I consider myself to be a pretty good cook but every once in a while I make something and I am just like, “MAN! That was GOOD!” Well that is what happened today!
(Again please excuse the lousy cell phone pictures)
As part of the “Know Your Food” merit badge we are supposed to find at least 10 new ways to incorporate fresh fruits and vegetables into our diets so I have been experimenting with some things we don’t usually eat.
Today’s dinner was such a huge success. It started out with a small pork roast that was just the right size for me an Richie with just enough leftover for tonight’s dinner. I roasted it in a small dish in the oven adding about 1/4 an inch of chicken stock to the bottom of the dish to keep the meat moist. I used the drippings to make a nice gravy when it was done.
Next were the carrots. Richie is not much of a veggie eater unless it is mashed or fried potatoes or corn! The biggest trick is making things he will eat, so kind of off the cuff I invented this recipe this morning.
Winter Carrots
1 tsp. butter
1 shallot, sliced thin and separated into rings
1 slice of raw bacon, diced
1 tsp. Sugar
1 pound organic baby carrots, sliced in half on an angle
Chicken Stock (about 1/2 cup)
In a medium pot melt butter. Add shallot and cook over medium heat until the shallot just begins to caramelize. Add diced bacon and cook low and slow until bacon is cooked through but not crunchy. Turn heat to high and add carrots. Cook about 5 minutes until carrots develop a nice caramelization. Add about 1/4 cup of chicken stock to deglaze the pan. Turn heat to low and add about another 1/4 cup of chicken stock. Allow to cook until carrots are fork tender and most of the chicken stock has cooked off. Add a pinch of salt to taste and serve.
Richie and I both loved these! I roasted the asparagus in the oven with just a bit of olive oil and salt. It was a little bitter but it is out of season and imported from who-knows-where! I also decided to roast some small red potatoes. I used my knife to slice off a thin ring of skin around the potatoes. I then placed them in a baking dish with lots of fresh garlic that I found in our garden yesterday! (who knew!) I also added salt, rosemary(also from the garden) and olive oil. I roasted them in the oven until they were nice and soft on the inside and just slightly crispy on the outside! These were delicious too!
For dessert we had Pineapple. I bought a “fresh” coasta rican pineapple at the store on Friday. I sliced it up but it was a little hard and not to sweet so it wasn’t very good to eat raw. I “browned” chucks of the pineapple in a pan, added some chopped pecans, a tbs. of butter, a handful of brown sugar and a splash (or glug) of Dark Rum. I cooked it until it was bubbly and served it with some whipped cream! (My friends cow went dry so it was store bought whipped cream 🙁 )
Overall it was a very successful dinner and I managed to get in 3 vegetables and 1 fresh fruit! The only thing Richie didn’t eat was the Asparagus!
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