Last week I decided to try something new when planning my weekly dinner menu. I grabbed one large cut of meat, Jude picked out a few green and starchy vegetables. The challenge was to see how many dinners I could cook with one cut of meat (braised beef), to see if I could shorten my time cooking, AND to see what the outcome of my grocery bill was. (this is one of those weird food challenges I do with myself. Remember the Cookie butter cookies and scrambled eggs?) 

Cooking is my love language and favorite hobby so it was tricky to convince myself that I did not need to plan 5 completely different meals. NO Kait, you do not need to have Thai Curry one night and Morrocan chicken the next. I know it sounds fun but NO. 

My hope is that this will empower you, whoever you are, to cook dinner for yourself. I think there is nothing more loving that you can do for yourself or your loved ones than cooking a hot meal at the end of a long day. So let’s walk through this together step by step and day by day.

Cooking Instruments

Because I was home all day Sunday I cooked mine in my Le Creuset Click HERE for the one I use. But on a weekday I throw this into my Slow-cooker and let it go all day. It’s a treat to come home from work and have dinner ready!

Grocery list: 

Dinner #1 Braised Beef and Vegetables 

• Chuck roast 5-6 LBS
• 1 onion
• 1 bunch celery
• 4 carrots
• 1 tomato
• 32 oz box of broth- I use chicken, but other veggies and beef will work too
• veggies of your choice- I suggest a starch and veggie  

Dinner #2 Sandwiches 

• 1 bag of Buns
• Sliced cheese- get creative
• toppings

Dinner #3 Sweet Potato Hash and Eggs 

• 1 Sweet potato
• 1 Yam
• 1 onion
• Borsari Salt
• Rosemary
• Eggs

Click Here for my Sweet Potato Hash

Braising Timeline:

AM: In the morning I pulled the chuck out of the refrigerator and salted it, put it back in the refrigerator until I was ready to get cooking. 

2:00 PM Braised and popped in the oven 

6 tsp of salt- I coated the top and bottom of the chuck. You can do this the day of but it is best if you can salt your meat the day before. I should note that I use kosher salt when salting raw meat.

Braised Beef

Braised Beef is a classic recipe. If you are new to cooking this recipe is simple but will give you some serious street cred when serving. After you have got the hang of this classic dish you can get creative with the seasonings. Depending on the season, what type of cuisine you are craving simply change the seasonings and you will have a compleatly new recipe!

• Dutch Oven or Slow Cooker/Crockpot

• 3 tbsp butter/oil/ or lard (for brasing )
• 5-6 LBS chuck roast
• 6 tsp kosher salt
• 1 onion
• 2 sticks celery
• 2 carrots
• 1 tomato
• 3 cloves garlic
• 32 oz stock (chicken, beef or vegtable )

Dutch Oven

1. Salt your meat the day before or the morning of.

2. Preheat oven to 425

3. Brown the meat: In your le creuset (dutch oven) heat 3 tbs of butter on stovetop, and brown all sides of the chuck.

4. Set the meat aside and deglaze the pot with 1/2 cup liquid. I used chicken broth. To add more flavor use an acid such as wine or white wine vinager. Turn off the heat and add aromatics.

5. Aromatics are the vegetables and herbs. Make a mirepoix (50 percent onion, 25 percent celery and 25 percent carrots) Because the veggies will be in the oven for a long period of time I cut them into sticks (roughly julliened) and added 3 garlic cloves whole.

6. In the bottom of your pot add mirepoix, tomato and garlic. Place roast ontop of veggies, add stock 1/3 of the way up your meat. Cover with a lid and place in the oven for 10 minutes

7. Lower the heat to 325 and bake for one hour. Take the lid off and bake for another hour.

8. Set your table because you deserve it. Prep and start your veggies

9. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.

10. Adjust seasonings and serve

Slow Cooker

1. Salt your meat the day before or the morning of.

2. In a pan on your stovetop, melt the butter, and brown the meat on all sides.

3. Make a mirepoix (50 percent onion, 25 percent celery and 25 percent carrots) Because the veggies will be in the oven for a long period of time I cut them into sticks (roughly julliened) and added 3 garlic cloves whole.

4. In the bottom of your slowcooker add mirepoix, tomato and garlic. Place roast ontop of veggies, add stock 1/3 of the way up your meat. Cover with a lid and set low and slow. I Like to start mine in the morning and let it go for 8 hours.

Main Course

Beef, dairy free, date night, dinner, dutch oven, gluten free, keto, whole30

Want to take your chocolate chip cookies to the next level? Brown the Butter! This step takes the tiniest amount of time but gives you big results. The smell of your Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies is to die for!

A Quick Story

My brother-in-law was a bit of an instigator a few months ago. He made a bet with me that I couldn’t whip up a batch of cookies faster than they could be delivered to our house. GAME ON! While he was typing away ordering a batch of his favorite cookies I busted a move in the kitchen… long story short I was able to make bake and eat my cookie before theirs showed up. Well ever since then I have been on a cookie-making bender. I am experimenting with so many different flavors and recipes but I wanted to share this utterly perfect Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe with you first.

Browned Butter

When making Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies the first step is, drum roll… brown your butter! Place your butter in a saucepan. Set the heat to medium. Don’t touch it! I know you are going to want to stir it, the less you stir the browner it gets and the faster it will be. The butter will bubble/foam (your instincts are going to be TURN DOWN THE HEAT! Don’t listen to them!) The bubbles will dissipate, you will be able to see how brown the butter is. From here you get to decide on how browned you want it. I like mine pretty dark. When you have the color of your butter to your liking transfer it to your mixing bowl. If you are using a standard mixer I pour it directly into the bowl that attaches to my mixer. Let it cool completely.

Salt

I am becoming a bit of a salt weirdo. I use a wide variety of salts when cooking and baking. When it comes to making cookies I use Fleur de Sel Salt. It gives your cookies the perfect salty-sweet that leaves you wanting more. Fleur de Sel holds its crystal shape even after being bakes and gives you a burst of flavor. Normally Fleur de Sel is meant for garnishing but I’ve gone rogue and insist you swap this out in your cookie recipes!

Chocolate Chips

I recommend using a variety of chocolate chips. It changes the look of your cookies giving them the look of a professional! I use a mix of mini, regular and large baking chips. If you only have one type you can chop a few up to give you a variety of sizes. For this recipe, I use one cup total. I save the large ones to place on top. This way I can manipulate the look of my cookies. You of course can throw them all in while mixing and call it good.

Click HERE for more tips and tricks when it comes to baking cookies!

Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie

• Standard Mixer or Mixing bowl
• spatula

• 1 stick butter (8oz)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 egg
• 1 cup AP Flour
• 1/2 cup Cake Flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp fleur de sel salt
• 1 cup mixed sizes chocolate chips
• sea salt (for garnishing (optional) )

1. Measure out all ingredients (trust me it will make everything easier)

2. Brown the butter. See above for step-by-step. Let cool completeley.

3. In a standard mixer; add butter, sugar, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla. Using a paddle attachment mix on medium-high for 2 minutes. Mix in flour (AP and cake), baking soda, and salt.

4. Mix in small chocolate chips. Using a cookie scoop, form into balls, place on a cookie sheet. Add larger chocolate chips to the top of mounds by hand. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. (or if your impatient like me bake a few off right away) Freeze the leftovers and bake up to a month later.

5. When ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350. Bake from chilled or frozen for 15- 20 minutes. Enjoy!

If baking fresh soft dough (not chilled or frozen) bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes. 

Dessert

baking, chocolate, Chocolate chip, cookie, cookie of the month

Have you ever made homemade granola before? I sure hadn’t until I started reading the ingredient list on the store-bought packages! EEKK! If that wasn’t a good enough reason I don’t know what is.

Why?

There are so many reasons I’ve fallen in love with making my own granola. Like you may have guessed my number one reason is I get to be in control of the ingredients. I hate looking at a label and seeing oils that are not serving me. In this recipe, I use coconut oil. I also hate seeing sugars where I didn’t expect them. I use honey and make sure it’s local. Did you know that using local honey can help with seasonal allergies? Second I can make it seasonal! The recipe below is my everyday granola, it’s basic. This summer I can’t wait to play around by adding different spices. I think a dried blueberry and lavender combination is calling my name. This fall I will add pumpkin seeds and nutmeg.

Storage

I keep my homemade granola in these charming mason jars. They are darling sitting out on my counter/in my cupboards and even make a sweet gift. Last year a parent in my class brought me a jar of homemade granola as a little thank you and it was BEYOND charming! I absolutely love getting homemade little somethings over store-bought. This batch of granola gives me two 32oz mason jars worth. One for you and one for a loved one.

Breakfast Snack or Dessert

I’m not much of a breakfast gal myself, but this goes perfectly over a bowl of yogurt. If you have followed me for a while you know I love Bulgarian yogurt. Generally, I enjoy mine as a snack after lunch. My husband on the other hand has taken this to a whole other level and pours a cup over a big ole bowl of vanilla ice cream. This might be my new favorite dessert!

When it came to Potato Leek Soup I have never been that motivated to make it. I thought it would be bland, and not hearty enough for a main dish kind of soup, oh boy was I wrong! This soup filled my home with the beautiful smell of dinner. My family enjoyed this dinner a la carte but our favorite was when we complemented it with a turkey melt we spiced up with horseradish and it was one of our favorite dinners this winter. Check out my 5 Tips for upgrading your grilled cheese game Here. Click here to for a quick tutorial on how to clean leeks.

Mother Sauce

All master chefs know how to make the 5 mother sauces. While in culinary school one of the five sauces really spoke my love language. Béchamel! This sauce is a creamy, indulgent full fat sauce that no one can resist. Once you have this sauce under your belt the sky is the limit. Think of any of your favorite creamy cheese sauces… yup, you start with a Béchamel. Do you feel the power you have now? I sure do!

Cheeses Talk

Once you have made your Béchamel you can start to play with it. In the fall I make a big pan of roasted vegetables to dip in a chevre cheese Béchamel sauce. When friends and family ask you what you ate for dinner you can tell them you at a huge plate of vegetables, just leave out the part of the beautifully creamy sauce no one needs to know about this.

Because St. Patrick’s day is this Wednesday I took the opportunity to enjoy a reason to cook with Guinness and Kerrygold and smoked gouda cheese… who doesn’t like gouda? You can tailor this recipe to how you like. You can drop the Guinness, and gouda replacing it with classic sharp cheddar cheese.

Toppings

When it comes to mac&cheese you need to make it yours. I spun this dish by adding the Guinness and smoked gouda cheese. I didn’t want to overwhelm it with too many toppings, I settled on fresh parsley. Looking back, bacon crumbs would have elevated it.

In the mood for meals with an Irish flair this week? Click here for my Sweet Potato Shepherds Pie

Smoked Gouda and Guinness Mac & Cheese

While making this dish you will learn how simple it is to make home made macaroni and cheese and while doing so you will learn how to make one of the five Mother Sauces, Bechamel. While making your Bechamel you will learn how to make a roux and by the end of it your friends and family better darn well call you chef!

Roux

• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp flour

Bechamel

• roux
• 3 cups milk
• 1 onion (sliced in half )
• fresh cracked pepper
• 3 whole cloves

Cheese Sauce

• 3 cup smoked gouda cheese (you can do a mix of smoked gouda and Irish cheese. )
• 1/2 cup Guiness Beer
• 1 LB macaroni noodles

1. Prep all ingredients, you can thank me later.

2. In a large sauce pan add milk. Cut the onion in half, remove the outer layer of skin. Push the cloves into the freshly cut flat side of the onion. Add fresh cracked pepper. Place the onion face side down in the milk. Turn heat to low and stir occasionally.

3. While the milk and onion are getting to know each other you will make the roux. In a small saute pan heat your butter over medium high heat. Once fully melted add flour and whisk until well combined. The consistency should be similar to frosting. Set aside.

4. Cook noodles accordingly. Strain set aside. At this point I put mine into the serving dish I will be using and drizzle with a tich of olive oil to prevent sticking. (Not to much olive oil or your cheese sauce wont stick to the noodles.

5. Let's get back to the milk. Discard the onion and cloves. Turn heat to medium low, whisking contiulusly. You will need to give your sauce your full attention now or disaster could be on the horizon. Once you can see a beautiful steam coming off the milk it's time to add your roux, KEEP WHISKING! As soon as you get a hint of thickening turn off the heat and add the beer, and cheese Switch to a spatula and mix until well combined. Pour the cheese sauce over the noodles and enjoy!

Main Course

American

casserole, pasta, pasta sauce