The Trials, Tribulations and Successes of Cooking- If You Don't Give Up!

I must say my cooking journey has had many bumps along the way including undercooked food, burnt dishes, near kitchen fires and disastrous meals that had to be trashed. 

 

When my hubby and I first met, close to eight years ago, I was not much of a cook (neither was he!). I really had no interest in it. I’m embarrassed to admit that we pretty much lived on frozen food or takeout for the first two years of living together (yes, we moved in together before getting married and it was the best thing we could have done~ but another blog post). 

He is so awesome and never complained. However, my co-workers and friends would tease me asking “so did you have chicken fingers or chicken nuggets last night?”.

Once the baby was born, I really wanted to figure out this cooking thing. I didn’t want our baby to live on chicken fingers, hot dogs and pizza.

Both my mom and mother-in-law are amazing cooks!  I was lucky to have them to teach and guide me along my cooking journey.  They have both shared some of their secret, family recipes too.

My mother-in-law makes this delicious, most-tender, melt in your mouth meat dish called Alcatra. The first time I went to their house for dinner, she made Alcatra. It was the first time I had ever had it but instantly fell in love!

Alcatra, which literally means rump in Portuguese is the traditional dish of the Azorean island from which my in-laws are from.  It is basically a pot roast slow-cooked in a clay pot or clay tile dish.  

I don’t have a clay pot or dish but have wanted to try to imitate it. I do have a crock-pot and could slow cook it in there. I have asked her a million times how to make it so I figured, why not give it a try.

I would make modified Alcatra “Pot Roast”…

Ingredients:

• Medium size pot roast
• 1 large onion cut into large slices
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2-3 cups of wine
• 2 bay leaves
• Bit of crushed red pepper, black pepper and garlic powder to taste
• 2 packages of Lipton Onion soup mix (not in the traditional recipe but needed since the crock-pot tends to weaken some flavors)

Directions:

Mix onion soup mix, chopped garlic, seasoning and 2 tablespoons of wine. Rub meat with this mixture. Place into crock-pot. Top with onion slices, the rest of the wine and toss in bay leaves. Cook on low for about 10-11 hours. 

As with any Portuguese dish, you have to serve it with rice! I like to make seasoned rice. When boiling the water, I’ll add a bit of spinach, peas or whatever I have on hand. Add olive oil, garlic, rosemary (again, whatever spice you want), then add rice. It adds a kick of flavor, plus some veggies.

We had this dish last night. I pretty much stared my husband down as he took his first bite. I couldn’t wait to hear what he thought. Low-and-behold, he said “Tess, this is REALLY good!”  I asked “what does it remind you of”?  His reply, “Alcatra”. 

Yipee…I didi it; I made Alcatra! Not the traditional way, but the Family Made Simple way!

I must admit, I’ve come a long way and have become a pretty good cook. I love when my parents or in-laws come over for dinner and my mom or mother-in-law asks for MY recipe!   

As with anything, cooking just takes some practice, confidence and a little more practice.

Happy Cooking,