, and they both used to live in Spain. 

The pan from various angles: I stuck the tag back on this pan so you could see from whence (hehe) this pan came.

So, first let me talk to you about this company and this pan that was graciously given to me for me for review. It is a 14" pan made of carbon steel, which is considered the most popular and most used in Spanish households. The company, also sells pans made with enameled steel, stainless steel (so shiny!), pata negra (literally means "black foot/paw (of an animal)"), and flat-bottom pans. Not only do they have pans on their site, but they also sell authentic ingredients for paella, such as bomba rice, chorizo, pimentón (with an accent on the "o"!) dulce or sweet paprika, and saffron or azafrán of various sizes. They also have recipes and tips on making a successful and authentic paella. Okay, enough links for now! I'm just really excited about this company, its products, and especially the founder. She is such a lovely lady with whom I've interacted via email for quite some time now.

The bottom of the pan and its handle: look at the bubbles or dimples at the bottom of the pan; they are there to promote even heating.

As an instructor of college-level Spanish, it is refreshing to see how her excitement for the Spanish language and culture encouraged her to start a business for importing paella-related products directly. Now, that's what I call ambition and drive. I hope some of my students get that excited about learning Spanish and various cultures different from their own.  

Anyway, back to the paella. Because I wanted to make this paella asap, I did not get to try out the ingredients on the Paella Pans  website, but I did use similar products. 


For instance, I used bomba rice that I obtained from Williams-Sonoma...

 That's the most classiest-looking rice container I've ever seen. 

I also used Spanish chorizo...

 Yum!

...pimentón dulce (purchased in bulk for only .39 cents!), and saffron. 

 You can see the packaging of the chorizo in the top right corner.

The chicken as pictured was not fully done, so I had to cook that some more when I returned home from my friend's house (I don't have a photo of that because it was devoured quickly by my neighbor and me for dinner). Lydia, her husband, and I gobbled up the shrimp and chorizo, though, while pushing the lemon slices aside haha. 


As Sarah writes in the recipe, don't pull out any plates for this dish; eat the paella directly from the pan itself. YUM! I want to make this again very soon. 

 ¡Buen provecho!

 After some serious damage, I still had plenty of leftovers. I still need to work on making the socarrat or the crusty, crispy layer formed under the rice, but look at that garlic!

I made only two additions to this recipe - the chorizo and shrimp. I cooked the deveined and peeled shrimp in a separate pan, but you could cook up all the meats together since the pan is so large or one at a time and then place them in a separate plate to rest. Don't cook the shrimp up too much because it will go back in the pan along with the rice later on. Just cook them until they turn a slight peach-looking color. Make sure the chicken is cooked pretty well, though. I had to cook the chicken for about 30 minutes, and that still wasn't long enough, so cook it longer than that. The chorizo is already dried and cured, so you don't need to cook it for very long. For the full recipe, go to the site. 

For your entertainment, I have some process photos below and a special announcement you don't want to miss!!

PAELLA IN THE MAKING:

 Boil chicken broth; toast and crush saffron, and add to boiled broth.

Cook the peppers and garlic; cook the meats and veggies and set them aside; peel the covered, hot bell peppers

 Make the compote comprised of grated tomatoes and onions.

 Add the Spanish or short/medium-grained rice before adding the broth and the rest of the ingredients that have been set aside while keeping the whole garlic in the middle of the pan.

ANNOUNCEMENT!

Okay, now for the exciting news! Paella Pans has graciously allowed me to sponsor a giveaway for one of their 14" carbon steel pans - just like the one I now have - to one of you all!! 

MINIMUM QUALIFICATION: Because this is a small company, this giveaway is open to residents of the contiguous United States only. 

TO ENTER THE PAELLA PAN GIVEAWAY: All you have to do is go to their site and tell me what you would like to either make or buy there if you could.  

DEADLINE: Monday, July 5th, 2010. ¡BUENA SUERTE! GOOD LUCK!

HAPPY CANADA DAY!! 
HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!

Cream of Tomato Soup

Here's another dish I had to consume during my wisdom teeth "saga" (I exaggerate, of course). This soup was very good and hearty. However, it didn't take long for me to get tired of soups. What I liked about this recipe was that it had a small enough yield for one or two people compared to the soup recipe from Ina Garten (why do most of her recipes yield so much?).

Anyway, make sure you season this soup well. If you're eating this soup right after an extraction, purée the soup more than I did. I ate this after 3 or 4 days of my extraction, and I was lazy, so I didn't purée it. I will be sharing one more soup I consumed during my extraction, then we can move on to solid foods again hehe. On the top of the soup, I added small squares of a grilled cheese sandwich as garnish!

Cream of Tomato Soup

adapted from Life's Ambrosia and Ina Garten

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp flour
1/4 cup chicken broth or dry white wine (I don't drink alcohol, so I used extra broth)
1 28-ounce can fire-roasted or regular crushed tomatoes (I always use a box of Pomì)
3/4 cup vegetable or chicken broth
1/2 tsp granulated sugar (to reduce the acidity of the tomatoes)
Black pepper
Kosher salt
1/2 cup half-n-half or heavy cream

Garnish:
Chopped fresh basil
Grilled cheese sandwich chopped into squares

In a large saucepan heat olive oil and butter over medium heat. Once butter has melted add onions and garlic, cook until onion is softened about 5 minutes. Add in 2 Tbsp of flour to form a roux. Cook the roux for 3-5 minutes. Pour in broth or wine, and allow to cook for 1 minute. Add in crushed tomatoes, vegetable or chicken broth and granulated sugar. Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low.

Slowly stir the cream/half-n-half into the soup, and allow to simmer for 30 minutes.

For a smoother soup, blend the mixture, and process it until smooth. Just before serving, sprinkle with chopped fresh basil and/or grilled cheese sandwich squares.

Enjoy!

Old-Fashioned Bacon Meatloaf

Why do so many cooks still act like they assume only women cook? For instance, aside from using "y'all" all of the time, Paula Deen frequently addresses her audience as "ladies" or "women" even though she has two sons who love to cook. On Spanish-speaking cooking shows, the male and female hosts address the audience as "señoras" ("ladies" or "women"). I just don't get it; it is so frustrating to me. Click here for more...

Pot Roast

If you don't like your different food items to touch each other, please don't look at the subsequent photos. :)

When Monica from Lick the Bowl Good and I decided to meet up for the first time, we went to Mimi's Cafe. The first I ever ate at this restaurant, I was happy with what I ordered so I never went again until my meeting with Monica. She gave me some suggestions on what to order, and one of her suggestions included pot roast with mashed potatoes. I don't normally order or even eat pot roast, but I was in the mood for a comforting, "home-cooked" type of meal and veggies.

Well, that pot roast was AMAZING! It was so tender and succulent, and the mashed potatoes and veggies were perfectly seasoned. The dish was so good that I kept thinking about it for days. I then decided to try making it myself for the first time.

After unsuccessfully looking for a copycat recipe for the Mimi's Pot Roast, I decided on the recipe found on Pioneer Woman's site because she didn't use a crockpot. I cooked the meat for half the time she suggested because my oven overheats (I have to cook half the time for every recipe I use), and the meat wasn't ready (see photo below).
So, I ending up cooking the meat for one more hour, and it came out just as tender as it looks on Ree's site. I served this pot roast with leftover colcannon, carrots, and onions. Although it was tender and flavorful, it didn't taste like the pot roast at Mimi's. Maybe it was because I didn't use fresh thyme and rosemary, and I used all broth instead of wine. I don't know, but I guess I'll have to keep on trying. For the next time, I'm going to use a crockpot and a different recipe. Nevertheless, this pot roast came at a close second place.

*UPDATE* After eating it a second and third time, the flavors have melded, and the pot roast tastes amazing. I think the only missing is the gravy. I used the juices from the broth as my gravy, but a real, thickened gravy would make this even better than the pot roast I had at the restaurant. So, please make gravy out of the leftover beef broth by making a small roux (about 2 Tbsp flour + 2 Tbsp butter) and adding the juices to the roux. I wish I had done that.

Pot Roast
adapted by Pioneer Woman

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Tbsp butter
1 whole Chuck Roast (mine was 2.5 lbs)
2 whole Onions (I used 1/2 onion chopped in long, semi-circled cuts)
6 whole Carrots (I had only 2 carrots and chopped them in smaller pieces)
Salt To Taste (Try using Lawry's Seasoning salt)
Pepper To Taste
3 cups To 4 Cups Beef Stock (can substitute one cup of broth for red wine if you want)
3 sprigs Fresh Thyme, or more to taste (I didn't have)
3 sprigs Fresh Rosemary, or more to taste (I used dried, about 2-3 Tbsp)

Generously salt and pepper your chuck roast. Heat a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Then add 2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil and butter.

Cut two onions in half and cut 6 to 8 carrots into 2-inch slices. When the oil in the pot is very hot (but not smoking), add in the halved or chopped onions, browning them on one side and then the other. Remove the onions to a plate. Throw the carrots into the same very hot pan and toss them around a bit until slightly browned, about a minute or so.

If needed, add a bit more olive oil to the very hot pan. Place the meat in the pan, and sear it for about a minute or two on all sides until it is nice and brown all over. Remove the roast to a plate. With the burner still on high, use either red wine or beef broth (about 1 cup) to deglaze the pan, scraping the bottom with a whisk to get all of that flavor up. When the bottom of the pan is sufficiently deglazed, place the roast back into the pan and add enough beef stock to cover the meat halfway (about 2 to 3 cups). Add in the onion and the carrots, as well as 3 or 4 sprigs of fresh rosemary and about 3 sprigs of fresh thyme.

Put the lid on, then roast in a 275F oven for 3 hours (for a 3-pound roast). For a 4 to 5-pound roast, plan on 4 hours.

Colcannon

Only a few of you guessed which statement was true about me for the Honest Scrap Award. I was waiting until today to tell you all what the truth is. So, let's go through each one, shall we?

1. I speak 5 languages fluently.
I wish!! I speak about three languages fluently enough to have long conversations and even arguments haha: English, Spanish, and Portuguese. (My mom would tell you that I know 7 to 99 languages. Please don't listen to her; she's biased.) I can read, conjugate all verbs, and understand Italian, but I still have a long way to go with that language. I have a reading knowledge of French. Now, I'm learning Korean, and I love it!

2. I used to be a cosmetologist.
Almost true! For about 2 semesters, I took cosmetology courses to help pay for "real" school later on and realized I was wasting my time because I wasn't good at doing any of the stuff except for the written tests. So, I was too much of a book nerd to be a cosmetologist. On top of that, I caused a lady to walk out of our school building with one barely-gone eyebrow! OOPS!

3. I am a member of the "Mile-High Club".
NO WAY, JOSÉ! I have nothing else to add to that. LOL! (Shame on you, Jorge, for thinking this was true hahaha)

4. I have some Irish in my blood.
YEP! This is the truth! Also, it is the reason I made this yummy cabbage & potato dish today! I guess one of the only beneficial consequences of slavery in the United States was the blending of cultures and races that especially came about as a result of secretive, amorous or sexual relationships between slave masters and their subjects.

5. I love nuts and alcohol!
Well, I'm sure almost all of my readers know that this one is so NOT true. I do, however, like nuts in Snickers and Toblerone. I guess it is because I can't taste the nuts; I like the crunchy texture mixed in with the soft nougat, chewy caramel, and smooth chocolate in Snickers.
Well, I know you've seen this dish EVERYWHERE on the blogosphere. I chose this popular dish because I don't like corned beef, and I don't know of many traditional, Irish dishes as I should. Whenever my mother and I make a trip to Ireland, I hope to remedy that.
This dish was easy to put together. It tasted insanely good for a vegetarian, healthy meal. You've probably noticed that not many veggies are showcased on my blog, so embrace this post!! I did add some thick, turkey ham to the dish, though. The carnivorous addition intensified the dish.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day! Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig oraibh!

Colcannon
reduced and adapted by Good Mood Blog (Donal, a true Irishman with lovely photos) and Tasty Traveller

2 med-large Russet potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 Tbsp butter or margarine
1/2 an onion, chopped into small or large pieces (your preference)
1/4th of a cabbage, chopped (Donal suggests savoy cabbage, but I couldn't find it)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 cup of fresh parsley, chopped (I used a few Tbsps of dried parsley)
1/4 cup milk (I used whole milk)
2 Tbsp butter

Chop the potatoes, onions, and cabbage before starting.

Place the prepared potatoes in a saucepan and fill with water to boil. Once the water has boiled, turn down the heat, and allow to simmer for 15 minutes, until fork easily goes through the potatoes.
Meanwhile, place 1 Tbsp of butter in a hot skillet, and sauté onions until translucent, then set aside.
Drain the potatoes, reserving the water for the cabbage. Place the cooked potatoes in a big serving bowl or casserole dish. Pour the reserved water back in to the saucepan, and boil the water. Place the chopped cabbage into the water, and cook for 6-8 minutes.
Place the onions, salt, pepper, and parsley into the serving bowl or dish with the cooked potatoes. Then add the cooked cabbage, and stir with a wooden spoon. Place 1-2 Tbsp of butter on top, and salt and pepper to taste.
Serve, and enjoy!!