Randomly, Jennifer: So much to talk about!

I have so much to talk about - It's been four days and I'm just piling on the goodies. I won't bore you with an uber-long blog tonight, but I do have to share with you my dinner challenge!

So the hubby and I are huge fans of Food Network's America's Worse Cook and Chopped. If you've seen Chopped, you know there are four contestants, three rounds of cooking, and intense yummy excitement. Well, for each of the rounds in Chopped (appetizer, entree, dessert) there are "basket ingredients". These ingredients MUST be used in the dishes and the judges look for them to be key flavors in each course. There is a new basket for each course. Today I did a home-based Chopped challenge put together by the hubby.

My basket ingredients are:

Swiss Chard (huh?)
Radishes (never eaten one)
Chuck Roast
Blue Cheese

OK, my first thought is that Chuck Roast is a slow-cook kinda meat (at least for me). How am I going to cook it - and everything else - and have it on the dinner table in 45 minutes? As I think about this, I peel and chop potatoes and get them on the stove in a pot of water, ready to boil. Potatoes going... check.

Back to the meat - I preheat my pan over high heat, salt the roast, roll it in seasoning to crust it and toss it in the pan to sear. While that's going I chop onion, the Swiss chard, mince garlic, grab the butter, and keep gathering my goodies. Meanwhile I toss my radishes in a sauce pan with red onion, butter, sugar, chicken broth and red wine vinegar to start a braise. Cover that up, come to a boil, simmer away. Done.

Oh yeah, the meat - flip that over - yummy crust on the top now, bottom doing it's thing. The oven is now preheating at 400 degrees Fahrenheit (gotta get it cooked fast and this puppy dog is thick). I preheat another pan with some olive oil and butter for the Swiss Chard.

I finish chopping the rest of my ingredients. The Swiss Chard should only take a few minutes to make. After the roast is ready to pop in the oven to finish cooking, I return to the stove top to saute my onion and garlic in my oil-butter mixture, add the stems and some wine to cook. After the stems are soft, I add the coarsely chopped leaves and saute. I top it by grating some Pecorino Gran Reserva on top and giving it a stir. (Swiss Card, check!)

Somewhere in between I managed to mash the potatoes with warm half-and-half and blue cheese. (Blue Cheese, check!) I take the meat out of the oven, turn it off and put the potatoes and and Swiss Chard inside to keep warm. I take the lid off my braise and let the sauce reduce.

The braised radishes when they finished.

After the meat sits, I slice it thinly - perfect! I plate the potatoes, SC and meat. The radishes look good now... (Radish, check!). I add them to the plate and grab the camera.