Quick Recipe: Mexican Spiced Roast Beef

I love writing recipes.  My computer programmer type brain loves listing out commands in specific order.  I envision putting the recipe into a cooking machine (or the hands of a good cook) and if my recipe is well written, precise & elegant (programmer speak), only great food can come from it.

My sister asked me about the Mexican Spiced Roast Beef I was making to turn into chile this week.   I typed this up with my thumbs, on my iPhone, as my husband drove us to Mammoth yesterday.  Can't think of a better way to kill drive time than writing recipes!

Mexican Spiced Roast Beef

Ingredients:

 5lb roast beef

2 TBSP oil,
1 TBSP each coriander, cumin, Mexican oregano & salt, some pepper.
1 onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced.
1 Beer

Method:

Rub the roast with all the spices. 

Brown the roast in the hot oil in large Dutch Oven. 

Add the onion & garlic and cook for 2 minutes. 

Add the beer. 

Cover it & bake in oven at 325F for 3 hours. 

(I added carrots & potatoes for last 40 minutes. Yum!) 

Remove from oven. Let roast rest for 20 minutes, slice & serve with the jus from the pot.

Mulled Wine: Our Family's Holloween Treat

As far back as I can remember our house filled with the scent of cinnamon and cloves on Holloween evening. On our block mulled wine was the number one treat for the adults. My mother credits our next-door neighbors, the Reis family for starting the tradition. She has a copy of their recipe dated 1971.  I was five years old that year and I believe the recipe was passed down as the Reis' moved away.  My mom certainly did her best to uphold the tradition.  Each year she would make up a big batch and keep it warm in a Corningware percolator sitting atop a lit jack-o-lantern.  She passed out styrofoam cups to the adults who were chaperoning their kids through the flat suburbs of Lakewood Gardens.

As soon as we became homeowners I began making mulled wine on Halloween night and did my best to pass it around to weary trick-o-treaters.  It's not easy to come into a new neighborhood and pass out hot wine.  People get suspicious.  It has taken years for the locals here in Manhattan Beach to take me seriously about the offer of a hot spiced toddy to fortify them for the candy trail.  One day, I'll have the steady stream of friends, neighbors & locals, as my mother did. Perhaps you will too.


Enjoy!

Mulled Wine from the Reis Family

Ingredients:

1 C sugar

4 C water

Zest 1/2 lemon        

18 whole cloves

2 cinnamon sticks

12" square of cheese cloth

2 bottles (750ml) dry red, cheap wine

Method:

Put sugar and water in a large sauce pan. Tie the lemon zest and spices into a large square of cheese cloth.  Add the spice bundle to the sugar water.  Bring to a boil.  Lower heat and simmer for 15 minutes.  Add the wine.  Heat until steaming but not boiling.  Remove the spice bundle.  Keep warm.  Serve to weary travellers, family members at holiday gatherings, holiday revellers, anemic enemies & friendly strangers. 

Flippant Culinary Style - Cranberry Sauces from Xmas 2008

This year was similar to many years past in that I was requested to bring vegetable dishes to the Christmas Eve Hooper dinner. One of the Hoopers put in a special request for my cranberry chutney. However, this simple request revealed a defect in my flippant culinary style. My passion is recipes, writing them, reading them, finding them. But not filing them. I hate filing. My motto when it comes to paperwork is: You know when it is time to file things when the item you were looking for was found in the 'to be filed' pile. Then, and only then do I even consider wasting my time stuffing paper into over crowded files.
This is the first time my office paperwork policy has tripped up my culinary world. I have no idea to which cranberry chutney recipe she refers. Bummer really, that I cannot keep track of such things. Each year I make what sounds good, looks good in a magazine, is sent to me by a friend, found on a website, referred to in a cookbook... whatever inspires me at the moment. I have no recipe loyalty, I make what I want each day. Once in a while I revisit favorite recipes, but in general, I'm always looking forward to something new. I don't have time to cut out, collate, collect, categorize, and certainly not FILE any recipe.

So, in an effort to fulfill the cranberry chutney request, I searched online and found two really nice recipes to bring to the Christmas Eve event. One I have used before, it's a recipe I heard on National Public Radio several years ago. It's a horseradish concoction that is excellent with roast beef.

The second cranberry recipe is simply one I found when I googled 'recipe, cranberry, chutney'. I liked the looks of it, the comments at the website were positive, so I used it. It received rave reviews by the Hoopers. It would be excellent on ice cream and went great with the turkey.

In an effort to keep track of things, and to be able to answer when someone asks: What was in that cranberry stuff you brought to the Hooper Christmas Eve Party last year?, here are the recipes.

Mama Stamberg's Cranberry Relish

Ingredients:
1 bag whole raw cranberries, washed
1 small white onion, cut into large dice
3/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons horseradish from a jar

Method:
Put the cranberries and the onion into a food processor and pulse to a course puree. Add everything else and mix. The color will be shocking pink.

Keep refrigerated until ready to use. May be frozen and left a little slushy for a unique texture.

Makes 1-1/2 pints.

Spiced Cranberry Chutney with Apple

Ingredients:
1 cup water
3/4 cup white sugar
1 (12 ounce) package fresh cranberries
1 cup apples - peeled, cored and diced
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

Method:
In a medium saucepan bring the water and sugar to a boil over medium heat. Add the cranberries, apples, cider vinegar, raisins and spices. Bring to a boil, then simmer gently for 10 minutes stirring often.
Pour mixture into a mixing bowl. Place plastic wrap directly on the surface of the sauce. Cool to room temperature and serve or cover and refrigerate. Bring chutney to room temperature before serving.