Moroccan Beef over Rice

This is a nice dish when you are tired of standard American fare. It also works well wrapped in a tortilla and served for lunch, but I prefer it over rice. Also, I use dehydrated chopped onions. (You can find them in the baking section of your grocery store.) If you are using fresh onions you will need to fry them in olive oil before cooking the beef.
This recipe only requires 10 to 15 minutes of active cooking. But it does need to cook unattended for about 25 to 30 minutes.

• 1/2 cup chopped onions
• 2 cups ground beef
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 tsp coriander
• 1 bay leaf
• 8 dried chopped dried apricots
• 1 can diced tomatoes, strained
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1/3 dried cranberries
• 1 cup V8 juice

In a large skillet combine beef and onions. Cook until browned.

Use garlic press. Then add garlic, coriander and bay leaf to beef. Cook an additional minute.

Add apricots, tomatoes, tomato paste, cranberries and juice. Cook uncovered on medium low for 25 to 30 minutes. (If you are not using instant rice add one cup rice and two cups water to a small saucepan. Heat to boiling. Cover. Reduce heat to simmer. Simmer 15 to 20 minutes.)

Discard bay leaf. Serve over rice.

"Can't Be Beat" Pot Roast

This is the first pot roast recipe I ever tried and it is still my favorite. This recipe is actually one of the reasons I started this blog. I lost the original recipe (still can't remember where I got it). However, I recent discovered that I'd made a copy for a friend and so was able to recover my recipe.

Anyway, as I said, I made this recipe with no experience at making pot roast and it was scrumptious. This is probably one of the few recipes that I've never altered. (It's also one of the only times I use rutabaga.)

Sorry, it's not terribly quick. But as far as meat dishes go, it is one of your less expensive options.

Ingredients:

• 1 3 to 4 lb beef chuck roast
• 1 Tbsp cooking oil
• 1/3 cup sweet Marsala wine
• 1 tsp garlic salt
• 2 tsp dried basil, crushed
• 1/2 cup plum preserves
• 4 medium potatoes, peeled and cut lengthwise into 6ths
• 4 medium carrots, peeled, cut in half lengthwise, and halved crosswise
• 1 large rutabaga, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
• 1 medium onion, cut into large wedges
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• 1 Tbsp cold water

Preheat oven to 350 F. In a 6 to 8 quart Dutch oven brown meat on both sides in hot oil. Drain off excess fat. In a small bowl stir together wine, 1/3 cup water, basil, garlic salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper; pour over meat. Cover and bake for 1 1/2 hours.

In a small saucepan melt preserves; pour over roast. Add potatoes, carrots, rutabaga, and onion to Dutch oven around meat. Cover and bake 45 minutes to 1 hour longer or until meat and vegetables are tender, stirring vegetables once during cooking. Transfer meat and vegetables to serving platter; cover to keep warm.

For gray, measure juices and skim off fat. If necessary, add enough water to juices to equal 1 1/2 cups. Return to pan. Stir together the cornstarch and cold water. Stir into juices in pan. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly; cook and stir 2 minutes more. Serve with meat and vegetables. Makes 8 servings.