Recipe Raves: Grilled Beef Roast With California Marinade

I tired something new for supper last evening by grilling a bottom round beef roast and it was delicious!!!

I started by partially defrosting the roast in the microwave. I then mixed the California Marinade in a gallon-sized freezer bag. I placed the half-thawed roast in the plastic bag ensuring all surfaces were covered with the marinade and then continued to defrost the roast.

I preheated our gas grill and brushed the top rack with vegetable oil. I then placed the roast on the top rack, turned down the heat to the low setting, and closed the lid. I turned and basted the roast every 10 minutes for two hours. For a medium well done roast, the internal temperature needs to be around 160 degrees. It was getting too close to supper time and still wasn't done, so I removed the roast from the grill and sliced it into 1/2 inch thick steaks.

I replaced them on the grill and continued to baste them every few minutes.

The result was tender and juicy. The pieces varied in doneness from medium to rare (I personally like the rarer ones). We rounded out our meal with rice pilaf and grilled butternut squash (We didn't care for the squash much though).

The original recipe called for the roast to marinade for at least 8 hours and no longer than 24 hours, but since I generally don't plan ahead that far in advance, I modified the recipe.

For anyone wanting to try this, I have included the marinade recipe. Let me know how it turns out if you do decide to try this recipe out.

California Marinade

1/4 cup olive oil (or vegetable oil)

1/4 cup cider vinegar (or red wine vinegar)

1/4 cup cooking sherry (or apple juice)

1 tablespoon rosemary (I don't care for this herb, so I omitted it)

2 tablespoons ketchup

2 teaspoons soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon ground mustard

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped (I used dehydrated garlic)

After defrosting the roast in the marinade I placed the marinade in a heat resistant container and placed on the grill to heat it throughly. This is important step to maintain the safety of the marinade. I don't want anyone to get food poisoning. :(

You may want to double the marinade mixture as I ran out halfway through the grilling process.

Bon appetit!!!

Recipe Raves, "Sour Cream Apple Pie"

This posting is dedicated to my Betty Crocker, award-winning sister, Auntie MA. I love you, Sissy!!! Thanks for loving me!!!

Sour Cream Apple Pie

1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust

5 large tart apples (Granny Smith works for me)

1 tablespoon lemon juice

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened

1/2 to 3/4 cup sour cream

Prepare pie crust. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Peel apples and cut into thick slices. Arrange slices in overlapping rows in pastry-lined pie pan; sprinkle with lemon juice. Blend sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt. Cut in butter with pastry blender or fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal; spoon over apples. Spread sour cream over top. Bake 45-50 minutes, until apples are tender. If during baking the edges of the pie crust are becoming too dark, shield with tin foil.

This recipe is a favorite of Consecrated, Strongman and myself...enjoy!!!

Recipe Raves, "Stuffed Portabella Mushroom"

I was experimenting the other day with portabella mushrooms and stumbled upon this yummy combination.

Take a clean and dry portabella mushroom and cut slivers of one clove of fresh garlic over it. I had made oat bran bread a few days ago, and because I didn't use white flour with the oat bran, it was very crumbly and dense. I took a slice of this bread and crumbled it in a bowl. Added a pinch of salt, 1 tbsp. chives and 1 tbsp. olive oil and tossed it. I then put this mixture on top of the mushroom and baked at 350 degrees F. until the mushroom was soft. If you see that the bread crumbs are getting too brown, you can finish the baking in the microwave.

It was absolutely yummy!!!