Salisbury steak goes well with mac and cheese too.
Mac and cheese can be very exciting if you make it right. I add grilled mushrooms, very good quality sharp cheddar cheese and bacon (fake for this vegetarian) to mine and it’s amazingly good. A side of steamed broccoli and some chocolate sorbet for dinner and you’re done.
You could also doctor up mac and cheese with some sun dried tomatoes and fresh basil. If you did this version, you could serve stuffed cabbage rolls as the main dish. Canoli for dessert.
Oh how about a pot roast with veggies (carrots, potatoes and pearl onions). That’s my Dad’s favorite meal in the whole world.Then you could make some really good garlic bread with a fancy french bread loaf from Trader Joe’s. Then for dessert you could make short cakes (with Bisquick’s super easy recipe, they’re just like giant drop biscuits, only sweeter) and serve them with thawed frozen strawberries and whipped cream. This is a pretty easy meal to pull off, but sooooo good. And your house will smell divine.
I listen to a cooking show by host Melinda Lee on the weekends. She has a great recipe for pot roast. She cooks it at a slightly lower temp than most cooks do it for a slightly longer time. My mom tried it and couldn’t have been happier with the result. Recipe is below.
Beef Shoulder Pot Roast
3½ lbs. beef shoulder, cross-rib or boneless chuck roast, rolled and tied (I used boneless chuck and didn’t tie it.)
1 tsp. each salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 T. olive oil
1½ to 2 cups beef stock
1½ cups dry red wine
1 small bunch parsley, chopped fine, plus additional for
garnish
2 cups chopped yellow onion
2 cups peeled, 1-inch carrot chunks
8 small potatoes, scrubbed and cut into thirds
2 cups canned Italian plum tomatoes, with juice
1 cup chopped celery
Preheat oven to 325 (See *Note below).
Rub roast all over with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in a heavy casserole, sear roast for several minutes on each side, browning well. Remove meat to platter and cover with foil.
Add onions, carrots and celery to pot and cook for 3–4 minutes. Return meat to pot with vegetables. Pour in stock, wine, parsley, tomatoes, potatoes and more salt/pepper to taste. Liquid in casserole should just cover vegetables. Add additional beef stock, if necessary. Bring to a simmer on top of the stove, cover and bake in center of oven for 2 to 2½ hours.
Uncover and cook longer, until meat is tender, about 1 to 1½ hours, basting frequently.
Transfer roast to a deep serving platter and arrange vegetables around it. Spoon a bit of sauce over all and garnish the platter with parsley. Pass additional sauce in a gravy boat.
*Note: I use a Le Creuset Dutch oven for this, and it’s often done before the time given in the recipe. You may find the same thing, depending on the pan you use. Just keep an eye on it. The original recipe called for cooking it at 350 which is too high (according to Melinda Lee) especially with enameled cast iron, such as Le Creuset. Melinda says to cook it at a low and slow. She says it’s done when the internal temperature is 120 degrees. Make sure you check the internal temp with an instant read thermometer.
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