Lake effect!

2-4" of snow possible today. Dammit--the walkways are all clear and stuff had even melted over the weekend.

Could hit the 40s F over the weekend. With rain, even.

UPDATE: we dodged it, but NW Indiana is getting pounded. Some places are getting snow at a rate of 2 inches per hour, and could wind up with 12-18 inches overall.

Wind chills are below zero F here. A couple more frigid days before the warm-up.

Lake effect!

2-4" of snow possible today. Dammit--the walkways are all clear and stuff had even melted over the weekend.

Could hit the 40s F over the weekend. With rain, even.

UPDATE: we dodged it, but NW Indiana is getting pounded. Some places are getting snow at a rate of 2 inches per hour, and could wind up with 12-18 inches overall.

Wind chills are below zero F here. A couple more frigid days before the warm-up.

Pot roast

Did you know that there's a what_a_crock community? The latest recipe posted is Chicken with Garlic, Lemon, and Rosemary. Looks luscious.

As for Sunday's pot roast, it came out pretty good. I rubbed the beef with salt, pepper, and dried thyme, then browned it in a fry pan (with a little olive oil). Then I added it to the crockpot atop a bed of sliced onion, garlic cloves, celery, and carrots. I deglazed the pan with 3/4 cup red wine and added that to the pot. Then I added another half cup of wine. That was the only liquid I added. After it had been cooking for two hours, I added some sliced Portobello mushrooms.

Three hours later, the beef was soaking in bubbling brown juice. Not quite falling apart, but close. I could have given it another hour, I guess, but I was hungry. I sliced some up, and had it with fork-mashed potatoes and carrots from the pot. It seemed a little dry, but it was tender.

The celery and onions were cooked down to pratically nothing, and the gravy was incredible. I can't get over the quality of the stock I get cooking this way. Another thing that surprised me was how little fat the gravy contained. I skimmed off a thin layer before I put it in the fridge--today, there was no additional fat to be seen. I noticed the same thing with the Lasater ground beef--very little solid fat separates out. Given that hamburger and chuck are usually fatty, this is surprising. Is this a quality of grass-fed beef?

Anyway, had some of the beef tonight, sliced in a salad. Very good, and I'm not a fan of leftover cooked beef.

Pot roast

Did you know that there's a what_a_crock community? The latest recipe posted is Chicken with Garlic, Lemon, and Rosemary. Looks luscious.

As for Sunday's pot roast, it came out pretty good. I rubbed the beef with salt, pepper, and dried thyme, then browned it in a fry pan (with a little olive oil). Then I added it to the crockpot atop a bed of sliced onion, garlic cloves, celery, and carrots. I deglazed the pan with 3/4 cup red wine and added that to the pot. Then I added another half cup of wine. That was the only liquid I added. After it had been cooking for two hours, I added some sliced Portobello mushrooms.

Three hours later, the beef was soaking in bubbling brown juice. Not quite falling apart, but close. I could have given it another hour, I guess, but I was hungry. I sliced some up, and had it with fork-mashed potatoes and carrots from the pot. It seemed a little dry, but it was tender.

The celery and onions were cooked down to pratically nothing, and the gravy was incredible. I can't get over the quality of the stock I get cooking this way. Another thing that surprised me was how little fat the gravy contained. I skimmed off a thin layer before I put it in the fridge--today, there was no additional fat to be seen. I noticed the same thing with the Lasater ground beef--very little solid fat separates out. Given that hamburger and chuck are usually fatty, this is surprising. Is this a quality of grass-fed beef?

Anyway, had some of the beef tonight, sliced in a salad. Very good, and I'm not a fan of leftover cooked beef.

Oh look--a test!

Gacked from jennifer_dunne

Oh look--a test!

Gacked from jennifer_dunne