Mouth-watering roast

Another food we love is a well-cooked roast. This recipe is adapted for a roasting pan in the oven.

Luckily, my parents get half a cow every year (we raise them with our neighbors), so whenever Daniel and I head up to Idaho we get free beef. I'm dreading the day we move and have to actually BUY that stuff...

So we start with the marinade...

For a 4 lb. roast:
1/2 c. beef broth
1/4 c. oil (I used olive oil, but I bet vegetable oil would be fine)
1 T parsley
1 T rosemary
1 T thyme (all dried)
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
(Note: if you don't think these are enough spices, don't worry; we'll add more)

Combine all of these ingredients in a bowl and mix 'em up! Then put your (defrosted) roast in a bag and pour this stuff all over it. Refrigerate for 8-10 hours or however long you want. But at least 6 hours or the marinade is useless! Make sure you turn it over a few times to let the whole thing soak up the juices...

After 10 hours or 3 days or 17 hours (your decision, I'm not going to boss you around), drain the roast but KEEP THE SAUCE!

For the rest of the recipe, I used this: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/09/2008_the_year_of_the_pot_roast/

But instead of deglazing the pan with beef broth, I used the sauce. Put everything in the roaster (I added potatoes as well) and follow her cooking instructions, or you can put it in at 325 for 2.5 hours (for a medium 4 lb. roast). We like our roast pink!

If you want to make some gravy, remove the roast and vegetables from the pan but keep the juices. Simmer what's left over the stove and add 1/4 c. flour (more or less to adjust thickness).

This is one of our favorites!

I'm also making bread... the most delicious bread you've ever had in your life. My aunt Stephanie is the master of this bread... http://lapray7.blogspot.com/2010/11/baking_17.html

You can make it without a bread maker and it's still AMAZING, but who wouldn't want to let a bread maker do the work for them???

Turtle cheesecake

I love to bake and I love to eat cheesecake. And Daniel loves to eat cheesecake. I've tried several cheesecake recipes and variations and finally settled on one that we LOVE. And lately he's been bugging me to make a turtle cheesecake.

So a couple weeks ago, I invited myself over to dinner at Dan and Stephanie's house (lapray7.blogspot.com) and they got to be my guinea pigs... I tried a recipe I found online, but have since tweaked it to make it just perfect.

Turtle Cheesecake

Crust:
- 1 c. all-purpose flour (I used bread flour, since that's all I have right now...)
- 1/3 c. packed brown sugar
- 1/4 c. finely chopped pecans (if you want a crunchier crust, add some more!)
- 6-8 T (I've cut it in cold and just mixed it in melted, either way is fine)

Filling:
- 4 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
- 1 c. sugar
- 1/3 c. packed brown sugar
- 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
- 2 T heavy whipping cream (can also use sour cream)
- 1 1/2 t vanilla extract
- 4 eggs
- 1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted and cooled (next time I'm going to try 1/3 c. cocoa powder)

Caramel layer:
- 1/2 c. caramel ice cream topping
- 2/3 c. chopped pecans
- 2 T flour

Ganache:
- 1/2 c. chocolate chips (whatever flavor you like! I used semi-sweet)
- 1/4 c. heavy whipping cream
- 2 T. chopped pecans (or more, whatever)

Directions:

- Preheat oven to 325
- Take cream cheese out of fridge to soften (I always forget to do this and I have to soften it on top of the warm oven... haha)
- Grease a 9-in. springform pan
- In a small bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar and pecans; cut in butter until crumbly. Press onto the bottom of prepared pan. Bake at 325 for 12-15 minutes or until set. Cool on a wire rack.

-TURN OVEN OFF. It needs to be mostly cool before you put the cheesecake in!

- In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugars until smooth. Beat in flour, cream, and vanilla. Add eggs; beat on low speed just until blended. Remove 1 cup batter to a small bowl; stir in melted chocolate. Spread over crust.
- In another bowl, mix caramel topping and remaining flour; stir in pecans. Drop by tablespoonfuls over chocolate batter. Top with remaining batter.
- Place in cooled oven and turn to 400 for 10-15 minutes (do not preheat).
- Turn down to 200 and bake for an additional 3 hours.
- Open oven slightly and let cool for 1 hour.
- Place cheesecake in fridge at least overnight, preferably 24 hours.
- For ganache, place chips in a small bowl. In a small saucepan, bring cream just to a boil. Pour over chips; whisk until smooth. Cool slightly, stirring occasionally.
- Remove sides of springform pan. Spread ganache over cheesecake, sprinkle with pecans. Refrigerate until set.
- When you're ready to eat this delicious creation, take it out of the fridge, cut it up, and pour more caramel on it. Soooo good!

I'll put up pictures later! (When we eat it.)

Adapted from http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Layered-Turtle-Cheesecake

He's coming home!

Daniel is in the BYU ROTC program and Army Reserve, which means he leaves me... frequently. These past two months he's been at LDAC in Washington State and CTLT in Hawaii and it sure has been lonely here without him! (Of course, Rachel has been keeping me company).

But he comes home tonight! I'm currently following him across the ocean on his flight from Hawaii, and then I'll partially follow him into SLC, until I need to go get him of course.

I'll do two more posts, one for each of the special homecoming foods I made him...