Week o' Cooking

I cooked a lot this week.
I really did.

And I was so busy I couldn't post about it!

Sunday: I made Pioneer Woman's Pot Roast. Holy crap it's good. I have made it a good 5 times now. Perfect Sunday meal.Monday I made: Beef with Spicy Cocoa Gravy. I found this in a cooking light magazine many moons ago and it's always a hit.
Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa

1 ½ teaspoons garlic powder

1 ½ teaspoons cumin

1 ½ teaspoons chili powder

1 ½ teaspoons paprika

1 ½ teaspoons oregeno

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

1 ½ pounds cubed steak

½ cup flour

½ cup onion chopped

½ cup green bell pepper

½ cup red wine

1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes, fire roasted if you can find them

2 cups beef broth

salt and pepper

Egg noodles to serve underneath….

Combine cocoa and all spices. Toss with beef in a bowl. Remove beef from bowl, leaving left over seasonings. Add flour to bowl, add beef and toss again.

Heat a little olive oil in a dutch oven or large pot. Add beef and sauté over medium-high heat 5 minutes. Remove beef from pan. Add onion and green bell pepper and sauté 5 minutes. Add red wine and tomatoes, cook 3 minutes. Stir in beef broth, some salt and pepper, and return meat to pan. Simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Wonderful on a cold night!

Then on Tuesday night I whipped up another recipe that is a favorite around here. It's a Rachael Ray actually. I have found that her "30 minute meals" from Food Network are better than her show (please stop with the burgers already!) and her books.

Italian Barbequed Chicken

Ingredients

• 4 bone-in chicken thigh and leg or chicken breasts
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
• 2 teaspoons grill seasoning
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 thick cut slices pancetta or bacon, chopped
• 1 medium red onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, grated or finely chopped
• 1 to 2 sprigs fresh rosemary, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 cup tomato sauce
• 2 1/2 cups chicken stock
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 cup quick cooking polenta
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup grated Parmiginao-Reggiano
• Torn fresh basil leaves

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Season the chicken liberally with salt and pepper, poultry seasoning, and grill seasoning. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a medium skillet and brown the chicken a few minutes on each side to put some of it's flavor and drippings into the pan then transfer to oven and roast 15 minutes more or until juices run clear. Meanwhile, add 1 more tablespoon olive oil to the pan and cook pancetta or bacon, if using, until crisp. Add onions, garlic and rosemary, cook 5 minutes then add the vinegar, sugar, Worcestershire, tomato sauce and 1/2 cup chicken stock, reduce heat to low and let sauce simmer 5 minutes more.

Bring remaining 1 1/2 cups stock and milk to a boil, whisk in polenta and season with salt and pepper. Whisk polenta 2 to 3 minutes until it thickens, stir in butter and cheese, remove from heat.

Remove chicken from oven and turn in barbecue sauce. Fill shallow bowls with polenta Top with chicken, spoon extra sauce over chicken and garnish with some torn basil leaves.

I served this with Orzo, rather than polenta. But it's good either way.