Best of the Month February 2015

A recap of my most popular posts from February 2015.

This month (February) I added a most pinned widget to the header of my blog.  I must say, it's pretty cool.  Blogger doesn't have an already prepared widget so I had to look through Pinterest, find my most pinned pictures, then write the html for this widget.  I used many different websites to get instructions to put it together and whenever I had a question I just googled it.  I'm super excited about my results and it seems to be useful.  The goal is to keep visitors interested and on my site longer (once I get better with analytics I'll let you know if it's working).  Most importantly I love the way it looks and I'm proud I made it myself.

I'm still posting to link parties regularly and to google+, facebook, and twitter. I'm gaining followers on all platforms and my page views are increasing.  I'll never know everything about blogging, it changes so much, but I'm getting more familiar with many aspects.  Most importantly I'm still having fun.

Now on to the best of the month:

Last year's most viewed of February:

Baked Potato Salad

A potato salad side dish made with baked red potatoes, celery, and dill.  Now has 219 views and 44 +1s.

#Bestofthemonth February: Baked Potato Salad -Last years best of February via @joybeewhatsfor [Tweet this]

Now this February's most viewed:

How to Make a Great Baked Potato

Baked potatoes are a simple and tasty side to any meal. They can even be a great meal all on there own. 356 views and 21 +1s.

How to Make a Great #BakedPotato | #Bestofthemonth February via @joybeewhatsfor [Tweet this]

Herb Roasted Leg of Lamb

Delicious lamb leg roast seasoned with herbs and spices. Makes a great holiday, or romantic, dinner. 327 views and 37 +1s.

Herb Roasted Leg of Lamb | #bestofthemonth February via @joybeewhatsfor [Tweet this]

Meatball Calzones

Hot gooey cheese and meatballs folded inside a soft and chewy pizza crust. 300 views and 70 +1s.

#Meatball #Calzones | #bestofthemonth February via @joybeewhatsfor [Tweet this]

Lamb Salad

 

A green salad topped with leftover Herb Roasted Leg of Lamb, olives, tomatoes, and feta. 290 views and 39 +1s.

#Lamb #Salad | #bestofthemonth February via @joybeewhatsfor [Tweet this]

Rye Yeast Rolls

Soft and fluffy yeast rolls made with rye flour, onions, and caraway seeds. 289 views and 56 +1s.

#Rye #YeastRolls | #bestofthemonth February via @joybeewhatsfor [Tweet this]

Check out last year's best of February:

Linked to:  Show Off, Best of the Weekend, Pretty Pintastic, Treasure Box, 2 Cup, LouLou Girls, Teach Me, Tasty, Tickle my Tastebuds, Full Plate, Cook Craft Share, Freedom, FoodieFriends

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Lamb & Guinness Shepherd's Pie

Minced lamb and vegetables cooked in a Guinness sauce and topped with mashed potatoes.  Perfect for a St. Patrick's Day dinner.

This is yet another dish I made from leftover Herb Roasted Leg of Lamb.  That lamb roast served me very well.  You could easily substitute ground lamb in this recipe too.  I blitzed my leftover, roughly chopped, lamb in the food processor to give me minced lamb, added vegetables and Guinness for this incredibly flavorful and hardy meat pie.  It's not totally traditional shepherd's pie because I have it in a pie shell, but I had one in the freezer and didn't feel like dirtying a dish so I used it.  Traditional or not it was delicious.  I loved the crispy pie crust bottom with the creamy potato top.  And the filling.  Did I mention there's Guinness in it?  The stout gives it this a deep, rich, meatier flavor that is unparalleled.

Did I mention there's #Guinness in it? [Tweet this]

Lamb & Guinness Shepherd's Pie

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp butter
1 onion, diced
2 red potatoes, blanched and diced
1 stalk celery, diced
2 small carrots, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and pepper to taste
2/3 cup frozen peas
2 Tbsp flour
1 cup Guinness
2 cups minced lamb (I just minced leftover Herb Roasted Leg of Lamb, but you could use cooked ground lamb as well)
Few dashed rosemary
5-6 dashes Worcestershire sauce
Frozen pie crust (9 inch deep dish), optional
2-3 cups mashed potatoes

Preheat oven to 425F

In a large stockpot, melt butter over medium heat.  Add onions, potatoes, celery, and carrots.  Season with salt and pepper then cook, until everything is softened.

Add the garlic and cook for just a few seconds until fragrant.

Add the frozen peas and allow to warm for about a minute.  Then add the flour.

Stir and mix well with the vegetables and melted butter making a roux.

Stir and cook until flour mixture starts to brown then add the Guinness, lamb, and rosemary.

Continue stirring until mixture comes to low boil, lower the heat and simmer until the Guinness has thickened (this isn't a very saucy mixture it's pretty thick but if you would like it thinner add more Guinness or water).

Stir in the Worcestershire sauce.  Taste for seasoning and add whatever you think it needs.

Fill a pie crust (follow pie crust directions) or casserole dish with the meat mixture, top with mashed potatoes (that are seasoned to your preference) and bake.

Bake in a preheated oven at 425F for about 25 minutes or until potatoes start to brown.

Let cool for about 15 minutes before serving.  Serve with sides of your choice.  I served it with Sweet Dill Glazed Carrots and Sauteed Kale (I'll post these recipes soon). Oh, and don't forget a Guinness to wash it down.

Makes 6 servings.

Enjoy.

Linked to:  Pretty Pintastic, Best of the Weekend, See Ya in the Gumbo, 2 Cup, Treasure Box, Lou Lou Girls, Teach Me, Tasty, Tickle My Tastebuds, Wonderful, Full Plate, Cook Craft Share, Freedom, Foodie Friends

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Lamb Salad

A green salad topped with leftover Herb Roasted Leg of Lamb, olives, tomatoes, and feta.

With all of my leftover lamb from my Herb Roasted Leg of Lamb, I got creative.  The Herb Roasted Leg of Lamb was delicious on its own, but I don't like always eating the same thing.  I couldn't let those leftovers go to waste so I made new meals from the lamb.  I already made Greek Nachos and had some leftover toppings from those too (well...I made sure to have leftover toppings) so I made this salad.  It's kind of a different take on Greek Salad.  I added some pistachios for crunch, dried cherries for chewy, tart, sweetness, and Honey Lemon Oregano Dressing to tie it all together.  What a great combination.  It was fresh, delicious, and filling.

Lamb Salad

Ingredients:

Lettuce
*Honey Lemon Oregano Dressing
Pistachios
Red onion, sliced
Olives, sliced
Tomatoes, diced
Herb Roasted Leg of Lamb, chopped
Feta, crumbled

*First prepare the Honey Lemon Oregano Dressing:  add 1 tsp honey to about 2 Tbsp Lemon Oregano Dressing.

Toss enough lettuce for 2 salads with the dressing until coated.

Separate lettuce onto plates or bowls and top with the rest of the ingredients (use as much or as little of whatever you prefer).

Alternatively just toss everything together and separate into bowls but when you do it this way all the toppings tend to sink to the bottom and you don't end up with as pretty of a salad.  (I like to have just the right amount of everything and it to be picture worthy so I use the former method)

Enjoy.

Linked to:  Treasure Box, Lou Lou Girls, 2 cup, Teach me, Whimsy, #some2,  freedom, best of the weekend, foodie, Pretty Pintastic, See Ya in the Gumbo
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Greek Nachos

Nachos with a Greek twist.  Pita chips topped with lamb, olives, tomatoes, and feta.

I've had this idea in the back of my mind for a while.  When I cooked Herb Roasted Leg of Lamb and had so much left over I finally had the most important component of this dish.  The goal was to make this as much like regular nachos as possible but with a Greek or Mediterranean twist.  Instead of tortilla chips I used pita chips.  Instead of cheddar or Mexican blend cheese I used feta (and a little monterey jack cheese to hold things together). I used lamb, red onions, tomatoes, and olives and topped it all with a dollop of Tzatziki instead of sour cream or guacamole.  It was fantastic.  If you like Greek/Mediterranean dishes this is a different take on nachos that you will love.  These nachos make a great snack or dinner.

Greek Nachos

Ingredients:

Pita chips
Monterey jack cheese
Herb Roasted Leg of Lamb, chopped (or any kind of lamb)
Red onion, sliced
Tomatoes, seeded and chopped
Olive slices
Feta crumbles
Tzatziki

Spread a single layer of chips on the bottom of a baking pan.

Top the chips with a thin layer of monterey jack cheese.  Then add  some lamb, onions, tomatoes, and olives.  Top with feta and another layer of chips.  Repeat this step once or twice.

Bake the nachos at 300F for 15-20 minutes then broil until the top layer of cheese is melted (feta doesn't melt but the monterey does).

Remove from oven and top with a large dollop of Tzatzikki.

Enjoy.

Linked to:  Pretty Pintastic, Best of the Weekend, Snickerdoodle, 2 Cup, Lou Lou Girls, Teach Me, Wonderful Wed, Cook Craft Share, Full Plate, Freedom, Foodie Friends

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Herb Roasted Leg of Lamb

Delicious lamb leg roast seasoned with herbs and spices.  Makes a great holiday, or romantic, dinner.

I don't care much about Valentines day (except the cute stuffed animal my dad sends every year).   This year I'm more excited about Friday The 13th.  Yep that's today.

I love Friday the 13th's.  I'm a big horror movie fan so Friday the 13th is all about Jason Voorhees.  If I can find any of the movies (I wish I owned them all) it's marathon time.  If not any horror movie will do.  What could go better with a slasher movie marathon than a bloody leg (of lamb).  It's really not that bloody it's about medium rare and oh so good.  This could easily be a romantic dinner too if that's your thing.  But I say turn out the lights and fire up the scary movies.

This was my first time cooking leg of lamb so I googled for instructions.  I found many and used a little bit of all to make this roast.  Most of the recipes I found said to bake in a roasting pan.  I don't have one so I just put it in my largest/deepest baking pan with potatoes and carrots lining the bottom (an easy and delicious side dish).  One of the recipes I really liked suggested broiling the roast on both sides to sear it but the broiler on my oven doesn't work so I just roasted it at a high temperature to start then lowered the heat for the rest of the cooking.

Herb Roasted Leg of Lamb

Ingredients:

1 5 pound semi-boneless leg of lamb
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp rosemary
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp coarse ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 450F

Remove lamb from fridge at least 1 hour before you plan to roast it.

Chop some potatoes and carrots into bite sized pieces, toss in olive oil and spices of choosing (salt, pepper, garlic, thyme).  Place in bottom of your largest baking pan (I used a glass 9x13).

Rinse the lamb and pat dry.  Then, rub all over with the spice mix and place in baking pan on top of the veggies.

Bake in a preheated oven at 450F for 15 minutes.  Then lower the temperature to 325F and continue baking for about 1 hour and 45 minutes or until the roast reaches 130F for medium rare.

Let rest for 15 minutes before slicing and serving.  Serves a lot. 8 or 10 maybe.  We ate it plain a few nights, then I made some other dishes with it.

Serve with those roasted potatoes and carrots, mint jelly if you have it, or I served it with tzatziki.

Enjoy (stay tuned to see what else I made with the lamb).

For ways to use leftovers check out:  Greek Nachos, Lamb Salad, and Lamb & Guinness Shepherds Pie

Linked to:  Pretty Pintastic, Best of the Weekend, Merry Monday, 2 Cup, Lou Lou Girls, Teach Me,Tasty, Whimsy, Cook Craft Share, Full Plate, Foodie Friends

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