Mustard Rubbed Roast Beef

Who doesn't like roast beef? Thin slices of bloody beef with gravy...Yummm!  Served as a main dish first and made into sandwiches later...

I like playing around the original recipe and adding different flavors to it.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 to 2 lb bottom round or eye of round

4 tablespoons dijon mustard

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon pepper

3 cloves of garlic chopped

1 tablespoon of olive oil

1 cup of wine (white or red- depends how dark you like your gravy)

FOR GRAVY:

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon butter, softened

salt and pepper to taste

With a sharp knife, trim all fat from the roast. Using a pairing knife make small slits into the meat.

Preheat oven to 500F.

In a mortar and pestle, muddle together garlic and salt until you get a paste consistency, or you can do the same on a cutting board with the back of a soup spoon. Place mustard, pepper and garlic paste on a bowl and mix it well. Rub this mixture all over the meat, making sure you get plenty inside the slits.

Heat olive oil in a baking pan. Over moderate heat, brown the roast on all sides.

Place you thermometer, if using it, halfway down the middle of the roast, and pour the wine in the pan. Loosely cover with a piece of foil.

Place it in hot oven and immediately turn temperature down to 325F. Cook for 45 minutes or until your thermometer reaches 145F for medium rare. Remove from oven and place roast in a cutting board. Let it rest for 10-15 minutes. Place pan with cooking liquid aside.

Gravy:

Place the cooking liquid over moderate heat. If needed add 1/2 to 1 cup of water to it. Mash butter and flour together and whisk into hot liquid until it thickens. Season with salt and pepper and serve with thin sliced roast.

Corn and Tomato Salsa

Got a few years of silver queen corn at the farmer's market this morning. So sweet and so juicy. Decided on making salsa since the garden is producing too many tomatoes. And for flavor picked a handful of basil, cilantro, parsley and oregano. Really tasty!

Ingredients:

4 ears of corn of the cob

2 large tomatoes chopped

2 vidallia onions chopped + 1 tablespoon of olive oil + 1 teaspoon of sugar

1/4 cup jalapenos chopped ( fresh or pickled)

1/3 cup chopped herbs of your choice ( i used cilantro, basil, parsley and oregano)

juice of 1 lime

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon of white or apple cider vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

In a large frying pan heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add chopped onions, sugar, salt and pepper. Cook on low for at least 30 minutes. Let it cool down.

Fill a saucepan with water and add corn. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes. Drain corn and let it cool. Or if you have a grill, place whole corn on a hot grill for 2-3 minutes per side and let cool down before cutting corn off the cob.

In a large bowl mix all ingredients and season to taste. Refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.

Dark Chocolate and Pecan Cookies

This past sunday, after my boy had been begging me to bake cookies for a couple of weeks, i decided it was time. I needed to bring dessert to sunday dinner at my father in law's and cookies and ice cream sounded perfect on a hot day!
When making cookies i stick to the "original Nestle Toll House" recipe that you find on the back of the chocolate chip package, but i prefer using the dark chocolate Ghirardelli for taste.

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs

2 cups chocolate chips ( Guirardelli dark chocolate is my choice)

1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 375F.

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Beat butter, both sugars and vanilla in electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate and pecans.

Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 9-11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes, and transfer to wire racks for final cooling (about 5 minutes).