Herb Crusted Roast Beef

I fixed a small standing rib roast for the Maynard Christmas feast which we wisely decided to serve the day AFTER Christmas. You could use this method on any cut of roast beef and it would be as great. This came from Cooking Light magazine. Notes are mine. LBB

Preheat oven 450
#1 Prepare herb mixture first so it is ready. Combine 1/2 cup sliced cut up shallots and 3 garlic cloves in mini food processor to chop then add 3 Tblsp fresh rosemary (or 1.5 Tblsp. dried), 2 Tblsp. fresh thyme (or 1 Tblsp dried)and process until well chopped.

#2 Place 3 - 5 lb. roast on cooking rack coated with cooking spray.

#3 Sprinkle roast evenly with 1 and 1/2 tsp sea salt and 1 Tblsp cracked black peppercorns (put whole peppercorns and salt in a plastic bag and whack with a rolling pin ...very good therapy)

#4 Rub roast with 3 Tblsps Dijon or brown spicy mustard

#5 Rub herb mixture evenly over roast.

#6 Bake at 450 for 25 minutes.
Leave roast in oven and reduce heat to 350 for 1 hour or more until internal temperature reaches 145 (medium rare).
Let roast stand 10 -15 minutes before carving.

#7 Try to have this ready before ready before roast is done for better timing. Combine 1 1/2 cups low sodium beef or chicken broth with 1 cup red wine in small saucepan, bring to boil and cook @15 minutes until it reduces to 2/3 cup. Remove from heat and stir 1 tsp butter and 1/2 tsp. Serve over carved meat. Much lighter than gravy but quite tasty!

I actually tried a variation of this yesterday with a half turkey breast. I rubbed it with spicy brown mustard, coated it with a lemon thyme and garlic mixture, roasted it and served with a white wine reduction. Yummy!

The Famous Tuna Casserole Revisited

I hadn't made this for over a decade but I recently served it for a volunteer staff party and the crowd went wild! You can find lower salt, lower fat versions of nearly everything in this and it still tastes great! Real comfort food for wintry days!
This serves four.

Make about 3 cups of your favorite stove top macaroni and cheese from scratch (or use a boxed mix) Extra sharp cheddar is best!
Add: 1 can tuna of choice (drained)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup of sour cream
1/3 cup dry sherry (Cooking sherry is okay, but salty.
You can buy the real thing nearly as cheap.)
Mix well and place in a casserole dish.
Top with croutons and bake at 350 until bubbly!

(They don't make the cheddar cheese croutons we use to use so I just chopped up a loaf of cheese bread from Weggies and made my own. Toss 1 cup bread cubes with 1/2 Tblsp olive oil and bake at 350 on cookie sheet for 8-10 minutes. Then top casserole)

LBB