I had a nice Mothers Day this weekend. I postponed it till bfs surgery was over since things were getting pretty hairy around here. I'm glad I did. My daughter would have had to run between two houses that day anyway to see her MIL. This way I did it on Saturday so nobody had to leave early to get home for work the next day and we could have a leisurely day. But I wore myself out cooking and cleaning. This house has been a terrible mess and this week was so darn hot, I just did nothing. So Saturday I had no choice but to cook and clean as much as I could get done.
I had a 4 rib prime rib I thawed overnight for our dinner. I bought a whole one at Christmas time and had them cut it in half. I froze half then,,,,cuz the price was just incredible. So we had prime rib, my tomato, zucchini gratin and sour cream mashed potatoes. My daughter bought a great chocolate mousse cake that was very light.
Seas Prime Rib
1 prime rib with bone, any size, mine was a 4 bone roast
lots of garlic, for this one I used about 6lg. cloves
S & Freshly ground P
Dried thyme, I used about a tsp for this
Preheat over to 500 degrees.
Make a paste of everything but the roast. I do this by hand by chopping the garlic fine and then adding the salt and smashing it together over and over with a knife. I do this when I make salad dressing too. Its a chefs trick. But if you don't have that you can use a sm. food processor. After the garlic is in paste form I add the Pepper and thyme and touch of Olive oil to ease spreading it all over the roast with my fingers.
Put roast in pan and put in preheated oven for 1hr. Then lower heat to 350 degrees and roast for another hr. From this point on test with an instant read thermometer. You want it to be about 130 degrees for medium. If you have a smaller roast test earlier.
Once it has reached the correct temperature take it out of the oven and just let it rest for 15 min. so all the juices distribute properly. It will continue to cook while this is sitting. I make a bit of au jus by adding some beef broth (not consommé, too salty) to the drippings and stirring up all the brown bits till bubbly. Then I strain it. If there is too much fat in the pan , remove it or the au jus will be a greasy mess. This will serve 6-8.
I have posted this recipe on my pesto blogs before but I thought Id post it here again for those that missed it. I have made this and changed it a bit. The original called for 2c. bread crumbs which for this amt. is just too much. I also doubled the mozzarella cheese cuz we love it. I substituted marinated artichoke hearts in a jar for the fresh and we just loved this. Its almost like a vegetable lasagna but no pasta.
Pesto Zucchini Tomato Gratin
For the topping::
1 cups Bread Crumbs
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
dried Italian Herbs or basil/oregano/marjoram, to taste
For the veggies::
3 medium zucchini, sliced in long pieces, 1/4 inch thick
5 cloves garlic, chopped
A handful of halved artichoke hearts or a small jar of marinated artichoke hearts, drained and rinsed of most of the marinade
4 tablespoons prepared basil pesto
2-3 vine ripe tomatoes, sliced thick
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 pinch salt, to taste
fresh ground black pepper, to taste
8 oz fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced - you can use garlic and herb marinated mozzarella also
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil a gratin dish or large pie plate.Place the crumbs in a bowl and using a fork, toss with a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil to coat; season with Italian Seasoning or dried basil/oregano/marjoram.
Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet. Add the zucchini, garlic and artichokes, and sauté briskly just until the zucchini is a bit golden and still tender-crisp. Remove from heat and pour the veggies into a bowl to cool slightly. When cooled, gently toss the zucchini mixture with the prepared basil pesto, to coat. Layer the pesto veggies in the gratin dish/pie plate.
Spread half of the crumbs on the squash mixture. Layer with slices of mozzarella. Top with sliced tomatoes. Sprinkle the tomatoes lightly with balsamic vinegar. Season with sea salt and pepper. Sprinkle the remaining breadcrumbs over the tomatoes.Bake the gratin until it is bubbly and hot, about 20-25 minutes. Serves 4.
Heck, Id just serve this as a side dish or even just a vegetarian type meal with some nice crusty bread!
I make alot of these because my son just adores mashers.
Sour cream Mashed Potatoes
5lb. potatoes, peeled and cut into sm. chunks
1 stick of butter
1/2 c. sour cream
cream, half and half or milk
1 bunch of chives or green onions, chopped fine
S & P
Put potatoes in lg. pot and cover with water and about a tb. salt. Cook till tender, then drain. Put back in pot and throw in butter. For me when I'm busy I do it to this point and let the butter melt while I do other things. Once melted, mash potatoes. Add sour cream and mash again. If very thick add a bit of cream or milk to get the right consistency. You don't want them runny. Taste and adjust S & P. Then stir in chives or green onions.
2 comments:
I found your blog by accident and am so glad I did! You have some very wonderful and elegant recipes. I'll have to make your blog one of my daily visits.
Wow! What a nice dinner you had! I must try the zucchini gratin, I wonder: What if I use sun dried tomatoes. My husband will not eat tomatoes, but he loves sun dried tomatoes. I have to tell you a funny story about a standing rib roast. Several years ago, I tripped in the driveway on Christmas eve night, falling and breaking my right hand and both elbows. While my elbows didn't need a cast, my hand was pretty badly broken and was cast. I thought I wouldn't be able to play the piano again after that. But for dinner, I was going to make a traditional Yorkshire Christmas dinner: Standing rib roast with Yorkshire Pudding and roasted potatoes. Since I couldn't do it myself, as my arms were both in slings, I had to tell the kids how to do it. And they did it well! But at dinnertime, the irksome middle child had to feed me. I swear she was enjoying my malady WAY too much, because she would taunt me and say, "Open up the hangar, the pwane wants to land." Or she would cut the meat into the tiniest pieces and feed me with a baby spoon.
I wanted to pity myself, but it was such a hardship on everyone else in the house that I felt sorrier for them, than me.
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