Kroger had rib roasts for super cheap over the holidays so we bought extra. Trying to find a happy place between Mrs J’s dislike of bloody meat and my own preference for it, we did the sous vide thing set at 140°, which worked Ok. This is medium rare, depending on where you look and who is doing the “color commentary”. That’s a smear of horseradish sauce on that piece. We did fried potatoes and roasted sprouts with it.
With the leftover beef we did a stroganoff. I looked at Paula Deen’s recipe and went with that because it looked super easy. Since the meat was already cooked I added it in last. I sauteed the onions in oil and added the flour to those before stirring in the soup and broth. I had a bit of sour cream in a tub, not a cup but enough. I gave up on the Kroger brand egg noodles but they do stock these so we’re good.
fried potatoes
Pork Tenderloin Braised In Milk
It doesn’t look like much but the pork turned out so tender you could cut it with a quick glance. I had no idea cooking in milk was a thing until I saw the recipe in the NY Times food section. I had a tenderloin and a jug of milk, handy so I gave it a go. 
The milk curdled right away but I hung in there with the recipe and strained out the onions and the milk solids. They were tasty, the recipe suggested they be served on the side but I ended up adding them back to the gravy and running the stick blender to make them into a thick sauce, Kitchen Bouquet darkened the sauce quite nicely.
The first dinner we had was forgettable – sides of a rice pilaf because I had run out of my preferred wild rice mix and some canned corn. It was better today with the fried potatoes – and much prettier!
Kicked Up Potato Soup
The other day I had some cheesy potato soup leftovers but not enough so I decided to brown more potatoes to bulk them up. It made a big, positive, difference in the taste.
I’m wondering if I should fry all the potatoes instead of boiling them – add half to the stock for blending and half later to provide texture.
Country Ribs and Fried Potatoes
I’ve been having fun with the slow cook setting on the new(ish) toaster oven. Dump a can or two of beans in a pan and add ketchup and bbq sauce, chopped onions and a couple of jalapenos. Lay in some of those meaty country ribs and let them slow cook for several hours, covered. Uncover and cook for another hour or so and you’ve got some fine eatin’. We really like fried potatoes with this dish. These were par-boiled for a few minutes and then cooled and set aside until we were ready. 
It takes some attention to get them each looking like fat potato chips but the effort will be rewarded! Keep checking the bottoms and set them aside when they are well browned.
Sous Vide Pork Tenderloin
I bought a pork tenderloin at the store today, it seemed pretty big – I thought it was two packed into the same bag like they do. Nope! I decided to do the sous vide thing because tenderloins are so easy to overcook doing them the regular way. I set my circulator to 150 degrees and left it in for 3-1/2 hours. No marinade, just salt and pepper, and I enclosed a sprig each of thyme and rosemary.
It came out with just a bare hint of pink. I’m pretty old school and a bare hint is about all I can tolerate despite assurances that 145 degrees is the new, safe, temperature for pork. The Serious Eats guy has a pretty good take on sous vide pork here. They have a pretty good color chart, 150 degrees is considered medium well done. I made a simple pan sauce by reducing some of the liquids that collected in the bag and adding a pat of butter. It didn’t really need anything, juicy as it was. I can’t get enough of these fried potatoes. I par boiled them for five minutes then cooled them in running water. Dry them on a towel and fry them in duck fat if you can get some, you will not be disappointed.
Tidbits
We don’t have much info on Cleo, AKA Grumpy Kitty. She’s an older kitteh and hasn’t been at St Francis long.
Stir fry chicken and broccoli is a favorite around here. This one has red bell peppers, red onions, and mushrooms in a brown sauce with noodles.
I mentioned doing a brisket in the smoker and finishing it in the toaster oven set to slow cook. Here it is after a night in the fridge to firm it for slicing.
I said the new counter top oven would fit a 10″ cast iron skillet, here it is with beans ready for baking. I use the same skillet for cornbread.
This is the same puppy we last saw with her head in a bag full of chicken. She is a chihuahua mix with what may be terrier of some sort.
The local Kroger has sales on boneless rib eyes pretty often, not sure why that cut is featured above others but they can count on me to grab extra every time.
We often buy frozen shrimp already butterflied and breaded but these I did myself. Dust the prepared shrimp with seasoned flour, dredge in beaten eggs, and then coat with bread crumbs – on these I used panko and they came out great after frying in 350 oil for about 2 minutes.
This is Roma. She’s 4 months old, very affectionate, and would be thrilled to go home with you.
Sammich Pr0n – Breaded Chicken
The little smashed potatoes worked well with this. Boil the potatoes until they can be smashed easily with a spatula then pop them into hot oil. I had the deep fryer going for another project so I used it but they would fry nicely in a skillet with olive oil. The golden potatoes are good for this. That tomato was from the garden but I don’t know how much longer we’ll have them. We decided to rip out all but one tomato bush because I am done with canning sauces and juices and ketchup and soup. Last year was a near total loss for tomatoes so this year we planted extra fearing a repeat but it may have been the best year ever. I’ve been boiling down 3 5-gallon buckets per week for the last month and more and I deem our supply sufficient.
What's 4 Dinner Solutions 