Crock pot Stroganoff

I have this silly little group of friends, whom I COMPLETELY adore and love (Becky from Vintagemixer, Aimee from Flitryss and Heather from SLClunches). We get along really well and we have really silly parties. We had a vintage cocktail party... which wasn't too silly, we had an 80's party... which was ridiculous and last night, we had a crock pot and ugly Christmas sweater party. We had a great night of eating and chatting and wore the ugliest shirts ever. I love these ladies and am thankful this holiday season for them. They are true friends and that's a rare find. I am lucky. While we were talking last night, the conversation lead to talk of blogging. I haven't done a post in over a month and have felt really "down" about being a blogger, where I fit, why I do it and where to go. These dear friends reminded me that I do this because it's fun. I have met many amazing people (my most joyous reason for blogging), I get to share my love of cooking and have fun. I am no photographer and really have never had any interest... this is something I am sure you have noticed as you look over my photos (ha!), I am not looking to write a book or make a career or loads of money from this blog... the reason I started it was to say goodbye to my gourmet food and kitchen shop that my husband and I closed yet still keep sharing food and being involved with events around this great city I live in. I can cook. It is what I know how to do, what I love to do and I really enjoy sharing my food adventures as well as these wonderful times I share with my friends.

The recipe that follows is fantastic but possibly one of the worst foods ever for photographing. Trust me enough to make it without a picture, okay? I will, however, include some photos from our evening and hope you get a good laugh out of them!

Merry Christmas!

Crock Pot Stroganoff

1 pound beef short ribs
1 Cup flour
garlic salt
oil for browning
4 Cups beef broth
1/2 pound crimini mushrooms
1 small can cream of mushroom soup
1 Cup milk
3 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 Cup sour cream
1 package wide egg noodles

Dredge the short ribs in flour and brown in a hot cast iron skillet with oil on both sides, seasoning generously with garlic salt. Be careful not to overcrowd the meat. Once all of the ribs are browned, place in a hot crock pot and cover with 2 cups of the beef broth. Cook for 1/2 hour and add the sliced mushrooms and the remaining broth. Cook 1 hour. Add the can of soup, the milk and the Worcestershire sauce. Cook another hour and whisk in the sour cream. Continue cooking for 1/2-1 hour then serve over warm egg noodles.

Stuffed Trout

My Dad is a really good cook. He and I have different cooking styles but he is a very focused cook and everything he attempts is delicious. He dares to try new things and I love that about him. We were invited to dinner Sunday to taste a new recipe he was trying out involving a 5 pound Utah Trout he'd recently caught. Upon removing his creation from the oven he exclaimed "Blog it!" ... which I thought was really sweet and funny... then I looked at it, sent my daughter upstairs to get my sister and her "fancy" camera and had her shoot some shots. It was lovely but what's even better is it was delicious! He told me he'd searched the web and found this recipe on Taste Book. You could use a salmon or even a white fish (lean toward a more dense and less flaky fish) and it would be incredible! It's mild yet full of flavor...

Stuffed Trout

1 5-8lb. Trout
1/2lb. cooked shrimp-chopped
1/2lb. shredded crab meat (my Dad used canned)
6T butter
3T onion-finely chopped
3T parsley-chopped
3T celery-chopped
1 1/2C breadcrumbs
2 eggs-beaten
salt and pepper
extra butter

Split and clean trout (fillet if desired). Prepare shrimp and crab. Melt butter and saute onion, parsley and celery until softened. Remove from heat and add breadcrumbs, crab meat, shrimp and eggs. Mix well, season with salt and pepper and stuff trout. Brush exterior with butter and bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes. Baste with butter once while baking.

Serve with fresh lemon

Mediterranean Pasta

Mediterranean Pasta

1 package pasta (your choice)
4T olive oil
1 clove garlic
20 Kalamata olives
2 t capers
juice of one lemon
salt and pepper to taste
1 jar artichoke hearts (drained)
1/2C pepperoni (diced)
1C feta cheese
1 pound roasted tomatoes (see below)

Boil pasta, drain, toss with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and set aside.
To make the tapenade combine the olives, garlic, capers and lemon juice in a food processor and pulse for about 20 seconds then drizzle with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Heat a pan then add remaining olive oil and heat before adding the tapenade. Reduce heat to very low and saute the tapenade. Add the artichoke hearts, toss and remove from heat. Toss the sauce and pasta together, then add pepperoni and tomatoes. Sprinkle with feta and serve.

Roasted Tomatoes

1 pound plum tomatoes (halved)
3 whole cloves garlic (peeled)
2T olive oil
1t salt

Preheat oven to 250. Line 2 baking sheets with foil and place the tomatoes, skin side down, on the foil. Scatter garlic cloves throughout the tomatoes and drizzle with olive oil and salt. Bake for 2 hours (the tomatoes should turn a light brown around the edges and be extremely sweetly fragrant). Cool completely and discard garlic. Toss into pasta or place in a bowl and serve them on an antipasti platter (or as a snack!).

I also like to pack them in oil, in canning jars. They freeze and keep for 2 months.