Herb roasted potatoes and Brussel sprouts

The potatoes in this dish are infusioned with herbs, pepper flakes, and coconut oil the taste is absolutely tremendous, just wait until you smell the baked herbs.

I like coking with fresh herbs, they not only add great taste and flavor they also make the dish look pretty. In this dish the use of dried herbs is better because of the high temperature of the oven would cause the fresh herbs to burn before the potatoes are done. The earthy taste of all the herbs are kicked up a notch by a sea salt and the coconut oil just gives dish that irresistible "lick your lips" awesomeness. 

I basically used what I had on hand when I ran across this recipe on the Food network site.

•1/3 cup melted Virgin coconut oil 

• 1/4 tsp coarse sea salt

• 1TBSP dried Rosemary 

•1TBSP Italian seasoning 

.• 1 tsp dried Basil

• 1 tsp Thyme

• 1 tsp pepper flakes 

***CUT ALL VEGETABLE 1 - 1 1/2 'inch THICK

 to ensure a even doneness

*** WASH vegetables thoroughly, pat dry

• 3 small carrots cut diagonally 

• 2 medium-ish parshnips peeled, cut sliced

• 4 small sweet potatoes * approx 2 oz ea.

• 12 Brussel sprouts cut in half

• 7 fingerlings assorted, cut on the diagonal ** I used the most colorful ones in the bunch

Now the fun begins, this part requires the of your hands ...yes your hands ( your hands can benefit from the coconut oil )...

▪ Preheat oven 400° and place oven rack 3rd from the bottom

▪ grease the bottom of a cookie sheet/baking sheet (10x15)

▪ add the vegetables, pour the melted coconut oil over the vegetables, use hands to evenly cover the veggies with the oil, allow to rest at room temperature for 5mins.

▪ sprinkle herbs,  sea salt, pepper flakes over vegetables, use hands to evenly coat vegetables, allow to rest for 5mins.

▪ bake at 400• uncovered for 35 - 40 minutes allowing the vegetables to release their waters and otain a brown caramelized coat from their natural sugars and the coconut oil

▪ when done remove from oven onto cooling rack, serve

....and ENJOY!!!

Beef rib tip & potato soup

I cooked dinner for my family today (Saturday)....it was good to share time gathered around good food and company.

 

 



 FOR THE RIBS:
I used 4 beef ribs cut in half
1 tsp. cumin, 2 tsp. garlic powder, ,1 tsp. paprika, 1 tsp. cayenne pepper, 2 tsp. sea salt: combine all the dry ingredients
4 TBSP Worcestershire sauce, 4TBSP peppered infused EVOO

1) place the ribs in a gallon size zip lock or regular plastic bag, pour in the wet ingredients and massage into meat then pour  dry ingredients into bag and massage into meat, secure bag let the meat rest for 1 - 2 hours at room temp (or overnight in refrigerator).
2) Preheat oven at 300F, remove ribs from bag place them in a pan that provides a snug fit (as pictured below) cover completely with foil and cook 2 - 2 1/2 hours or until the meat falls off the bones, then set aside.

FOR THE POTATO SOUP:
***For this dish you want to cook the soup during the last 40 minutes of the ribs cooking or after the ribs are done, this will ensure that you won't be serving over cooked potatoes.
For this hardy dish I used 4 types of rooted vegetables, I washed them, left the skin on and chopped them into chunks. 

2 medium sized Yukon potatoes chopped

1 large parsnip chopped

2 medium sweet potatoes (yams) chopped

2 carrots diagonally chopped

1 onion chopped

7 cloves of garlic

1 can (14 oz.) beef broth

***and butter on hand to brown the vegetables, seeing that butter has salt means the less salt you have to add

3) in a large skillet melt enough butter (EVOO can be used) to brown the vegetables, garlic and onions cook just until tender. Be sure not to over crowd the skillet it helps to divide the rooted vegetable into 2 to 3 frying. Once all the vegetables are browned put them into a 2 quart pot add the beef broth bring to a boil then simmer for 10 minutes season with sea salt to taste then set aside.

4) now that everything is done place enough potatoes and broth into serving soup bowls top with a rib serve with a good dark ale or stout beer and ...ENJOY!!!