It’s time for another post highlighting Stephanie Allen’s Chef Touched Tips for the February 2009 Dream Dinners menu.

Santa Fe Shredded Pork Burritos
I forgot to thaw, actually we didn’t know we would be home for dinner and didn’t have anything thawed.  When that happens, just peel the foil pan off the frozen block of the dinner and place into a sprayed 9 x 13 baking dish.  I defrosted it in my microwave and popped it  in the oven, 20 min from freezer to oven!  While it was baking I shredded a head of lettuce, diced a fresh tomato and sweet onion.  I served the salad makings on the side with sour cream and salsa so everyone could make their own side salad or pile right on top of their burrito!

Meatloaf Milano
We love anything that has Gorgonzola cheese in it and this Dream Dinner didn’t let us down.  Just like my husband’s favorite black and blue pub burger, the flavors were wonderful.  Try making this in a sprayed  muffin pan.  Spray the muffin cups and divide the meatloaf into 12 balls.  In each cup press in 1/2 of the meat ball, top with cheese and press the other 1/2 over the cheese.  Top with the marina sauce and bake 30 – 40 min until done.  Let rest and remove from cups to serve.  Fun!

Smoked Gouda Velvet Soup
This is a must!  You can thaw it in a warm water bath like I did, then I simmered on the stove while I hollowed out small sourdough bread rounds for bowls.  I ladled the soup into the bowl and topped with some fresh shredded Parmesan cheese  (would have been better with a slice of Gouda cheese but I didn’t have any on hand)  I placed the filled bowls on a cookie sheet and under the broiler in my oven for a few minutes, just until the cheese browned.  A warm easy delicious dinner at home!

To read all over her Chef Touched Tips, visit Stephanie’s blog.

Stephanie Allen recently posted some tips for perfectly cooking red meat on her blog.  Here is a general summary, read her full post for more details:

Check roasts with an instant thermometer while cooking. To accurately measure the temperature of the meat, insert thermometer into middle of the meat until the tip of the thermometer is in the middle of the thickest part. Wait about 10 seconds to allow the needle to settle.

Rare: Pull meat out of the oven when internal meat temperature is 100 degrees, place on counter with a tent foil for 5-10 minutes to rest before slicing.

Medium Rare: Pull meat out of oven when internal meat temperature is 120 degrees, rest with tent foil for 5-10 minutes on counter.

Medium: Pull meat out of oven when internal meat temperature is 130 degrees, rest with tent foil for 5-10 minutes on counter.

Well Done: Pull meat out of oven when internal meat temperature is 150 degrees, rest with tent foil for 5-10 minutes on counter.

Resting the meat will allow the meat to continue to cook while keeping the juices in for better flavor.

If you don’t have an instant thermometer, you can use a meat thermometer on a roast, leaving it in the middle of the thickest part of the meat while cooking in the oven.  The downside to this type is the hole it leaves, which  allows cooking juices to escape.  A good rule of thumb, or should I say fist is, …. clinch your hand into a fist as hard as you can squeeze.  The pad of flesh between your pointer finger knuckle and your thumb knuckle should be hard.  That is the same way a well-done piece of meat feels when you poke it.  Loosen your squeeze a little, that is the feeling of medium cooked meat, a little less squeeze is the feeling of medium-rare and no squeeze is the feeling of a rare cooked piece of meat.