Saturday, November 28, 2009

Herb-Roasted Beef and Potatoes with Browned Butter Brussels Sprouts

Some days, I have more time to prepare a nice meal that my husband and I can eat alone. This means that I can get a bit more creative without the picky kids around, and we can have a somewhat nice time to reconnect over food that we would not normally eat. It's certainly an effort sometimes, but worth it!

Ok, so I have to admit that I do not much like Brussels Sprouts. My mother loves them, but I just can not really wrap myself around their flavor.

However, for diversity I do cook some things I do not like. Take peas, for instance. You will rarely see pea recipes on this blog because I absolutely abhor peas. My husband, on the other hand, finds them heavenly. They are one of his favorite foods. So, while I do not go out of my way to fancy up these tiny offenders of my gag reflex, I will on occasion cook frozen baby peas for my husband because that's the kind of thing you do for people that you love (besides having dinner waiting for them when they get home from work). It can be a lot of work, for sure, but on days that the kids are not here, I actually have time to spend on chopping and preparing a nice meal.

This recipe calls for beef shoulder roast, but if you can not find it, you can substitute beef or pork tenderloin just as well.

To save time, you can also use packaged refrigerated potato wedges, which will cook much more quickly than fresh tubulars would take.

Dinner Tonight is

Winter Salad with Roasted Beets and Citrus Reduction Dressing Herb
Roasted Beef

Potatoes

Browned Butter Brussels Sprouts

German Chocolate Mousse
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Winter Salad with Roasted Beets and Citrus Reduction Dressing
4 servings

Ingredients:

  • 2 medium beets, red and golden
  • Cooking spray
  • 3/4 cup fresh orange juice
  • 1/2 teaspoons of sugar
  • 1 tablespoons minced shallots
  • 2 tablespoons of white wine vinegar
  • 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 cups torn Boston lettuce
  • 1 cups trimmed watercress
  • 1 cups torn radicchio
  • 1 ounces of crumbled goat cheese


Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Leave root and 1 inch stem on beets; scrub with brush. Place beets on foil lined jelly roll pan coated with cooking spray. Lightly coat the beets with cooking spray. Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes, until tender. Cool beets slightly. Trim roots and stem; rub off skins. Cut into 1/2 inch thick wedges.

Bring juice and sugar to a boil in a small saucepan; cook ten minutes or until reduced to 2 tablespoons. Pour in a medium bowl and cool slightly. Add shallots, vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper. Whisk. Gradually add oil and whisk.

Combine lettuce, watercress, and radicchio. Sprinkle lettuce mixture with remaining salt and pepper. Toss gently to combine. Arrange about 1 cup of lettuce mixture on 4 salad plates. Divide beets evenly among salads, and drizzle dressing on each salad. Sprinkle each salad with about 1 tablespoon of cheese.

Nutritional information: 127 calories, 9 grams of fat, and 253 mg of sodium.

Herb Roasted Beef and Potatoes
yield 4 servings

Ingredients:
  • 2 tablespoons chopped thyme, divided
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt, divided
  • 3/4 teaspoon black pepper, divided
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 (8 oz) beef shoulder tenderloin (also called petite tender), trimmed
  • cooking spray
  • 1 (20 oz) package refrigerated potato wedges (like Simply Potatoes)

Preheat broiler

Combine 1 tablespoon of thyme, rosemary, parsley, 1 tablespoon of oil, 3/4 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and garlic; rub evenly over both sides of beef. Place beef on rack of broiler pan coated with cooking spray; place rack on pan.

Combine potatoes, remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons of oil, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon of pepper; Toss. Arrange potato mixture on pan around beef. Broil 7 minutes. turn beef over. Broil 7 more minutes, or until desired degree of doneness. Remove from oven. Place beef on cutting board and let stand 5 minutes. Stir potatoes and sprinkle with remaining thyme. Cut beef across the grain into thin slices and serve with potatoes.

Nutritional information for 3 oz beef and 3/4 cup potatoes: 318 calories, 14 grams fat, 788 mg sodium

Browned Butter Brussels Sprouts

  • 1 lb trimmed, halved brussels sprouts
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 teaspoons lemon juice
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Steam brussels sprouts 5 minutes, or until crisp tender. Drain well.

Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat; cook until butter browns. Add Brussels sprouts. Cook 6 minutes, or until tender, stirring frequently.

Stir in lemon juice, salt and pepper.

German Chocolate Mousse

Ingredients:
  • 1 1/3 cup 1% low fat milk
  • 2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 8 oz dark chocolate chips
  • 4 cups frozen whipped topping, thawed
  • 1/4 cup flaked sweet coconut, toasted
  • 1/4 cup chopped pecans

Combine 1st three ingredients in a heavy saucepan; let stand 2 minutes. Cook over medium high heat until tiny bubbles form around the edge, but do not boil.

Remove from heat and add chocolate. Cover and let stand for 5 minutes. Stir until chocolate melts.

Pour chocolate mixture into a medium bowl; cover and chill 30 minutes until set. Gently fold in whipped topping. Spoon 2/3 cup of mousse into dessert bowls. Cover and chill 2 hours. Top each with 1 1/2 teaspoons of coconut and 1 1/2 teaspoons pecans.

Makes 8 servings.

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