This is a delicious recipe that my kids loved when they were young, and only takes an hour or so to make.
Ingredients:
- 2 lb. beef chuck tender roast (as pictured to right)
- 1 medium yellow onion
- 8 to 10 chopped cloves of garlic (about 1 bulb)
- 3 Tablespoons Bertolli extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon Rosemary
- 1 teaspoon Basil
- 1 teaspoon pepper or peppercorns
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
Preparation:
Allow roast to sit and warm to room temp. Pour olive oil into skillet under medium to high heat. Add cut up onion and chopped garlic slices. Slightly brown onions and garlic. Salt and pepper both sides of roast. Push onions to sides of pan and then brown all sides of roast. You just want to get a nice brown coating on your meat for flavor. With a pointy-knife, poke about one dozen holes into top and bottom of the roast. This will allow juices to drain into roasting pan during oven cooking (It's great to dip the sliced meat into the delicious juices when eating).
Place some of the grilled onions and garlic into the bottom of the small roasting pan. Sprinkle some Rosemary, Basil, salt and pepper into bottom of roasting pan. Place roast into baked pan. Now add remaining Rosemary, Basil, salt and pepper to top of roast. There's not an exact amount of spices to use. I don't even use a measuring spoon. I just sprinkle enough spice to coat the pan and the meat.
Place roast into preheated oven to 325 degrees. 2 lb. roast takes about 45 minutes to cook. Use a thermometer to determine if roast is done. Push thermometer deep into roast. Take measurements from thick end of roast. I like my roast done at about 155 degrees, which is between medium (160) and medium rare (145). See cooking time chart.
Use ham hocks or hog jowl in this delicious classic southern black-eyed peas recipe.
Ingredients:- 2 pounds dried black-eyed peas (or frozen in a package)
- 1 smoked ham hock
- 6 cups pure water
- 1 lemon
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large onion, coarsely chopped
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional for hotness)
- ¼ teaspoon sugar
- Salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
Preparation:
Use a 3-quart pan. If dried peas, pick over the peas and rinse well, place in boiling water for 1 minute, and then allow to simmer covered on low heat for 1 hour. Add ½ tsp of salt to the water while simmering. If frozen peas, just set to side for now. You can also use beans or split peas for this recipe, my favorite is the 15 Bean mixture which comes in a dry bag.
In a separate pot, sauté the onion and garlic in olive oil over medium heat. Place smoked ham hock into pot with sautéed onions and garlic and add ½ teaspoon of salt, fill pot with pure water, bring to boil, then simmer on low heat for about 1 hour.
Combine the ham hock mixture and beans into the 3-quart pan. Add the crushed red pepper, sugar and juice from fresh squeezed lemon (or 1 TBSP lemon juice). Fill pan almost to top with more pure water. Cover and simmer slowly 1 more hour or until peas are tender and ham hock falls apart easily.
Helpful Notes:
Serve with hot cooked white rice and cornbread. Serves 8 people.
You'll need to add 2 to 3 teaspoons of salt at the end to get the desired flavor, but only add a little salt at a time. Too much salt will ruin your recipe. If there's not enough salt your broth will taste bland. If you taste the broth after stirring and it still doesn't seem to have enough flavor, just add a little more salt and some fresh ground pepper. I usually add about ½ to 1 tsp of fresh ground pepper total. I love pepper!
Cooking is an art which takes time and experience to get good at. Most of us love meat, but meat contains zero fiber! Peas and beans are excellent sources of both protein and fiber for your family, to give them energy and good health. Beans are a super food!
