Lemony Zest :: Kim Lewandowski

Archive for the ‘Photos’ Category

Several years ago, Dan had a class in Fort Collins, Colo., and I visited him out there. While he was in class, I took a day trip to the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. It’s one of my favorite places.

As I was getting ready to leave, the sky started to fill with clouds, so I drove the circuit again and this is one of the photos I took that day:

This is my entry into the Photo Friday weekly photo challenge. This week’s topic is Overcast.

Last night’s rain and the weekend’s cooler temperatures should be great for helping our baby romaine, butter lettuce and red sails along. We might even pick some to mix in a salad. Onions, garlic, beans and peas are on their way, too.

On our last night in Florence, Italy, in September 2009, Dan and I went for a walk across the Arno River bridge near our hotel, to get a view of the river and the city from the other side. Such a beautiful city.

This is my contribution to Photo Friday, the weekly photo challenge. This week’s topic is Blurred.

On our trip to Italy last September, after several hours of touring historic sites, there was nothing more pleasurable than sitting in an outdoor cafe to rest for a bit, with an afternoon pick-me-up of caffe latte for me and cappuccino for Dan.

This is my contribution to the weekly challenge at Photo Friday. This week’s topic is Pleasure.

I don’t shoot portraits much at all, much less self-portraits. For some reason, I like shooting landscapes, buildings and food a lot more than taking pix of people. But this is for Photo Friday’s weekly challenge. This week, it’s Self-Portrait.

Here’s one from our recent trip to Florence, Italy, in September. Our room at the Plaza Hotel Lucchesi along the Arno River had a great view of the river and the Piazza de Michelangelo on a hill across the water. We took a bus up there one day and got some amazing photos of the city skyline. See more pix from our trip at my Flickr site.

So, I decided to be brave and try a pot roast recipe different from my mom’s New England pot roast that I have always made. I mean, I know we love it, so why risk doing something different that we might not like? But I decided it was time, and since our trip to Florence, Italy, last September, I’ve been more into Italian food than ever, so that’s the direction I went.

I looked online for recipes, and found several for Straccotto, or Italian pot roast with red wine and tomatoes. I didn’t really follow a recipe for this, but sort of combined elements of several. It turned out great. I served it over rotini pasta with a green salad and garlic bread.

I’m not a big fan of red wines, but I did want to use one for this recipe. So I went to Angry Adam’s, a local wine, beer and cheese shop, for a recommendation. Randy recommended a Guenoc Lake Country Petite Sirah. It was perfect – not too dry or tannic; nice and soft on the palate.

The Parmigiano Reggiano cheese rind is not strictly necessary, but I found it really smoothed out the flavor of the sauce. I buy it from D’Italia through Amazon.com – it’s a lot less expensive that way.

Straccotto – Italian Pot Roast

3 lb. chuck roast
3 tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, peeled, halved and thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 cup red wine
1/2 oz. dried porcini mushrooms (I used shiitake, because I already had them)
1 cup hot water
1 14.5-oz. can stewed tomatoes, chopped
1 sprig fresh rosemary
1 bay leaf
1 2×2-inch square of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese rind (optional but gives great flavor)
Salt and pepper to taste

In a small bowl, add hot water to 1/2 ounce dried mushrooms and set aside to rehydrate. Reserve the liquid.

Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven. Sprinkle one side of the meat with salt and pepper, then place it in the Dutch oven, seasoned side down. Brown well, season the second side, then turn to brown the second side. Remove to a plate.

Add onions and garlic to the pot and saute till softened and lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add the wine and deglaze the pan (stir to loosen browned bits on the bottom of the pan). Bring to a simmer and cook for a few minutes, to cook off some of the alcohol and reduce the wine a little.

Chop the mushrooms and add them to the pot, along with the reserved liquid, stewed tomatoes, rosemary, bay leaf and cheese rind. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce to a simmer and add the meat back to the pot. Spoon some of the liquid over the meat. Simmer, covered, for 1 1/2 hours. Using large tongs, turn the meat over, cover, and simmer for another 1 1/2 hours.

Served over rotini with garlic bread and a green salad. Delish!

Edited to add: I realized I forgot a step at the end. The sauce was a little looser than I wanted, so I mixed 2 tbsp. cornstarch with 4 tbsp. water and stirred that in to thicken it up.