Dinner at my house.

Dinner last night went well. The in-laws came over to watch the World Junior Gold Medal Game between who else but Canada and US. Sadly, Canada lost in a very intense overtime. I'm not a hockey fan and even I was impressed.

Dinner however was amazing, if I do say so myself.


Sorry, but my "plating" needs work. I was hungry and this picture was a last-minute grab and snap with the camera. Here's the menu:

Bacon-Wrapped Roast Beef With Yorkshire Pudding and Gravy
Found on page 54 of Stirring the Pot.
This is a garlic infused bacon-wrapped roast cooked until medium rare (medium well for us). The flavor was amazing. I'm thinking bacon really is the answer. I seriously have to try this roast again with a better cut of meat. The roast I got was the only one they had at Safeway. I think I'm going to only do one or two of these meals a week and make sure I have had time to go shopping at some real stores that have what I need.

The side dishes were:
Velvet Potato Puree
page 198 of Tyler's Ultimate
Amazing. My friend Kyla is as gourmet as they come. She once said that she couldn't believe people used skim milk and margarine to make mashed potatoes. I was horrified because 1) I use skim milk and margarine for my potatoes and 2) there's another way to make them? Well there is and she's on the same page as Tyler. If any of you take anything away from this, let it be the following: Only make mashed potatoes with heavy cream and butter. Put that milk and margarine away and do it properly. There's a trick though. You HAVE to warm your cream and butter up before adding to your hot potatoes. Trust me, it's the only way.

Brussels Sprouts Salad With Pancetta and Cranberries
page 230 of Stirring the Pot
In this recipe Tyler says to trick everyone by taking a few minutes to separate the leaves on the Brussels Sprouts. I thought it sounded like a good idea, they're just little cabbages so how hard can it be? Really hard! Not anything like peeling a cabbage. Those little leaves are tighter than....well, they're tight. It took me almost 2 hours to get them all peeled! Totally worth it though. He says in the write up before the recipe that your kids who hate Brussels Sprouts will love this dish. Well I have a 32 yr old kid who HATES Brussels Sprouts and he actually loved this dish. Everyone really enjoyed this meal. I omitted the yorkshire puddings because I couldn't be bothered.


I seriously cannot believe that there are clean plates! That rarely happens. You know what though? I think I tricked the kids into eating. I've hyped this up so much that it's the excitement of it, along with the good food of course, but the excitement makes it taste better.

The dessert I had planned finally made an appearance. It was modified but still yummy.
Strawberry-Lemon Puddings
page 81 of Dinner At My Place
I turned it into more of a trifle and it worked. I made too much cake but the filling was super good. I'm doing this one again too. The lemony whipped cream was so fresh. PS it was good for breakfast this morning too.


Here's what I've learned so far.

1) Tyler Florence loves him some olive oil. It's everywhere. I'm not complaining, just observing.

2) Nothing beats fresh garlic. Hand cut, not pressed through a garlic press either.

3) You really can't substitute low fat milk for cream. It might resemble the real deal but it sure won't taste as good. If you're worried about calories or weight gain, just eat a little bit of something real. Aren't we all supposed to eat small portions anyway? Think of the skinny Europeans as you're enjoying your food.

I also just found out Tyler has two more cookbooks. I'm gonna go check them out tomorrow. Maybe we'll have a few more exciting meals to add....