Rachel Ray's Building Blocks #1 and # 2 for Make Ahead Meals

Every recipe that Rachel gives for her twenty make ahead meals are made from one of five major ingredients.  They are Pulled Pork, Tomato Sauce, Roasted Veggies, Pulled Chicken, and Rice Pilaf.  Pick a day where you will have several hours to devote to cooking these ingredient building blocks for your recipes.  You will cook them all and then freeze them.  It took me about 6 hours.  If you have a friend or spouse that is willing to help, it would cut the prep time down considerably.  Next time, I will definitely be enlisting my husband Dustin for help.  And can I just say that these building blocks taste amazing!!!   You could totally use them in a variety of recipes... not just Rachel's. These recipes are straight from her September magazine... if you haven't gotten it yet  - do it!     http://www.rachaelraymag.com/

Pulled Pork

10 pounds of pork shoulder roast, cut into 2-3 inch chunks, fat trimmed
6 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
zest of 2 lemons
1/2 cup white wine
salt and pepper

Rub garlic, zest and salt and pepper into pork.  Divide into two roasting pans and cook until top side is browned in a 450 degree oven.  Turn pork over to other side and cook until browned, about 15 minutes.  Combine the all the pork into one pan.  Turn heat down to 325 degrees.  Add wine and any remaining juices from other pan to the pork.  Cover tightly with foil.  Roast for 1 hour and 45 minutes.  Let cool for at least 15 minutes.  Then take two forks and shred pork. 

Divide pork into 1 cup portions and place in freezer bags.  Makes about 15 cups.

Weight Watcher points= 16 pts per cup

Tomato Sauce

1/4 cup EVOO
8 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
6 oil packed anchovy fillets, chopped (optional) - I left them out, just added  more salt
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1 cup red wine
4 cans crushed San Marzano tomatoes (28 oz)
salt

In a dutch oven, combine the EVOO, garlic, anchovies and crushed red pepper.  Cook over medium heat till garlic is golden.  Add the wine and tomatoes.  Bring ingredients to a boil and boil for ten minutes.  Partially cover and simmer for 2 hours and 15 minutes.  Add salt to taste.

After cooled,  freeze two bags holding one cup, and the rest holding two cups.    Makes about 10 cups

Weight Watchers points= 2 pts/cup

Its okay to cheat sometimes - with Marinades that is...

Okay.. so marinades are easy to make, but sometimes I really don't see the point in reinventing the wheel.  Especially when I can buy Lawry's Bottled Marinades and they taste amazing every single time!   So here is a post to tell all you busy working cooks out there to go easy on yourself every once in a while and use some Lawry's marinade on your favorite meats or veggies before taking them out to the grill or cooking them on the stove.  They have 19 different varieties of marinades.  I have only tried three of them - but they have all been very good.  My favorite so far is the Baja Chipotle and I highly recommend it when making chicken tacos. I also often use their Tuscan Sun Dried tomato on veggies.  Here is the link to their website so you can check out all the great options!
http://www.lawrys.com/Product-Landing/Marinades.aspx?cmpid=ps-lw-rp55-yb-Lawrys_Specific%20Marinades-lawry's%20baja%20chipotle%20marinade-generalmarinadeslp

Spicy Ginger Stir Fry Sauce

Hello faithful followers! I hope you are having a wonderful day and have cooked something yummy for yourself!  Last night I wanted to make something quick, easy, and tasty.  Beef stir-fry is a favorite at the Van Sloten house and this is my new favorite sauce.  Its sweet and spicy with a taste of ginger.    It is my adaptation of Argo Cornstarch's stir fry sauce recipe.  By the time I was done tweaking.. I believe it to now be my recipe as it is very different from the original.  But thanks so much to Argo for the inspiration!

Ingredients
1 T cornstarch
6 T brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup soy sauce ( I use Kikkoman reduced sodium)
2 T dry red wine
1 T sesame oil
2 T white wine vinegar
3 teaspoons powdered ginger
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon salt

Stir together the first three ingredients in a saucepan.  Then add all the other ingredients.  Cook over medium heat until mixture boils or reaches a thick consistency.  Makes 1 and 1/4 cups sauce.  Store covered in refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

WW points* - 2pts per 1/4 cup

Ingredients for Stir Fry
1 pound sirloin cut into thin short strips
1 pound favorite variety of veggies ( I buy a frozen bag of stir fry veggies from Aldis - works great!)
1 cup Spicy Ginger Stirfry Sauce
2 T of peanut oil

1.  Marinade sirloin in 1/4 cup of  spicy ginger stir fry sauce for at least 30 minutes in fridge.
2.  Heat 1 T of peanut oil in wok and 1 T of peanut oil in a second skillet.
3.  Cook veggies in wok until  almost crisp tender.
4.  Discard any excess marinade and cook sirloin in second skillet to desired doneness.
5.  Add sirloin and 3/4 cup spicy ginger stir fry sauce to veggies.  Stir together and simmer for 2 minutes.
6.  Serve over a bed of rice.

Serves four.

WW points*
1/4 of  stir fry with 1/2 cup of white rice = 11 pts
* not endorsed or figured by weight watchers -all points figured by blog author

A schooling in Red Harissa

I love Aldis for many reasons, but one is because I can get a jar of roasted red peppers for $1.00-$1.29.   When they go on sale, I really stock up.  So I have a pantry overflowing with roasted red peppers.  In doing a search for a use for them I came upon  recipes  for Red Harissa which has several variations.  My plan was to drizzle it over chicken and vegetable kebabs.. however the drizzle of rain outside was threatening to turn into a downpour.. so out went the grilling of kebabs.

Instead I cooked up the chicken and veggies inside and added the Red Harissa to the pan.  I served it over a bed of couscous. Which after doing more research on Harissa, learned that it is often used to flavor couscous!  I can see why.  This is a very strong sauce.  The recipes called from anywhere to 1 clove of garlic to 4 cloves.  I used four - that was a mistake.  It was still tasty... but man, once the garlic aftertaste sets in.. .well.. all you taste is garlic.  I suggest starting with one clove, or none... taste and see what you think.  Then add cloves to your garlic tolerance.  The same is true of the cayenne.  For myself,  a half teaspoon was perfect.  Others might want more or to use fresh jalapenos which is common in Harissa.  Also, traditional African Harissa isn't even made with red peppers... its made with straight up hot chili peppers... so this can be made to so many different heat levels.   I believe it can be a versatile sauce too.  You could use it with pasta, sandwiches, wraps, pizza.. anywhere you want a spicy red peppery kick.   This recipe makes about 3 cups.


Here is my version of a Harissa...

18 oz of roasted red peppers
2.5 T white wine vinegar
1-2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 teaspoon cayenne powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 of a cup olive oil

Puree all ingredients except olive oil together in a blender or food processor.  After mixed, slowly add the oil while machine is still running.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.


For my chicken and veggies...

16 oz chicken breast
4 oz mushrooms sliced
1 T oil or butter
1/2 onion, minced
2 zucchini, chopped into large bite size pieces
balsamic vinaigrette dressing (optional)
salt and pepper
couscous (I just use a box mix - prepare as directed)


1.  Chop up  chicken breast into bite size pieces.  Salt and pepper them.  Toss with balsamic vinaigrette and cook in skillet.  Add mushrooms when nearly finished cooking.

2. While chicken is cooking, saute onions in butter for a few minutes in separate pan.
3.  Add zucchini to onions and cook until nicely browned.  Salt and pepper to taste.
4.  Add cooked chicken and mushrooms to zucchini.  Pour 1 cup of Harissa sauce over ingredients and simmer for one or two minutes.
5.  Spoon chicken and vegetables over prepared couscous. 
6.  Drizzle extra Harissa sauce over top or use on the side for dipping.


WW points*
1 cup of chicken/veggies with 1/2 cup of couscous =7pts  (may need to increase depending on what oil/butter substance you use to saute onions.  I use a butter which is only 1 pt per T.. so it basically adds nothing to the entire dish of 5 servings.)
Extra Harissa for dipping = 1 pt per 3.5 Tablespoons
*not endorsed or figured by WW - these are calculated by blog author