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Tired of that same old pot roast or stew? This recipe elevates that simple chuck roast to a fine dining experience. The best part is, there is absolutely no work involved except for the stirring of that creamy, savory risotto. But that’s a labor of love, right? Here it is:

Ingredients

2 1/2 lb chuck roast
16 oz frozen pearl onions
8 oz whole button mushrooms
750 ml white wine
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp ground, black pepper
Arborio rice, 1 cup, uncooked
1 TB olive oil
2 TB cold butter
1 medium tomato
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
parsley for garnish

Method

Empty the bag of frozen onions into a crock pot or dutch oven. Season the chuck roast with the salt and pepper and put on top of the onions. Add the thyme and mushrooms over the top. Pour the white wine over the roast. Cook according to crock pot directions. If using a dutch oven, bring up to a simmer and cook over medium-low heat for two to two and half hours. Remove the roast to a plate and keep warm.

Using a two quart saucepan over medium high heat, add the olive oil and 1 TB of the butter. When the butter is melted, add 1/2 cup of cooked onions from the roast and 1/4 cup of the mushrooms. Cut the tomato into 1/4″ dice and add to the pot. Add the rice and stir for about 2 minutes, until the rice almost starts to toast. Ladle one cup of stock from the roast into the rice and stir slowly with a wooden spoon. Continue adding stock and stirring until the rice is al dente (about 18 minutes). Take off the heat and stir in the other TB of butter and the parmesan. Serve on a platter with the beef shredded over the top.

In the world of decadence, lobster bisque is certainly in the top rankings. The winner of our menu contest this year requested I make this dish. Truly, just a few simple ingredients are all you need.

Ingredients

1 small to medium-sized lobster

2 carrots, roughly chopped

2 shallots, not peeled, cut in half

Pinch of parsley

pinch of thyme

2 black peppercorns

1 clove

15 1/2 oz pumpkin puree

6 TB butter

8 TB flour

splash of sherry

1 tsp sea salt

1/4 cup heavy cream

drops of good sherry, for garnish

drizzle of melted butter, for garnish

Method

Put the lobster into boiling water for 10 minutes. Remove and allow to cool. Save the water you used to boil the lobster. Take the flesh out of the lobster shell and reserve. Save the lobster shell. In a large pot, add the carrots (chopped) and the shallots cut in half, flesh-side down over high heat. When the shallots brown, add the lobster shell and stir. Add the lobster cooking water, the parsley, thyme, peppercorns and clove. Allow to simmer for 30 minutes. Strain and put the liquid back on the heat. Add the pumpkin. Reduce by 1/3.

In another large pot, make a lobster veloute by adding the flour and butter over high heat. Whisk for 1-2 minutes, until the butter is melted. Whisk 1 minute more. Add a small splash of sherry. Add the lobster stock and whisk intermittently until it thickens slightly. Add the sea salt. Add the cream and turn down to lowest heat. In a small pan, reheat the lobster meat in a little butter and chop into pieces. Serve in bowls with some of the lobster pieces, a few drops of sherry and a drizzle of melted butter.

We challenged readers and listeners to come up with the best Christmas menu this year. Isn’t that more fun than telling you what to make? This goose was the very epitome of savory and the stuffing (made as dressing, separately) was truly outstanding. These are recipes to be filed away for years to come. Enjoy!

Julia Child always used the steaming and then roasting method to avoid splattering of the goose in the oven (due to the amazing amount of fat rendered). We will do that here as well, but save that fat to saute potatoes with, etc.

Ingredients

1 goose 8-10 lbs

5 shallots

2-3 carrots

sea salt

pepper

blood orange juice (regular orange juice is fine) for basting plus 1 1/3 cups for the gastrique

1 large baguette, about 20 inches in length

1 egg

1 TB butter

2 packages dried morel mushrooms (about 1 ounce each, dried, or a little more)

fresh thyme, rosemary, oregano and basil

1/2 tsp dried thyme

splash of white wine

1 1/3 cups sugar

1 tsp good sherry vinegar

1 cup of chicken stock (or make goose stock from the giblets, as we did with the turkey recipe on the site)

Method

Take the giblets out of the goose. Rinse the bird thoroughly. Pat it dry with paper towels. In a large, heavy roasting pan safe for the stovetop, place the carrots and 2 shallots, cut into big chunks. Place 2 more shallots, roughly cut into the cavity of the goose. Splash some of the blood orange juice over the goose and generously season with salt and pepper. Place a couple of inches of water in the roasting pan and cover with aluminum foil. Steam over medium heat for one hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

While the goose is steaming, rehydrate the mushrooms according to package directions. While they steep, shred the baguette into bite-sized pieces and place in a large bowl. Beat the egg and add it. Chop 4-5 sprigs of each of the fresh herbs and add them. Add 1/2 tsp of sea salt.

Chop the mushrooms, add the butter to a small frying pan and saute them with a 1/4 tsp of dried time and a pinch of sea salt. When the liquid dries up in the pan, add a splash of white wine. Remove from the heat and allow to cool before tossing in the bowl with the bread mixture. With clean hands, mix the contents of the bowl. Spray an 8×12 glass dish with cooking spray and add the mixture, gently patting it down to fit the dish.

Pour the liquid from the goose pan into a container, leaving only about 1 cup of liquid in the pan. Splash a little more blood orange juice over it. Flip it breast-side-down, and roast, covered, for two hours while you make the gastrique (see below). During the last half hour, uncover it, turn it breast-side-up and place the stuffing in the oven, uncovered. After 15 minutes, add 1/2 to 1 cup of the reserved cooking liquid (and fat) to the stuffing, depending upon how much it has dried out. Bake and roast 15 more minutes and remove everything from the oven to cool for a few moments.

While the goose is roasting, make the gastrique. Place the sugar and 1 1/3 cups of the blood orange juice in a saucepan with the sherry vinegar. Allow to simmer and reduce until the mixture coats the back of a spoon. Allow to cool slightly. Serve with the goose.

Don’t deny it. Things get busy over the holidays, people tire of the preparations and just want to gather and relax. You may have ended up with an impromptu party or two, so here’s how to make the most of it and be prepared. You’ll look like you had it planned all along.

Sun-dried tomato palmiers

Parmesan sticks

Herbed goat cheese

Assorted crackers

seedless grapes

Camembert fondue

Ingredients

1 package frozen puff pastry sheets (11 oz)

1  6.5 oz jar of oil-packed sun dried tomatoes

4 oz grated parmesan cheese

8 oz of goat cheese

assorted fresh herbs, including basil, thyme, oregano, rosemary

seedless grapes

8 0z (or more) wheel of Camembert cheese

best quality assortment of crackers

Method

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

Palmiers

Thaw the puff pastry or quick-thaw according to package directions. Drain but reserve the oil from your sun-dried tomatoes. Buzz the tomatoes in a food processor until smooth. Gently roll out one 10″x15″ pastry sheet without crushing the edges (or it won’t rise). Place it on a cutting board. Paint the dough lightly with the oil from the tomatoes with a pastry brush. Paint the sun-dried tomato mixture on the dough. Roll the long side of the pastry up to the center and stop. Roll the other long side up to the center. With a very sharp knife, slice into 1/4″ thick slices and place each slice on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Bake until golden 10-12 minutes. These hold up well at room temperature for a short period of time.

Bread sticks

Roll out another sheet of the pastry dough, as above. Sprinkle it with parmesan and using a ravioli cutter or a knife, cut into 1/4″ strips. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and twist each end in opposite directions creating a spiral bread stick. Place each stick on the cookie sheet an inch apart and bake at the same temp as above for 10-12 minutes until golden brown. These also hold well.

Herbed goat cheese

Chop assorted herbs finely. Roll cold goat cheese into twelve balls. Roll in the fresh herbs and serve.

Camembert fondue

Take the plastic wrap off the cheese and place back in the wooden round container. Place it on a baking sheet and bake until very soft and melted. Carefully cut off the top and the melted cheese can be spread on crackers. Re-heat if necessary.

Serve all of the above with grapes and assorted crackers.

In this digital age we live in, now more than ever people appreciate the time taken to make a gift and the tastier the better. I put together some ideas to make friends and family smile over the holidays.

If you simply have no time, the Christmas cake from Italy, panettone, has always been a favorite in our home. You can find various brands of it at almost every major supermarket.

Another option is to make edible ornaments or even a gingerbread house. I experimented with gingerbread dough last year and came up with a recipe that would hold up for decorating. If you use this dough for ornaments, make sure you poke a hole in the top of each gingerbread cookie with a round pastry tip (because the hole will shrink) before you put it in the oven. Use holiday-themed cutters to make your ornaments varied and festive. Here’s the recipe link for that:

http://elizabethdougherty.com/2011/06/09/making-a-gingerbread-house-and-cookies/

I painted the house with melted chocolate. We ended up devouring that one as the holidays approached.

Other gifts you can make include chocolate truffles by simply scalding cream and pour the hot cream over twice as much (in ounces) of chopped chocolate, stir until smooth, let it cool and roll them into balls. Then you can roll them in cocoa, sweetened coconut, peanuts, pistachios. The possibilities are endless.

An even less expensive option is flavored popcorn. Make some popcorn and while it’s still hot toss it in garlic salt, cinnamon sugar or cajun seasoning. The flavors are up to you, but one thing is for sure; people will know you took the time to make it.

I get a little bored with the same old sweet potato dishes on Thanksgiving, don’t you? Instead of the sweet potato pie or casserole you have every year, try this recipe. It’s elegant, not hard to make (although it takes a little love and a little time) and your guests will be thankful you did.

It takes maybe 30-40 minutes to roast your own sweet potatoes rather than using the canned puree and there is a marked difference in the flavor. I didn’t add any seasoning to them before roasting. I put them on a sheet pan that was sprayed with cooking spray and roasted them flesh-side down at 400 degrees F until a fork could pierce them all the way through.

Ingredients

2 cups mashed sweet potato

5 TB butter

5 TB flour

5 cups whole milk

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

5 large eggs, separated

1 oz sugar, plus one cup

1/2 cup water

1 cup chopped pecans

1 TB cream

Method

In a 2-quart saucepan, add the butter and flour over medium-high heat. Whisk until the butter is melted. It will be bubbly. Add the milk and whisk to incorporate well. Add salt and cinnamon and continue whisking until the mixture thickens. It will thicken further upon standing. Remove from the heat and set aside.

In another 2-quart saucepan, add one cup sugar and water. Heat over medium heat, without stirring. Do not walk away from this! When the sugar turns a carmel color, add 1 cup of the white sauce and pecans. Whisk to combine. Allow to reduce until thickened somewhat. It will thicken further upon standing. Add the cream and stir in when you remove the pot from the heat. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F

Prepare a 6-cup souffle dish or a medium glass bowl by spraying with cooking spray. Whip egg whites until frothy, add the 1 oz sugar and continue whipping until firm peaks are achieved.

In a large bowl combine the sweet potato with the egg yolks and 2 cups of the white sauce. Slowly fold in the egg whites.

Place mixture in the baking dish (souffle dish) and bake for 10 minutes. Turn down the heat to 375 F and bake  for another 30-35 minutes until it only moves VERY slightly (not loose at all) when you take it out of the oven. It will continue to cook upon standing.

Using two forks back-to-back, gently open the center of the souffle and pour the caramel sauce into and over the top of the souffle. Serve immediately.

I remember driving through Kansas.

As far as the eye could see were fields of wheat, softly swaying in the breeze. The sky was so blue it was almost azure. The sun shone brightly over the heartland of America. The occasional silo interrupted the blanket of gold; a reminder that these are the homes of farmers. These are the people who feed us and the world.

It was a breathtaking sight.

Stopping for a moment to stretch my legs, I walked into one of the wheat fields. The wheat felt unyielding, like straw waiting to be packaged into neat cubes of hay. I was surprised it wasn’t what I expected. Little did I know that years later, the farm industry in this country would be involved in a prickly controversy that was far more of a surprise than that special day.

Genetically modified food was a distant thought back then; an idea with promises to increase crop yields, eradicate pests damaging cotton and corn and making our favorite vegetables look prettier and last longer. Maybe we could finally make a dent in world hunger, if we could get rid of that pesky distribution problem in some nations.

It sounds too good to be true.

Studies are now showing crop yields are not larger, pests are becoming superbugs resistant to these genetically modified seeds and farmers are dependent upon them since they are designed to sprout for one season, then they have to buy more.

By contrast in North Dakota, canola sprouts from Canada are found growing through cracks in the sidewalks and out in the wild. These genetically modified plants are combining with our plants and spreading at an unknown pace, possibly into organic farms, making it impossible to certify them as organic any longer.

National Institute of Health studies are showing toxicity levels higher than the standard in Roundup Ready harvests. Farm workers are getting sick and so are the livestock that eat the leftover plants. Studies are showing infertility problems and concerns about new allergens showing up in the food supply. With upwards of 90 percent of soy crops being modified, what does that mean to families buying soy formula and people on a vegetarian diet? The people most dedicated to health are those most at risk.

No one is really trying to stop any of this. At this point it might be impossible anyway. What do 80 percent of those polled in California want? They want genetically modified food to be labeled as such. They want to know what they are eating, as was promised in 2007 on the campaign trail for the presidency.

For years now, people have been afraid to talk about these issues in a public forum. I do so at risk of retribution to myself and my family. I’m doing it anyway, because it’s important enough to take that step in the hopes we will start really talking about it, without fear and with a positive outcome in mind.

The former Monsanto employee appearing on my show this Saturday has a research background and left the company of his own accord after he was disheartened and afraid of some of the actions he felt were irresponsible and possibly dangerous.

His claims are backed-up by research scientists in the field of genetics. The scientist we spoke with had even more concerns about the future of our food supply.

Every week I wonder if it will be my last show. This week is certainly no exception. We begin Saturday afternoon at 3:30 on WWBA AM820 News. “See you” on the radio and pardon me now, while I go make sure I’m registered to vote in the next election.

Appliance Gallery hosts Chef Chris Ponte of Cafe Ponte

Join us October 8th at 3:30pm at the Appliance Gallery luxury showroom in Largo, FL for samples of menu items from Cafe Ponte paired with wines and other beverages. Appliance Gallery is located at 13055 Starkey Road in Largo. 727.530.5150
This event is free and open to the public.