Comfort Food

Mmmmmm, roast beast, potatoes and gravy. This is my comfort food. Nearly every Sunday growing up my mother would put a roast in the oven to cook while we went to church. The smells that bombarded us as we walked into the door after three hours of church were heavenly. I can remember this so easily because my "wife and I" (TM) still carry on the tradition. I also still carry on the tradition of picking at the roast just after church before the meal is prepared. I just cant help myself the aroma is just too alluring. Ohhh and then the mashed potatoes. I am definitely a potato guy. Then there is the gravy. This meal is perhaps the most perfect meal there is. Shaila thought that I should have added salad to the picture for the colors. I told her that it takes away from the appeal. This meal may be a little gender sensitive.

Matt's Mashed Potatoes
-7 Regular Sized potatoes peeled and cut into 2-3 inch pieces
-1 Cube salted butter
- Salt
- Pepper
- Milk
- Seasoned Salt
- Garlic Powder

1. Boil potatoes until soft
2. Strain potatoes
3. Add potatoes butter and milk to mixing bowl. Right now you are asking how much milk? Well welcome to Matt's recipes. I start with about 1/4 cup of milk depending on the potatoes. Then mix with a hand held mixer. I check the consistency and then add more milk if needed to get the desired "fluffiness"
4. Add season salt and garlic powder. Again I do not have a measured amount used. Remember though that garlic is strong and you only need a small amount. Mix again.
5. Salt and pepper to desired taste while mixing. *Advice: Do NOT taste while mixing!!

Shaila's Gravy
- Meat Drippings from Roast
- 1 cup cold water mixed with 2~3 tablespoons flour
- Dash of garlic powder
- Pinch of Dill Weed
- Salt and pepper to taste

Roast cooked in a crock pot with Lipton onion soup and 2 cups water on high for 2 hours then low until nice and tender.

Using baster, take out drippings from pan, leaving fat/oil. Bring drippings to boil over medium heat. Stir in water/flour mixture. Bring to boil. Add seasonings to taste. Perfect!!

Dads Salsa

The secret is out! Hopefully my Dad doesn't kill me for this. Technically it's a pico de gallo but the word Salsa is actually just a Spanish, Arabic, and Italian word which can refer to any type of sauce. This is a very good sauce for chips, eggs, and anything else one can think of. I like mine with avocados in it and my sister puts garlic in hers, so you can think of some variations you would like and make a comment.

Recipe
-2 Bundles Cilantro
-8 Green Jalapeños
-1 Pasilla Pepper
-1 Anaheim Peppers
-8 Roma Tomatoes
-2 Regular Tomatoes
-1 White Onion
-2 Avocados (optional)
-1/2 Fresh Lime

1. Wash all produce
2. Chop and dice the tomatoes (I like smaller pieces which also add more surface area in which the natural juices can be absorbed and released)
3. Chop cilantro.
4. Chop and dice half of the onion.
5. Slice open the peppers and clean out the seeds. IMPORTANT wear gloves while handling the peppers. Also run the jalapeños under hot water to take some of the heat away, if so desired.
6. Chop and dice peppers.
7. Add all cut ingredients. stir.
8. Squeeze lime half into mixture
9. Salt to taste.
10. Chop and dice avocado. I usually do this to the portion I plan to eat because avocados deteriorate so quickly.

Apple Crisp with a twist

O.K. I was at the store the other night and saw a ready made package of apple crisp (just add apples) I tossed it in the cart. Shaila told me that its just as easy to make from scratch. So I surfed around and found a recipe that I could expand on. I liked this recipe because it includes nutmeg. Here is the recipe:

-8 Large Apples
-10 tablespoon butter
-1/2 cup rolled oats
-3/4 cup flour
-3/4 cup sugar
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-1 teaspoon cinnamon
-1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
What I added:
-1/2 lime squeezed onto apples
-1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
-carmel drizzled ontop after cooked

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375
2. place peeled apple slices in 9x13 pan
3. Mix dry ingredients and add butter (cold) and work with a pastry cutter.
4. Spread crumb mixture on top of apples.
5. Cook for 50-55 min.

This is a pretty good recipe. I used golden delicious apples and liked the taste but the apples turned pretty soft so you may want to experiment with the apple variety. Also, as one can see, I tried to broil the top to make it a little more crisp and it didnt work out so well. This is what the experiments are for. I would also add probably 3 more tablespoons of butter to the dry mixture next time too. Try it out and tell me what you think.

Joining the Wagon!

It is official! I have decided to start a blog to follow the crowd. It's the cool thing to do, right? Well the only thing I feel I have to offer is my cooking experiments. So I I will post my recipe's that I like to use. You can use them and improve on them, but if you do not like them the KEEP IT TO YOURSELF!