Hello my friends!

  It is good to be back.  I wanted so badly to post and share with you  while I was in Hawaii but I had numerous internet issues and was in the end unable to successfully post anything … boo

I am happy you are back to visit me here at Marmie’s again and if you are new a hardy welcome!

Please do leave me a message at the bottom of my post to say hi!  I like to know  you are out there

When we came home from 3 weeks in Hawaii,  I realized one thing that I really missed was… my poodles and my kitchen!

I missed it’s red cabinets, my colourful Tomodachi knives , my ‘magic’ mandolin, my braun, my oven, my pretty dishes, and even my lavender dish soap!  I just missed cooking and all that it entails!  Well, almost all that it entails… I still hate doing dishes! 

I love to cook and have been known to get all tangled up in cooking shows!  I like the weird and the wonderful, cooking abroad, Chef Ramsey, (though I think he needs his mouth washed out, but as a cook book junkie I still have 3 of his cook books).

There are so many other cooking shows, and competitions that I enjoy to watch and learn from.

I managed to catch the tail end of a cooking program in Hawaii and the hostess was talking about this coffee brine roast and sage infused potatoes… it sounded heavenly.  I think I have all the ingredients, though not the same measurements  but the rub is really close, and we loved it.

The Sage infused potatoes are my creation, as is the chard.

I wanted to share my experimentation dinner from the second night we were home…. It really tickled my hubbies fancy and even my non roast loving son enjoyed dinner!

Score for Marmie!

It would make a lovely Sunday dinner or one could feel confident serving it to company… even the boss.

My Menu

Coffee and Herb Rubbed Standing Rib Roast

Marmie’s Sage Infused Scalloped Potatoes

Marmie’s Parm and Garlic Swiss Chard

Dessert was a simple French Vanilla Ice Cream topped with our home grown Saskatoon Berries and Raspberries..mmm

Coffee Herb Rubbed Standing Rib Roast

Serves 3-4 and leaves 3 lunch size portions

Mix together until dissolved

1/2 cup kosher salt

VERY STRONG cold coffee… enough to cover roast in a pot or bowl…

Then add

1 standing rib roast trimmed of all fat.  Perhaps you could ask your butcher for a specially prepared  roast…

I used a 2 bone size.. (since it is only the two of us now)

Refrigerate roast completely immersed  in coffee salt brine  over night…. at least.

When ready to prepare dinner, remove roast from brine, dry with a paper towel.

Rub roast with the spice rub mixture all over using your hands for a couple of min.

Set roast aside for 30 min to come to a room temp.

(Meanwhile prepare the potatoes)

Cook your roast uncovered in a roasting pan with a lifting rack of some sort on the bottom or roaster at 325 degrees F for 1 hour.

Cook to (125 degrees internally) for rare to med rare….(juices will be abundant but not bloody…)  We like rare – med rare… but for less pink, cook 30 min longer …

tent and set aside for 30 min…..

Roast Rub

Mix the following ingredients together… cover and set aside

Makes almost 2 cups…. (easily twice as much as you will need for a small roast)

1/4 cup dried parsley

1/4 ground coffee (yup… coffee grinds, not instant…)

2-3  teaspoons ground sage or dried sage leaves  (do you like sage…I do)

1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

(salt after cooking as salt tends to shrink beef)

2 teaspoons garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

2 teaspoons Hungarian paprika

1/4 cups dark brown sugar

1 cup dried bread crumbs

Sage Infused Scalloped Potatoes

Serves 3-4 and leaves 3 lunch size portions

Ingredients

4 large peeled and very thinly sliced potatoes.  I use a mandolin for ease.

(Place sliced potatoes in cold water while peeling to reduce the starchiness and deter potato from turning grey in the air.)

2 Sweet onions very thinly sliced with mandolin

 3 Tablespoons butter

3 teaspoons flour

1/2 teaspoon Keens Dry mustard

1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons fresh chopped sage

2 to 2 1/2 cups 2 % milk..(I am trying skim next time)

1/4 cup cheddar cheese shredded (again skin cheese next time)

Directions

1) Melt butter in small saucepan at med- med high heat being careful not to allow scorching.

2) Mix flour, mustard, salt and pepper together in small bowl.

3) Whisk flour /spice mixture into melted butter until blended

4) Slowly add 2 cups milk, whisking to avoid lumps of flour, adding 1/2 cup more milk as it cooks and thickens if required

5) Add sage and whisk

6) Add cheese, whisk until melted and remove from heat

7) Spray baking dish with Pam or similar product

8) Arrange 1 layer of drained potato on bottom of casserole dish.  Layer some onion over potato,  pinch of salt and pepper if desired and a thin layer of milk/cheese mixture.

9) Repeat layering ending with sauce, until potato and sauce mixture is 1 inch from top of bake ware.

10) Bake  covered beside your roast at 325* for 1 hour, until potatoes almost tender.

11) Remove lid from potatoes and cook 20-30 min longer to brown a bit.

12) Remove from oven and let stand 10 min to ‘set’

Marmie’s Parmesan and Garlic Swiss Chard

Ingredients

6 cups fresh rainbow Swiss Chard

4 Tablespoons butter or 3 tablespoons olive oil or bacon fat….

(I know bacon fat is not good for me but…it just tastes sooooo yummy)

5 -6 chopped garlic cloves

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese.. 9or option skinny… white vinegar instead.)

1 teaspoon sesame seed

(skipping the Parmesan is still tasty and less calories .. if I skip it I will sprinkle some white vinegar over the chard)

Directions

1) Wash and dry chard.

2) Cut stems into 1 inch pieces – place in separate bowl.

3) Chop leaves very coarsely – place in another bowl.

4) Saute garlic in bacon fat, olive oil, or butter until aromatic

(you will need a large frying pan).

(calorie conscious?.. spray pan with Pam and steam the chard)

5) Add Chard stems, saute for 6  min until just beginning to soften.

6) Add Chard leaves, saute 5 min until nicely wilted

(I place a lid on the pan to contain the steam).

7) Sprinkle with parm and sesame seed if desired and serve immediately.

Dessert

French Vanilla Ice Cream

Thawed frozen Raspberries and Saskatoon Berries

1/4 c sugar (optional)

Mix sugar with berries and allow to sit in fridge for an hour or so to get really juicy.

Top ice cream with berries in an individual dessert dish… Avoids fighting

For a bit of decadence try some liquid chocolate syrup on top… Oh my..  Good thing for me that is not my weakness… But let me tell you…Jerry LOVES his desserts!

 

I hope you get a chance to try something from here and if you do… let me know how it went!

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