The pot roasty stewy thing above was a case of "What's for supper?" on a day where nobody wanted to drive into town to replenish our diminished grocery supply.
So I started scavenging through the kitchen and found a small bit of chuck roast in the freezer,two good onions, some potatoes starting to bud out, a few stray carrots, and a can of tomatoes.
Through the wonder of castiron dutch ovens and slow cooking, a very comforting dish developed and it did not take any effort after the initial whacking of ingredients. I set it in the oven on pretty low heat and went outside for hours, only ducking in to check it a few times.
Actually, brown was not part of my original predawn inspiration, but as I reviewd this week's food pics, it seemed to be prevalent.
The cast iron skillet above holds an inexpensive quick meal that winds up less brown if you had some sour cream like my crew requests.
It's nothing more than boneless skinless chicken thighs, mushrooms, wine, garlic, oregano, and basil sauteed and simmered together. The pic is before any sour cream was added.
We served it on radiatori pasta, but being Gulf Coastian, I would gladly eat it on rice.
In keeping with the brown food theme, have a cookie.
Go ahead, you know you want one.
I was partial to the brown slabs of cookie wonderfulness in the bottom of the picture.
Those are "Ranger" cookies.
Essentially they are a thick, life sustaining oatmeal cookie.
Pretty wonderful with some cold milk.
One last brown food note.
Last weekend Junior requested "something chocolatey" be put on the grocery shopping list.
"How about chocolate cake?" I asked.
"Oh yeah, that would be great... as long as we have milk"
There was a box of Devils Food Cake Mix in the pantry so I handed it to him, "Here, make it yourself."
His eyes got big.
"A mix cake is no harder than mix brownies Dude. You make it, I'll coach where needed."
It wasn't long before an iced, beautiful chocolate cake sat on the kitchen table.
Later I mentioned to Mrs. FC that by helping Junior bake a cake, I had taken some of the mystery out of cake production. I viewed that as a good thing, seeing it as one more bit of training in his Renaissance Man skills.
"Yeah, thanks a lot." She replied ... not smiling.
It seems that while expanding his skills I had trespassed into the Mom zone. Cake baking is supposed to remain mysterious to anyone with a Y chromosome. Apparently it's part of the Mom creed.
Oops.
14 comments:
We taught #1 Son how to make box brownies, and the made them (and ate them) all of the time. It was a vicious cycle.
Pablo
http://www.roundrockjournal.com
Your food pictures are KILLING me. It all looks so good.
it does look delicious!
the problem is not boys intruding on mom skills by learning to bake. my son is actually a pretty decent chef when he decides to cook or bake. i think the "look" was in anticipation of decreased appreciation for all the times when mom is the baker, particularly when the product does not come out of a box.
so -- the next lesson needs to be: "thanks, mom! that's really good!"
Ohhh...now you've done it!! Most women like a man who can cook though, so you're doing some young woman out there in the shadowy future a huge favor :)
The food looks great, as usual. Now I want some pot roast, dang it!
Oh, forgot to say this reminds me of my bro-in-law's version of the five food groups...only it's the Southern version and there's only three - Brown, yeller, and fried! :)
I don't think I inherited my Mom's cooking gene. Please feel free to drop by and bake any time.
I think Kathy A. might be onto something. Mom's future "from scratch" efforts might be greeted with the appreciation due a "from the box" imitation.
Geeze, Louise, I'm hongry now.
The best dishes come out of a few ingredients and a lot of creativity. Everything looks delicious.
Tell Junior a well-known secret: women love men who can cook.vovwaj
Cookies...milk..nature's most perfect food combination.
Junior's NY counterpart made his first cake when his French teacher required each student to bring in a French food for the class to share...I guess if you find a chocolate cake recipe written in French it is acceptable....wasn't bad either.
Pablo,
Brownies are essential, so you did him a great favor.
Deb,
It was good! Simple, but good.
Kathy A,
That is exactly the way I took it also. I can remedy that with a little from scratch cake making lesson.
He'll run screaming from the kitchen.
Sharon,
I confess I was thinking about his future success when I decided to teach him how to cook.
I found it quite an asset.
Rurality,
Could I bbq instead?
Robin,
I agree, simple is better.
Wren,
Yes, they do. Just another life lesson for him.
3C,
Gotta have the milk with the cookie/cake/muffin!
Mailed you something this afternoon.
Thank you kind person..we eagerly anticipate!
Leslie,
Oh moi faux pas!
Sorry to have skipped you last night when I was commenting. You and Kathy A. hit it the nail on the head. That is how I saw it too ... and she wasn't mad, just one of those endearing comments between husband and wife ;)
3C,
It's a tube going to your PO box. I'm curious to know how long it takes, so let me know if and when it arrives.
Yum is all I can say. Yum. I think you must be trying to kill your loyal readers.
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