Friday Food: All About the Baby

The poor, neglected fourth child isn't supposed to have any photos of him or herself, but I seem to take way more of Poppy than her brothers. And three of them are right here in this post. Sorry, boys.

Friday

Short version: Pot roast, carrots, potatoes, tomato/cucumber/feta salad, baked apples and cream

Long version: When I unwrapped the "seven-bone*" roast given to us by the teacher and her rancher husband, I found a three-inch thick roast that must have weighed eight pounds. The MiL thought maybe it was a chuck roast.

Wherever it came from, it was definitely meant for pot roasting. So I browned it in the morning and put it in my enameled Dutch oven with onion, tomato, and a bay leaf to cook at 250 in the oven for several hours.

I also made a casserole of baked apples to cook at the same time.

About an hour before dinner, I put in some peeled carrots and potatoes to cook, too.

It was very good meat. I have hopes that the whole cow we just arranged to buy from a local rancher will be just as good.

Saturday

Short version: Chicken tacos, pinto beans, apple pie

Long version: When I was a kid, my mom always made enchiladas when we had out-of-town visitors. Apparently, my meals for out-of-town visitors are pizza and chicken tacos with pinto beans. They are awfully good, though. Convenient, too, as the chicken and beans can be made in the morning, leaving the rest of the day free for exciting activities with the guests.

Or, in this case, leaving the rest of the day free for going to the playground and going up to our new house so A. could plant garlic and I could clean the kitchen cabinets. That's exciting, right? Right.

What is definitely exciting was the apple pie the MiL made for us. The MiL is the pie master. She can whip out an apple pie like I would make scrambled eggs. She made a deep-dish apple pie with just a top crust (so there was more filling for those who don't eat the crust) and it was delicious. Of course.

Sunday

Short version: Pork chops, rice, green peas, pan-fried sweet potatoes, collard greens with garlic

Long version: An unremarkable meal, except for the fact that I cooked four separate things in one pot.

See, I had my big stock pot out to blanch collard greens for freezing. After I did that, I made the collard greens for dinner.

When I took the collard greens out, I used the same pot to make the sweet potatoes. Already had olive oil in there. Might as well, right?

Then I remembered the head of cauliflower in the refrigerator that was not improving with age, so I used the stock pot to blanch the whole head at once. (Although I didn't make that part of our meal, as I feared cauliflower and collard greens in the same meal might be a bit taxing on the digestion.)

And then, it was time to make rice for dinner, and why dirty another pot?

I find this sort of thing to be very satisfying. Especially when I'm washing dishes and only have one pot to wash instead of four.

Unrelated photo of Poppy exhibiting her pizza, with a large pink bow on her stomach. Because why not?

Monday

Short version: Burned brisket, baked potatoes, green salad

Long version: Yeah. I had a piece of beef brisket in the oven in the morning. Then I took Poppy up to the new house with me to do some more spackling and cleaning and forgot to turn the oven temperature down. I came home to a brisket that was quite charred on one side, as all the liquid in the dish had evaporated and the barbecue sauce that was in there had gone past carmelization to . . . well, to burned.

I transferred the meat to another dish and mixed it with more barbecue sauce and chicken stock to reheat later. It was edible, if you don't mind chewing for a really long time on exceptionally dry meat. Luckily, the boys don't notice things like sub-standard meat when there are baked potatoes with butter and sour cream on their plates.

Tuesday

Short version: Shepherd's pie, sauteed zucchini

Long version: Several years ago, I actually followed the recipe in a cookbook I have by Christopher Kimball for shepherd's pie. Though I no longer look at the recipe, I have retained the two ingredients that would not have occurred to me for shepherd's pie: brandy and Worcestershire sauce.

Also, I believe corn and peas are traditional in shepherd's pie, but I never have corn. Instead I use chopped carrots in large enough pieces that Charlie-the-cooked-carrot-hater can pick them out.

Kids are fun.

Wednesday

Short version: Oven-fried chicken, leftover rice, roasted cauliflower, green salad

Long version: Poppy was delighted to have one of her beloved chicken bones. However, the combination of grease from the bone and the snot that had been free-flowing due to her cold meant that she was definitely headed for a bath after dinner.

Jack wasn't quite so greasy (or snotty), but he never passes up an opportunity to have a bath.

Thursday

Short version: Birthday fajitas, sauteed zucchini, cake

Long version: Poppy is still too young to make her birthday dinner request, so I made fajitas. Because the bag of fajita meat was the first one I grabbed from the freezer.

And because I had peppers. And because I like fajitas.

Even using my big griddle, I still had to cook three separate batches. We eat a lot.

Poppy seemed to enjoy her small bits of meat, cheese, and zucchini. And she really enjoyed her cake.

No need for a fork to get between the cake and the mouth. 

Okay, your turn! What'd you eat this week?

* I don't know why it was called this, as there were only two bones in it. The MiL suggested perhaps one of the bones was in the shape of a seven. I can't say I saw that, but maybe I was looking at it from the wrong angle.