Saturday, January 8, 2011

Tomfoolery and Trickery in the Kitchen

We had company over for dinner!  What's the big deal you say?  Well, typically we have Pig Pen's Posse once or twice a week.  So to have company over from across the river, as in 'my side', it doesn't happen often enough!  Phyllis and Coil are long time friends and we were delighted to have an evening with them and their Grandson, Richard.

I spent the entire day, cooking, cleaning and in general running around like a chicken.  I don't clean for Pig Pen's Posse since they are "perps" in the messy house anyway!  Now I had told my friends that I would reach in the freezer and grab out a roast.  Would it be beef?  Would it be venison?  One never knows....and never would!  I'd place $$$$$ on it!

Here's the trickery:

Venison Roast(s)
4 Carrots
3 Celery Stalks
1 Medium Onion
4 Garlic Cloves
Beef Broth
Red Wine
Seasonings:  S&P, Granulated Garlic, Lemon Pepper, Parsley, Marjoram, Tarragon, Thyme
2 T Flour +/-

Cut into large chunks, the carrots, celery stalks and medium onion.  Peel the garlic and leave whole.  I ended up with about 8 cups of veggies for two small roasts.  Adjust yours accordingly and to your own tastes.  There is no right or wrong amount.
Start by cutting your roast into thick slices.
Then take your aggression out by pounding it flat with a meat mallet.  Cover with parchment or wax paper and beat them to within 1/4".  Now, season with Granulated Garlic, Lemon Pepper, lightly salt and pepper. 

Once seasoned, I hit them with the tenderizer.  In my little head it beats the seasonings in.  No point in the paper at this point, just let it fly!  Give them a flip, re-season and tenderize again.  Cut into large, pieces before throwing into the pot.
For this job, I like to use my enamel cast iron dutch oven.  It can go from stove top to oven with a lid.

Heat your oil of choice and then drop in the meat and veggies.
The water from the veggies will be your liquid.  It takes a few minutes for this to 'come out', but not to worry.  Stir occasionally for even browning.

Once you see the liquid coming to, you can now sprinkle your flour in.  Disperse evenly.  This is when I like to add my Parsley, Marjoram, Tarragon and Thyme -make it pretty.  Continue to cook.
You should start seeing some browning.  Check the bottom of the pan, you should see it start to stick but not burn.  

Now you are ready to start de-glazing.  Add about 1/4 C. of beef broth and work up those bits off the bottom of the pan.   Cook down again.  Keep checking the bottom of the pan and repeat the de-glazing several times until you have used about 2 cups of broth more or less.

For the final deglazing, you may now add 1 1/2 to 2 C. of whatever red wine you have on hand.  Tomfoolery may begin at this point...
Place the lid on and put the entire dish in a 250 degree oven.  I simmered mine for 6 hours and checked it only after about 4.  Here is the 4 hour check:
After about 6, it cooked down to this:
Now, I don't know what to call this actually.  Is it stew?  Is it slop?  How about stew-slop?  Regardless, you can fool the most discriminating meat snobs with this one...I guarantee it!

The nice part about this meal, it's very hearty and goes a long way when served with say...fresh bread and homemade apple pie!
Don't forget a healthy accompaniment of your garden veggies from the summer!  We had hillbilly green beans (beans, bacon, onion), mashed potatoes and corn. 

It was delish!

The Tomfoolery was all about enjoying each other, picking on the young'ens and of course, forgetting to take pictures because you were too busy just having a good ole time and catching up!  We don't see Phyllis and Coil as much as we should which is a shame because they are kindred spirits!  I am looking forward to regular intervals of horsing around with them, talking Chickens and Gardening.  We made a vow we would get better at this!  And we dooooo love to eat!

17 comments:

  1. What a feast! The picture of your bread is . . . is . . . is . . . AWFUL for those of us who didn't get to partake of it!! A bowl full of your stew-slop (you have GOT to come up with another name for it!), half of one of those loaves of bread and I would be soooo happy! (Well, maybe if I could have just a little glass of wine, too?)

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  2. I wore my sensor glasses! Slop, really. That is the best name you could come up with? Although my Grandmother made a dish called 'sh!t on a shingle'. I have no idea what is was, but not appetizing sounding is it?

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  3. MamaPea, I think that would have sufficed with just the bread, but I never let anyone go hungry here. I'll work on the name....hehehe

    Jane, see, I got your back! Now Shit on a Shingle that's some GOOOOOD stuff! Everyone does it differently, but we do the thin Budding beef and milk gravy on toast. I can eat that till the cows come home. Now I want some dangit!

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  4. PS. Adam called it Alpo-looking. But, I bet if you fried it up the next day for leftovers, it would make one mean HASH!!!

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  5. Di I had to laugh out loud when all in one post was "pig pen" and "slop"
    Hey call it "surprise goulash" cause that is kinda how ya made it. Dang that bread sure is pretty........an apple pie. What time are leftovers? lol if its like my house they werent none lol

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  6. Yea....i would like to know where my invite was????? Hmph, we've only been friends like forever! Love you. The meal looked wonderful.

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  7. WOW!!!! can you cook!!!

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  8. This looks divine, but please don't tell me you took a backstrap/filet mignon cut and pounded the cr@p out of it LOL! That particular cut of venison is the best filet I've ever had! I NEED to know this was a tougher cut that you pounded flat LOL..... or you are just that bad @ss of a hunter girl that there's plenty more where that came from! P.S. finally got all my "hold mail".... SWEET! Thanks for the goodies, I'll have to post a photo, love love the wallet, so cute! I have been busy planning a "space" for myself to sew all day today!

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  9. Your way is exactly the way my mom always did Sh!t on a Shingle! Except we kids never heard it called anything but Chipped Dried Beef on Toast until we were adults! (I think her "dried beef" used to come in a little glass jar.)

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  10. Stella, yeah well pig pens and slop do sorta go together, huh? :o)

    Julee, anytime girl! But venison is on the menu and you'll eat it or wear it!!!

    Pops, what you need is some good chicken noodle soup. Maybe I'll just do that!

    Erin, are ya goofy!? Heck no I wouldn't do that to a back strap! And you are right they are the best! These were roasts. And since they can be tough, I just beat the tar out of them. It's really good if I do say so myself! Glad to hear you got your stuff and that you are getting that sewing room in order!

    MamaPea, there again, that is one of those things that I can and do make...but nothing beats when Mom makes it for me. It's just a Mom thing and the novelty of her making it. We love it!!

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  11. your post made me hungry! it all looked soo good,sounds like you all had a good time.Its nice to spend time with friends. blessings jane

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  12. Nice work girl!!! It all looks amazing! That bread... I mean, I could feast for DAYS alone (ok maybe hours) on that beautiful bread! YUMMM!!

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  13. That looks so good and so easy. I love the idea of serving it with potatoes but it looks like it would go great in a bread bowl too. Hmmm. You've got me thinking. The hillbilly green beans sound good too. I'm always on the lookout for a few more favorite green bean recipes. Proportions to taste?

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  14. Yum, baby. Yum! It doesn't matter what you call it, I call it delicious!! And the bread and pie look divine. Good to hear that you had such a good time!

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  15. Jane2, friends are a blessing and we hope to do so more often. Food always brings people together, maybe that's why I love to cook?

    Isaac & Mommy, careful...you might be turning over to the dark side. Maybe a little huntress?

    Leigh, a bread bowl! Now that's thinking!!! Gosh I may have to try that! Yes, proportion to taste on the Hillbilly green beans. I like to can the green beans, but these I blancge and freeze with the bacon and oninos right in. Then when we want them, I just open them and dump into the Fry Pan. Fry them all up!

    MamaTea, betcha got some deer around there too??? Go for the stew-slop...it's worth it!

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  16. APG,
    I don't normally do this, but I'm inviting myself to dinner at your house! My MOM would be so embarised, She tough me better then tha! LOL. I do not have any venison, but there has to be a beef roast hiding in the freezer. Guess what I'a having for dinner Monday night? And with the home made bread (sourdough), potatoes and the "hillbilly green beans! You keep writing posts like this and I'm going to gain 50 lbs!
    Tom

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  17. Tom, I would venture a guess that with beef you won't have to beat the crap out of it as much. Maybe just 'some' aggression as opposed to all of it :)

    Hey, you get fat, don't blame me pal! LOL!

    Hillbilly Green Beans are the best...we eat'em that way all the time. You can even throw your potatoes right in the frying pan with them. We do that alot. Super yummy!! Good Luck!

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