2 for 1 roasts

Metro had some eye of round and outside round roasts on 2-for-1 special this week, so I thought I'd drop by and see what was what. The thing about shopping at the store that's right in the confines of Ryerson University is that they have lots of smaller sized cuts of meat, which is great if you're cooking for just a few people rather than a whole family. So I managed to find a couple of smallish roasts, being quite chuffed to get the deal.

Apparently with the eye of round, some people cook them in the oven but they are also okay as a pot roast. As a someone who hearts her pressure cooker, I decided to go the pot roast route as you can really get a lot of flavours in there and you don't have to have the oven on for ages! Oh and just in case, I've not shared my great pressure cooker with you, here's a pic of her. It's a Futura brand and I love it because it has the easiest and least scary pressure valve that I've ever seen on a pressure cooker. And it is pretty easy to clean.

Once you've prepared everything - sauteed some onions and garlic, browned the meat, then added beef stock, a bay leaf, some thyme, and - it takes about 40 minutes of cooking time (maybe a little less). While it was cooking I cut up some carrots and fingerling potatoes that we got from our Cooopers' Farm box this week. I added them after the 40 minutes and let them get up to pressure and cook for another eight minutes. Then I made a gravy by thickening and reducing the sauce, adding some sliced up mushrooms and a little bit of worchestershire sauce for a bit of zing. It all came together very nicely and the potatoes were just out of this world!! And there were lots so J could carbo-load before her 10K race that she was going to run the next morning!

We also got heirloom tomatoes and beets in the box this week. And never one to pass up a chance for a beet salad, made one to go with our lovely Friday night roast dinner. This one had some soft goat's milk cheese and candied walnuts to go with the beets, onions, and tomatoes. Delicious and I roasted enough so we can have a rerun of this fab salad again.



I was up at Cooper's Farm this past week and they assure me that they are growing poblano peppers, which I am thrilled about. We'll be doing some of our picking soon as the tomatoes and tomatillos are ready to roll. I have purchased new canning bottles and salsas are on their way!! Can't wait.

Shabbat Dinner -- Fried Fish!

While in Cape Town, we had a Friday night Shabbat dinner at G's Aunt and Uncle's beautiful house. It was such a lovely dinner!


G's Aunty R made a lovely dinner. She made a smokin' quajado. Now G makes quajado quite often, but Aunty R made it totally different with potato. Should I back up and explain quajado? Okay.

Quajado is a spinach, egg, and cheese dish that G makes with matzah as the binder. Aunty R's quajado was made with spinach, egg, cheese, and POTATO. AND instead of frying it in a pan like a frittata, Aunty R bakes it in the oven in a casserole dish. It was an absolute TRIUMPH!!!!!!!!! I really enjoy quajado oddly because it has spinach in it, but Aunty R's was the tops. G's made it that was since we've been home and it's just so delicious. And because it's baked, it's less greasy.

Anyway, quajado. Yeah. Yum. AND Aunty R made an absolute lovely breaded fish and sauce called agristada that was a little different. The sauce was absolutely out of control. I must have eaten four pieces of fish and a cup of that sauce.

The picture does none of it justice...


I am not a fan of fish as a general rule, but this was amazing.

If you are ever in Cape Town, try to score an invite to Shabbat Dinner at Aunty R and Uncle M's. It's amazing and delicious and they are amazing hosts. G's family are an amazing bunch of people. This family dinner was so pleasant and I really appreciated how welcome they all made me feel.