Perfect Roast Potatoes

2 1/2 oz goose fat or duck fat or 5 tbsp olive oil
coarse sea salt
2 lbs even-size potatoes, peeled
8 fresh rosemary sprigs to garnish

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Put the fat or oil in a large roasting pan, sprinkle generously with sea salt, and place in the oven.

Meanwhile, cook the potatoes in a large pan of boiling water for 8-10 minutes, until parboiled. Drain well, and if the potatoes are large, cut them in half. Return the potatoes to the pan and shake vigorously to coarsen their outsides.

Arrange the potatoes in a single layer in the hot pan and roast for 45 minutes. If they look as if they are starting to char around the edges, lower the oven temperature to 400 degrees. Turn the potatoes over and roast for an additional 30 minutes, until crisp. Serve garnished with sprigs of rosemary.

Creamed Peas

4 T. butter
4 T. all-purpose flour
1-1/2 c. milk
16 oz. pkg frozen peas
1 t. onion powder
salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter in a large skillet over low hear; blend in flour until smooth. Increase heat to medium and add milk, 1/2 cup at a time, until thickened. Stir in peas and onions; add onion powder, salt and pepper. Heat through.

Cranberry Glazed Pork Roast

2 t. cornstarch
1/4 t. cinnamon
1/8 t. salt
1/2 t. orange zest
2 T. orange juice
16 oz. whole berry cranberry sauce
4 lb. boneless pork loin roast

In a small saucepan, stir together all ingredients except pork. Cook, stirring over medium heat until thickened; set aside. Place roast in shallow baking dish. Roast at 325 degrees for 45 mins. Spoon 1/2 cup glaze over roast and continue roasting for 30-45 minutes or until meat thermometer reads 155 to 160 degrees. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing and serve with remaining sauce.

Note: Instead of using all of the ingredients above I made the cranberry sauce from the previous post and used it to cover the roast. I also browned my pork roast in a skillet before roasting to give it a nice golden color. The golden color was covered by the cranberry sauce but I felt better knowing it had been browned.

Cranberry Sauce

12 oz bag of cranberries
1 orange
1/4 tea. ginger
1 cup sugar

Wash and sort cranberries - throw out squishy ones. Grate orange rind. Squeeze juice from orange and add enough water to make one cup. Add cranberries, sugar and orange rind. Let stand 5 min, Cook for 5 min, take off heat and let stand for 5 min, cook 5 more min, and cool.

Raspberry Slush For A Crowd

3 packets unsweetened raspberry punch powder
4 cups sugar
4 cups warm water
1 46-ounce can pineapple juice
1 12-ounce can frozen lemonade concentrate
1 6-ounce can frozen lemon juice
3 20-ounce bags frozen raspberries
1 2-liter bottle lemon-lime soda

In a 3 gallon container, dissolve raspberry punch powder in sugar in warm water. Add pineapple juice, lemonade concentrate, lemon juice, frozen raspberries, and enough water (about 3 1/2 quarts) to make 2 gallons punch. Stir until blended. Pour mixture into large freezer containers and freeze. When ready to serve, thaw mixture until slushy. Pour mixture into punch bowl or individual punch cups and add lemon-lime soda. Makes 75 half-cup servings. PS: I omitted the frozen raspberries and served it in individual glasses, not a punch bowl. I also added a titch of almond extract...Enjoy!

Christmas Dinner

Here are the recipes I used for Christmas Dinner this year. All of the recipes were new to me. I will definitely use all of them again.

[Menu Items]

Lion House Dinner Rolls with Honey Butter
Raspberry Slush for a Crowd
Cranberry Glazed Pork Roast
Creamed Peas
Brown Sugar Carrots
Perfect Roast Potatoes
Deviled Eggs

French Breakfast Puffs

These are amazing! You will love them! We can't get enough of them.



===============
French Breakfast Puffs

INGREDIENTS:

- 3 cups Flour
- 3 teaspoons Baking Powder
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 teaspoons Ground Nutmeg
- 1 cup Sugar
- 2/3 cups Shortening (Crisco)
- 2 whole Eggs
- 1 cup Milk
Cinnamon Sugar Mixture
- 1 1/4 cup Sugar
- 2 1/2 teaspoons Cinnamon
- 1 1/2 sticks Butter


METHOD:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 18 muffin cups.

In a large bowl stir together flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Set aside.

In a different bowl, cream together 1 cup sugar and shortening. Then add eggs and mix again. Add flour mixture and milk alternately to creamed mixture, beating well after each addition.

Fill prepared muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden.

In a bowl, melt 1 1/2 sticks butter. In a separate bowl combine remaining sugar and cinnamon. Dip baked muffins in butter, coating thoroughly, then coat with cinnamon-sugar mixture.



SOURCE: The Pioneer Woman Cooks, page 66
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/12/french_breakfast_puffs/

Mexican-Style Grilled Corn

This corn is really good! We made it a couple of times in the last month. The kids didn't like the sauce, but we are working with them on it.

Mexican-Style Grilled Corn

INGREDIENTS:

AFTER COOKING MIXTURE
- vegetable oil, for the cooking grate
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 3 tablespoons sour cream
- 3 tablespoons cilantro, minced (we didn't put this in because we didn't have any at the time)
- 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper to taste, (optional)
- 4 teaspoons lime juice
- 1 ounce queso fresco, (or Romano cheese)

BEFORE COOKING MIXTURE
- 4 teaspoons vegetable oil
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, (or 1/4 teaspoon table salt)
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 4 to 6 corn ears, husks and silk removed


METHOD:

1. Turn on the grill to high and heat grill with lid down until very hot, about 15 minutes. Scrape the grate clean with grill brush. Dip wad of paper towels in vegetable oil; holding wad with tongs, wiping cooking grate.

2. While grill is heating, combine Before Cooking Mixture (oil, salt and chili powder). Add corn and coat until coated evenly. We found it easiest to put the ingredients into a zip lock back and mix that way.

3. Combine the After Cooking Mixture in the zip lock back, omitting the remaining chili powder.

4. Leave the burners on high and cook corn with lid down, turning corn occasionally, until lightly charred on all sides, 7 to 12 minutes total. Remove from grill and place in bag with After Cooking Mixture, toss to coat evenly. Serve immediately.

Adapted from Cooks Illustrated.

Cheese Sauce

We tried this cheese sauce last week. It tasted great and was super easy to make. The best part about this sauce is you can make it as hot or mild as you want. You can use it with anything you want to have some cheese sauce. We had it with pasta and with chips.

Cheese Sauce by Kenji

INGREDIENTS:

- 8 ounces extra sharp cheddar cheese (or a mix of cheddar and pepper Jack—see note), grated on large holes of a box grater
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
- 1 12-ounce can evaporated milk
- 2 teaspoons Franks Red Hot or other hot sauce


METHOD:

Add cheese and cornstarch to sauce pan. Toss to combine with 2 forks. Add 1 cup evaporated milk and hot sauce. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly with whisk until melted, bubbly, and thickened (about 5 minutes). Mixture will look thin and grainy at first but will thicken and come together after heating. Thin to desired consistency with additional evaporated milk. Serve immediately with fries, tortilla chips, pasta, burgers, or hot dogs.

To reheat the sauce, microwave it on high heat, stopping and stirring every 30 seconds until it's fully melted.

NOTES:

This cheese sauce is gooey and tangy. For a spicier version, substitute half the cheddar cheese with Pepper Jack and add 2-3 minced pickled jalapeños, or to taste.

Adapted from Kenji at Serious Eats.

Tangy Broccoli Salad

3/4 cup light miracle whip dressing
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. white vinegar
6 cups of broccoli cut into florets
6 slices of bacon, cooked, crumbled
1 small red onion, chopped

Mix dressing, sugar and vinegar in a large bowl. Add remaining ingredients, mix lightly. Special extra: add 1/4 cup raisins just before serving.