Bottom Round Roast

First let me explain that I didn't have my usual camera handy so I used my iphone instead and the pictures are of a much lower quality.

Here's the tools I used for cooking the roast. Note the time when I started this dinner. I usually get impatient with roast such as this and end up cooking to too high a heat. Today I was prepared with snacks instead. I guess the smartest thing to do would have been to start dinner earlier but I lost track of time, again.


First I added olive oil to the heated pan then browned the meat that was sprinkled with sea salt and steakhouse pepper blend. On top of the meat I placed half and sliced onion, a bunch of smashed garlic and a few mushrooms. I poured in about a quarter cup white wine and 2 Tbls balsamic vinegar. With the lid in place while the kettle was still warm from the browning I placed it in a preheated oven at 250 degrees.




This is what came out about three and a half hours later. The smell made it hard to finish putting together the rest of the meal, we really just wanted to stop and eat the beef. I pulled the meat out to rest and Doug made the gravy out of the juices.


The pictures really don't do this meal justice. The roast was perfect, the mushrooms so flavorful and everyone loved the artichoke too. The kids really enjoyed dipping their artichoke leaves in gravy. I admit I wouldn't have thought to do that. I prefer salted ghee myself, and Doug is strictly mayo.


This peach cobbler was really the highlight to me and beleive me that meal was a tough act to follow. Here's my recipe:

1/2 c brown rice flour
1/4 c tapioca flour
1/4 c garbanzo bean flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp xanthan gum
1 cup evaporated cane juice crystals
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
rice milk
2 cups diced peeled peaches
a good bit of coconut oil

Preheat your oven to 350. Peel and dice the peaches then set aside. Whisk together the first 6 ingredients. Preheat a 10in cast iron skillet on med-high heat. Mix eggs, vanilla and enough milk to your powder to make a light batter. Add a healthy amount of coconut oil to the pan and once melted tilt the pan to coat all the sides. Pour your batter into the hot pan, as the batter starts to rise pour in your peaches. Give it a minute to set up a bit then move it to the oven and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or until golden brown and delicious GBD!



I'm not accustom to sweets and this one did push the limits for me. Next time I might reduce the sugar a bit but for your average person I'm sure the amount was just right.

Beef Stew

This I kinda just make with out any real recipe. Here's most of the ingredients:

That stove is as clean as it gets. It is 13 yrs old now and between boiling vinegar for pickles, a huge water bath canner and the cast iron double burner griddle the paint has peeled away in places and there are permanent brown rings baked around most of the burners. Anyway on with the story!


I only used half the meat and froze the rest. I chop the meat into bite sized pieces, coat them in rice flour, salt and pepper, I heat the pan on medium high, add olive oil and a couple cloves of garlic. Brown meat in batches until all is browned. Sautee onion, garlic and celery until soft then deglaze the pan the rest of the way with white wine. I used boxed wine for cooking. I doesn't go bad before you can finish it that way. Finish cooking onions, add beef broth. Chop carrots and add in, add back the meat chop the potatoes and add them too. I also added green beans and granulated kelp.


This really didn't need anything added to thicken, it turned out perfect on it's own.

Braised Short Ribs

Today I decided to show a bit of the process. I say a bit because somewhere along the line I forgot to keep taking photos.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 3 pounds beef short ribs, cut in serving-size pieces
• salt
• pepper
• 1 diced onions
• 5 cloves smashed garlic
• 2 Tbls olive oil
  
• water to cover
  
• 3 tablespoons white wine
  
• 1/2 cup flour
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• salt and pepper to taste
• a pinch of xanthan gum

Preparation:

In a bowl, lightly coat beef with flour.



In a Dutch oven brown ribs on all sides. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Remove from pan.
Deglaze with white wine. Add half of the onions and all of the garlic cook until translucent. Put the meat back into the kettle add water to cover and simmer until meat is tender, about 2 to 3 hours. Check occasionally and add a little more water if needed. The meat is done when tender and your house smells so good you can't take it any more.

Transfer ribs to another pan and place in a warm oven. Pour off pan juices and allow to settle. Skim off fat and return 2 tablespoons of the fat to pan. Saute the remaining onions. Sprinkle with flour adding back some fluid to make a paste. Add back 2 cups of the broth, strained and bring to a boil stirring constantly. Add a pinch or two of xanthan gum or flour until your gravy is as thick as you like it.
Refrigerate the remaining broth for later use.

The finished product:

The mashed potatoes are made from organic potato flakes bought from Azure Standard and to them I add sea salt, granulated garlic, Triple flake, Robust Olive Oil, Brewers Yeast and boiling water. When they are the right consistency, we add frozen peas at this point to cool it for the kids to eat and actually they are really good this way.

Pulled Pork Sandwiches

This is a pulled pork sandwich made from the braised pork ribs on a tapioca rice flour bun from central market. They were really good. I made the BBQ sauce from a can of tomato paste, garlic, cumin, chili con carne, salt and a drop of liquid smoke. I also added a splash of white wine and olive oil, increasing the olive oil as needed to thin allowing to cover all the meat. The sauce was mild and the whole family loved it.

Brasied Pork Ribs

This photo doesn't do the meal justice. I browned the country style pork ribs then brought them to a boil with water, garlic and spices. Next I placed the whole pot in the oven heated to 250 and left it there for 3 hrs while I was out. I took it out when I came home to find tender meat falling from the bone. Left overs will be made into some sort of pulled pork dish.

This is how it all began

At the county garage sale I found this gem of a pot. The price on it was $49. It was an honest price of a kettle of it's size and I would have paid that much for it too. I pulled out all the cash I had left, $33. I thought for just a minute, what's the worst that could happen if I asked to buy it for all I had and they said no? I guess then it wouldn't have been meant to be, just like the grain mill that was sold before I could get back with more cash. I asked the woman if she would accept $33, it was honestly all I had. She thought a long, long time. Her partner asked her "well who is going to offer you more?" She hemmed and hawed over it and asked me what I was going to do with it. That question confused me, it's a pot what else do you do with it but cook? I told her cook stews, brown meat cook just about everything in it. It didn't occur to me right away she was probably worried that I would sell it or let it collect dust as a decoration. She was thinking hard about it and I begged her "Please, I will cherish it for ever and I will pass it down to my own children someday." She said ok. That's what got her. She had lost her son and to know that I would pass it on is what she needed. She told me that she had bought it second hand when she was about my age. We hugged and I was so excited. What a gift! I think this pot deserves it's own blog. And here we are, the Black Kettle Chronicles.