Some Holiday Recipes

Okay, so they're not exclusively holiday-related, but they're what I'm going to make for this one. I'm trying to clear out various crap from my house, and had a stack of low-calorie recipe magazines that I almost never go into. I only use the pot roast carbonnade recipe from them, but I thought I'd also seen a crustless pumpkin pie kind of parfait there once. Wouldn't you know? As I'm about to thumb through one of the magazines, it falls, I catch it—and the page opened is the pumpkin pie parfait.

So I've now saved the two recipes to my files, and per Facebook requests, am reprinting them here. Don't ask me to put in copyright info, please, as I've got to rush this out. And note: I've never made the pumpkin parfait before, but it looks doable and tasty.

Pot Roast Carbonnade

I make this in a pressure cooker. That used to be a royal pain, but the new digital pressure cookers are a dream—no fear involved! Just punch some buttons and go relax. Consult your PC book to see how long pot roast and carrots/brussels sprouts should cook. Another plus of this recipe, besides its yumminess, is that it comes with veggies included.

1 3-lb. beef chuck pot roast
nonstick vegetable spray coating
1 12-oz can (1 1/2 cups) beer
2 Tbl catsup or ketchup, your choice
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp dried thyme, crushed
1 8-oz package frozen brussels sprouts (if you're like me, you throw in a little more because of the "veggies included" excuse and because a 16-oz bag is staring at you. Check how much volume your pressure cooker will take, if you're using one.)
8 medium carrots, bias sliced into 1-inch pieces (1 lb) (I can let my new food processor do this. Yay!)
2 med. onions, cut into wedges
1 Tbl cornstarch
2 Tbl water

Trim excess fat from meat; sprinkle with salt and pepper. You know, they might have listed those in the ingredients... Spray bottom of a 4 1/2 quart Dutch oven with vegetable coating. Place pan over medium heat. Add meat; brown on both sides.

Combine beer, catasup, garlic, and thyme; pour over meat. Cover and bake in a 325° oven for 1 1/4 hours. (A lot less time if you're using your PC!) Rinse brussels sprouts with warm water just to separate. Add to Dutch oven along with carrots and onions. Cover and bake 40 to 50 minutes more or till vegetables and meat are tender. (Pressure cookers laugh at these times!)

Remove meat and veggies to serving plattter. Keep warm. Skim fat from pan juices. Boil pan juices till reduced to 1 1/4 cups. Combine cornstartch and water; add to pan juices. Cook and stir till thickened and bubbly; cook 1 to 2 minutes more. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Spoon some gravy over meat; pass remainder. Garnish platter with celery leaves, if desired. (Celery leaves?) Makes 8 servings.

Per serving: 235 calories, 9 g fat.

Pumpkin Chiffon Parfaits

1 c. canned pumpkin
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
2 Tbl sugar
2 egg whites
2 Tbl sugar
1 1.4 oz. envelope whpped dessert topping mix (They mean Dream Whip here. I don't think they even make that any more. Guess you'll have to use Cool Whip or a generic instead, which means you skip the milk)
1/2 c. skim milk (see above)
1 tsp finely shredded orange peel (yeah, right. I always keep orange peels on hand.)
ground cinnamon

In a large mixing bowl stir together pumpkin and pie spice; set aside. In a small saucepan add gelatin to 3/4 cup cold water. Let stand 5 minutes. Stir in 2 Tbl sugar. Cook and stir over low heat till gelatin dissolves. Cool. Stir into pumpkin mixture. Chill till slightly thickened, stirring occasionally. Remove from refrigerator.

In a small mixer bowl immediately begin beating egg whites with an electric mixer on medium speed till soft peaks form. Gradually add 2 Tbl sugar, beating on high speed till stiff peaks form. When gelatin/pumpkin mixture is partially set, fold in egg whites. Chill till mixture mounds.

Prepare dessert topping according to package except use 1/2 c. skim milk. Beat in peel. In 8 dessert dishes, layer pumpkin mixture and topping, ending with pumpkin mixture. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Chill. Serves 8.

77 calories, 2 g. fat.

Since I'm saving all those calories, think I'll pick up some croissants and butter while I'm at the grocery store...