It seemed like a good idea when I offered to host our dinner group tomorrow night. This is a group of seven or eight close friends; we try to get together four or five times a year.

Autumn has finally arrived here, so I want to do a hearty autumn meal-- and it needs to be easy. I'm going to do my beef burgundy, which can cook all day in the crock pot, along with boursin mashed potatoes. I'm thinking of putting baby carrots in with the beef, instead of doing them separately... unless someone has another suggestion.

Any ideas for a first course? I was thinking of a soup, though nothing too hearty because of the soupy-beef stew. Or some sort of salad that somehow feels like autumn.

A friend is bringing a cake since it's the birthday weekend for one of our group. But I might get inspired and make some zucchini nut bread.

I am definitely not a plan-ahead cook... at least not this weekend.

Kathy

Kathy,
I made this last weekend and it was to die for!! I will make it again when it cools in Fla. My family loved it. Great dish for guest.
Ida
PS ..I used a 4lb chuck roast only and there was meat left over. Also I substituted fennel for the celeriac.It was so good!!!

Red Wine Brasato with glazed root vegetables
Bon Appétit | February 2007


Brasato (which means "braised" in Italian) is the ultimate pot roast.

Servings: Makes 6 servings (plus leftovers).


Ingredients Brasato:
1 750-ml bottle hearty red wine (such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, or Syrah)
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 3-pound beef chuck pot roasts
1 large onion, chopped
1 large carrot, peeled, coarsely chopped
1 large celery stalk, chopped
3 garlic cloves, peeled, smashed
1 heaping tablespoon tomato paste
1 14-ounce can beef broth
2 large sprigs fresh sage
2 large sprigs fresh parsley
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns

Vegetables
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 (1-pound) celery root (celeriac), peeled, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 pound turnips, peeled, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 pound carrots, peeled, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

PreparationFor brasato:
Adjust rack to lower third of oven. Preheat to 300°F. Simmer wine in large saucepan over medium heat until reduced to 1 cup, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat oil in heavy large wide pot over medium heat. Sprinkle roasts with salt and pepper. Add 1 roast to pot and cook until brown on all sides, about 13 minutes. Transfer to large plate; repeat with remaining roast. Spoon fat from pot Add onion, carrot, celery, and garlic to pot. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. sauté over medium-high heat until vegetables begin to brown, about 6 minutes. Add tomato paste; stir 1 minute. Add broth; bring to boil. Add sage, parsley, bay leaf, and peppercorns. Return roasts and any accumulated juices to pot, tucking roasts to fit in single layer. Pour reduced red wine over; cover.

Transfer roasts to oven and braise 1 hour 15 minutes. Turn roasts over. Cover and braise until roasts are tender, about 1 hour 15 minutes longer. DO AHEAD Can be made 2 days ahead. Cool slightly. Chill uncovered until cool, then cover and keep chilled. Rewarm in 350°F oven until heated through, about 30 minutes.

Transfer roasts to cutting board; tent with foil. Strain braising liquid into medium saucepan, pressing on solids in strainer. Spoon fat from surface of braising liquid; keep liquid warm.

For vegetables:
Melt butter with oil in heavy large skillet over high heat. Add celery root, turnips, and carrots. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. sauté until browned in spots, about 8 minutes. Add 1 cup braising liquid from pot roast. Cover, reduce heat to medium, and simmer until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Uncover, increase heat to high, and bring to boil. Stir in sugar. Add sage and parsley and cook until sauce is reduced to glaze, stirring often, about 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper. Cut roasts into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Arrange slices on platter. Spoon vegetables around roast. Drizzle some of braising liquid over meat and serve.

I cooked my roast at 325 convection roast for 4 hrs. Also I DID NOT strain the liquid and it was fine with chunks of cooked onion and such. I used the mini chopper for the carrots and celery so I had really tiny pieces..

Kathy,

I love apple salad in the fall. I made one for Palma's 10/06 GTG - here is the link to the recipe:

Apple Gorgonzola Salad

Nancy

A salad with pears, walnuts and goat cheese might be nice. I love salads with pears in the fall.

quote:

Originally posted by Chris:
A salad with pears, walnuts and goat cheese might be nice. I love salads with pears in the fall.

And I love just about anything with goat cheese in it!

Nancy

Paul makes a great salad with fennel, apples, blue cheese, and toasted pecans. The recipe is on my bog here.

Another choice would be a nice butternut squash soup with apples. This is what we are starting off with tonight. It was easy to make.

The recipe (and a pic) of the butternut squash soup with apple, sage, and bacon is posted on my blog here.

It was AMAZING! Multiple layers pf flavour and it was quick to make.

The recipe was originally from Fine Cooking Magazine.

I'm a sucker for stuffed stuff as a first course. Here is a photo of some baby bellas with an Italian breadcrumb and shrimp stuffing.
You could do regular portabellas and just one per person or you could do the baby bellas and put a couple on each plate.

Here is another stuffed something.
Risotto stuffed tomatoes.

Oh those tomatoes look great, Deborah!! Can you please share the recipe?

Ida

Ida, It is a recipe from Alice a few years ago:

quote:

Posted 24 May 2005
Consider making rice-filled tomatoes. I made them quite often with a greek recipe. I know I have somewhere the doses, just not here: so you will have to figure out these for yourself. First, take round tomatoes, ripe but not too soft and as big as a tennis ball, cut off the top, with a spoon dig out the "innards" and keep them on one side. Sprinkle a little salt inside eacah tomato, and inside the "hat" you cut away. Turn the tomatoes upside down and let them rest for one hour. Meanwhile, take about one and a half spoon of rice for each tomato (maybe two?!). In a casserole heat 3 spoons of oil with a small onion cut very thin, sautè the onion until golden, add the rice and toast it lightly, more lightly than you would if you were making risotto. Add the stuff you have removed from the tomatoes and some herbs: they should be done with fresh anitho, but I have used basil, parsley or the most tender leaves of celery as well. Add some hot water (or vegetable stock) and let cook as though it was a risotto until half done (about 10 minutes). Place the rice in the tomatoes, adding (if needed) a little more water or vegetable stock (and a few drops of olive oil). The rice hould be halfway up the tomato: cooking it will fill it up. Cover with the tomatos tops and place in a baking dish with a little oil in the bottom (it must be just smeared with oil, if you want to check on the fats mix toghether oil and water in equal amounts. Bake at medium heat for 15 minutes more, until the rice is done. SLURP!

I pretty much followed the recipe exactly. I did use some of those smaller on-the-vine tomatoes because I wanted the pretty stems.

I'm taking a little break from the kitchen. It's a beautiful autumn day here, and the leaves are just beginning to turn. It's still warm enough that we can have our drinks/appetizers outside, and then come inside for our dinner.

For appetizers while we're having drinks, I'm fixing crab stuffed portobello mushrooms (using Deborah's idea) and baked brie topped with cranberries.

For the first course I'm doing a pear and apple salad-- great idea. (I really wanted to do a butternut squash soup, but I decided that the beef burgundy was "soupy" and I'll fix the squash/apple soup just for our family another time.)

I'm making enough beef burgundy to also serve our family a couple meals-- it's even better as leftovers. Today we'll have it with boursin mashed potatoes and little French rolls, but it also goes really well with pasta or wild rice. (I'm going to try Ida's beef dish another time.)

Kelly is working now on our table decorations, and all these fall colors go great with my Terre e Provence pottery dishes. I'll post a photo of our table tonight or tomorrow.

We have used this opportunity to do some major and much-needed housecleaning... always a benefit of having company over.

Thanks everyone!!

Kathy

Sounds delicous, Kathy, can't wait to hear your report and see photos.

Have a wonderful dinner!
-Krista

Charley is just finishing up the dishes. Our dinner party was a lot of fun and the menu was perfect! Every single morsel of the crab-stuffed mushrooms and the cranberry baked brie was devoured. The apple/pear salad was a huge success, and so were the beef burgundy and boursin mashed potatoes. The beef burgundy is even better as leftovers, so I know what's on our family menu tomorrow night. I also have enough of the crab stuffing left to make some crab cakes one night this week.

Here's a photo of our beautiful autumn table. (Kelly used the little pumpkins as place cards.) The table linens and pottery are from Provence-- just perfect for this time of year.

Kathy

Kathy,

The table looks so festive! And the food sounds yummy! Glad it all turned out so successfully.

Nancy

Kathy,

It looks wonderful! I love fall decorations too, and will be using mine soon! Your menu sounds delicious!

I love your table settings. Great colors! I really love your tablecloth! It'd fit really well with my color scheme. The menu sounded so good!
Wish it'd cool down here in Fla..I'm doing make believe it's autumn with colors and decorations. My friends think I'm nuts!
Ida