Carrots, what a great side dish for any meal. This recipe, which simmers sliced carrots in chicken broth, sugar and butter until a shiny glaze appears and then tossed with red grape halves and chunks of walnuts…Let’s just say there was a mummering at the table that this was a better side dish than the companion Herbed Mashed Potatoes. Can you imagine???
A very special meal for any occasion. For us, this was Easter Dinner. Roasted Leg of Lamb with braised garlic, sherry and thyme au jus, Herbed Mashed Potatoes and Glazed Carrots. Let’s take a look.
I prepared this meal years ago for a mid-winter dinner party. I’ve been wanting to recreate it ever since I started this blog and nothing like Easter to inspire an elegant and delicious meal featuring leg of lamb.
This is a quick, easy, and delicious dish for using leftover pork roast.
We’ve just returned from a trip back to Kansas to move my mom out of her assisted living apartment and into the nursing home. An exhausting whirlwind trip which left us mentally and physically worn down.
Even though we’ve had Spring weather for about the past two weeks, much of the time the wind has been howling, gusting, tossing patio furniture about the yard and in general just being pesky enough that grilling hasn’t seemed a fun option.
In a fry pan and In olive oil (I used basil flavored oil)
Saute’ par-boiled cubed potatoes until starting to brown
Add wedges of yellow and green bell pepper
Add broken up pieces of Italian Sausage
Flavor with a couple of good pinches of Italian Seasoning
(I used a Tuscan blend that contains flakes of hot red pepper)
Cook, stirring occasionally until everything is mostly done
Cover with lid and let steam for five minutes
Italian Saute’…It’s What’s For Dinner
We’ve been doing a little “branding” here on The Ranch. As you can see, I’ve got a whole new look and feel.
I’ll certainly miss my bright vivid orange and green Mango leaf design, but let’s face it, I’m not sitting around on a beach overlooking the ocean in Hawaii sucking down umbrella’d cocktails while snacking on ceviche.
The fact of the matter is, I live in Colorado. I’m sitting around in Highlands Ranch, with the Rocky Mountains as a backdrop. We snack on meat and potatoes and suck down sip red wine. Even though it’s not officially a “Ranch”, the land our town sits on was in fact once a large working cattle ranch…that was long before Denver urban sprawl claimed the land.
We live close to the Historic Highlands Ranch Mansion which once headquartered prominent Denver families and complete with windmills, barns, and bunkers provided a compound to run a working cattle ranch. You might remember, this very house was featured in the television mini-series “Centennial”, a story about pioneers heading west and settling along the Front Range of Colorado. If you’re interested you can read about our History at this web site. Or here.
I’ve renamed my blog “Cooking…On the Ranch”. The URL www.highlansranchfoodie.com remains the same.
VICKIE’S KICKED-UP CORN
Don’t you love the smell of fresh popped popcorn? My all time favorite snack food, has been, currently is, and will always be popcorn. What’s yours?
For St. Patrick’s Day, I threw a corned beef tri-tip roast in the crock pot along with some potatoes, onions, and cabbage and we enjoyed a traditional Irish holiday dinner.
Sunday morning we turned the leftovers into this unique breakfast. A corned beef sandwich dressed up with a fried egg and some horseradish cream sauce.
Let’s take a look.
“Call up a couple of friends that share your love of wine and invite them over. Tell them that you have been waiting to open these bottles and that you couldn’t think of anyone that you’d rather share them with. Fine wine, like life, is meant to be enjoyed.” Loosely quoted from Matt Kramer, Wine Spectator, April 30, 2012.
