Roast in the Crock Pot

Sundays are never lazy days around our busy household. On the contrary, my husband works almost every weekend and my son works Saturday and Sundays as well. To mix it up a bit this weekend my college-age daughter and her two friends were here stopping to sleep on their way back to college after a road-trip to Texas for their Spring Break. After saying goodbye to the girls and returning to the now empty kitchen I grabbed a roast out of the refrigerator I had placed there on Friday with anticipation of making 'at some point' this weekend.

Today is the day.

As I opened the cupboard to add spices and herbs to the roast I realized that a nice beef roast in the crock pot is one of those foods you can add almost anything to and it's going to taste good. Ok... even though he isn't here right now, I know my 17 year old son would at this point say to me with a grin... "So Mom, I could add toothpaste or Cheerios to it and it's still going to taste good?" So let me add "WITHIN REASON!" Please don't add toothpaste or cereal to your roast.

But if you put a roast in the crock pot with little more than salt and pepper... it's going to taste good. If you add a dry packet of onion soup and a cup of water... it's going to taste good. Cover it with garlic, salt, pepper and parsley... it's going to taste good. Add a cup of red wine and a handful of cleaned and sliced mushrooms... it's going to taste good.

See where I'm going with this? The only thing you don't want to do is over cook it so it becomes dry shoe leather. Other than that, add a few things and you are well on your way to a delicious dinner.

This time around here is what I did:

Roast in the Crock Pot

1 pot roast, 3 to 4 pounds
3 T flour
salt and pepper
1 T olive oil
1 medium onion, halved, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic minced
1/2 t dried marjoram
light sprinkle of dried thyme (about 1/2 t)
1 small bay leaf
1 c beef broth
1 c water with 2-3 T vinegar
1 can petite diced tomatoes

Place the beef roast in the crockpot and top and surround with the other ingredients. Cook on high 6-8 hours until beef is tender. Serve with a side of garlic mashed potatoes, green beans and homemade rolls for a delicious Sunday dinner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pumpkin Pie - It's Not Just for Thanksgiving Anymore!

Although people tend to think about pumpkin goods in Autumn, I'm one of those odd-balls that love vegetables in any shape or form and love pumpkin muffins, breads, bars and pie year round. It's easy to find good pumpkin recipes being traded in October and November, but they tend to disappear after Thanksgiving.

I found this recipe tucked away in my files from one of my favorite catalogs to browse and buy from; The King Arthur Flour Company. I love getting their catalog not only for the product selection and (wishful thinking on my part) but for the recipes I can clip and save. This recipe is from 2007 but I loved the oats in the crust, which is what caught my attention and made it a keeper in my collection.


Pumpkin Pie

Crust

2/3 cup (2 1/4 ounces) old-fashioned or quick rolled oats, ground for 30 seconds in a food processor
1/3 cup (1 1/2 ounces) King Arthur whole wheat flour, traditional or white whole wheat
1/3 cup (1 1/2 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) brown sugar, firmly packed
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (3 ounces) cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
3 to 4 tablespoons (1 1/2 to 2 ounces) cold milk or half and half

Filling
15-ounce can puréed pumpkin
3 large eggs
1 cup (8 ounces) half and half or light cream
3/4 cup (9 ounces) honey
1 tablespoon (1/2 ounce) melted butter
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons dark or spiced rum, optional

To make the crust: In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the oats, flours, sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Cut the butter into small cubes, and work it into the dry ingredients (using your fingers, a pastry blender or fork, or a mixer) until the dough is unevenly crumbly. Sprinkle in the milk, continuing to mix until the dough is cohesive. Grab a handful; if it holds together willingly, and doesn’t seem at all dry or crumbly, you’ve added enough liquid.

Shape the dough into a disk. Roll its edges along a floured work surface (as though the disk were a wheel), in order to smooth them out. Pat the disk till it’s about 1" thick, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight, or for up to 3 days.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Allow it to warm a bit and become flexible, 15 to 30 minutes. Flour your work surface, and roll the dough into a 12" circle. It may crack a bit around the edge; that’s OK. Just patch the crust once it’s in the pan. Transfer the dough to a regular (not deep-dish) 9" pie pan that’s at least 1 ¼" deep. Trim and crimp the edges, making a tall crimp. Place the crust in the refrigerator to chill while you prepare the filling. Preheat the oven to 425°F.

To make the filling: In a large bowl, mix together all of the filling ingredients until smooth.

To assemble and bake the pie: Remove the crust from the refrigerator. Pour in the filling. Cover the edge of the crust with a crust shield, or aluminum foil. Place the pie on the bottom rack of your oven, and bake it for 15 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F, move the pie to the middle rack, and bake for an additional 35 minutes, or until the temperature at the center is at least 170°F, and a knife inserted 1" from the edge comes out moist, but clean. Remove the pie from the oven, and cool to room temperature (or chill) before serving. Serve with whipped cream, if desired.

Too Easy! Chicken Enchiladas with Green Sauce

The housewife and Mom in me from 5 years ago cringes but the working-Mom who walks in the door at 5:30 pm with her arms full to deposit her purse, the daily mail, work from home files and a bag from Target where she stopped on the way home to buy cat food and then immediately starts to cook dinner for her family while still in high heels and pearls... smiles and sighs in relief.

It was almost too easy. Chicken Enchiladas with Green Sauce, a side of seasoned rice and a second side of fat free, vegetarian refried beans with black beans... and it was delicious.



While shopping at Super Target on Superbowl Sunday (because I certainly would NOT be watching a football game...) I saw they had finger foods for sale and they were quite affordable. I bought a box of chicken taquitos knowing it would save me the trouble of purchasing the chicken and corn tortillas and then cooking, shredding and seasoning the chicken, rolling them up into the corn tortillas and sealing them.

My family loves Mexican food so while in the ethnic foods aisle I saw canned enchilada sauce (again... I only make mine from scratch) and decided on a whim to add a can of sauce to the cart. I chose one green and one traditional red.

Later that week I had one of 'those' days when work, errands and the commute got me home just minutes before I usually have dinner on the table. No problem! The Taquitos were put into the serving dishes (2) and topped with the sauce(s) and then microwaved while I heated refried beans on the stove and added drained and rinsed black beans.

As the Taquitos were now warmed through, I added a mixture of shredded cheese on top of each and placed them in the oven to finish while I grabbed a 'cook in the bag' seasoned Southwestern rice mixture to the microwave. As the rice finished 4 minutes later, the cheese was melted on the Chicken Enchiladas, the side of black beans was put into a serving dish and all was placed on the table with salsa and side of tortilla chips.

It was delicious and completely done in 10 minutes.

Always frugal, store-purchased Taquitos will not be on my everyday list as they are usually too high priced, as most prepared foods are. But if you can find a great sale and you want an easy meal in a hurry, this one fits the bill and it got a thumbs up from my whole family.

What is Nalysnyky?

Today America features some of best foods from around the world thanks to our diverse nationalities. I'm thankful as ever for the internet and for sites like Wikipedia where I got this photo for Nalysnyky - pronounced (na-lish-na-key) - or if you prefer; 'Ukrainian Crepes'. Basically, Nalysnyky is.... a thin pancake. I found fillings calling for cottage cheese dill and others taking more of a sweet approach with raspberries or strawberries and cream.

Being more of a savory type person than sweet, this recipe found itself in my files years ago by luring me in with one of my favorite foods; cheese! The Nalysnyky recipe can be doubled or tripled as it will only make about 8-10 crepes.

Nalysnyky

2 eggs
1/2 cup of milk
3 T water
1/2 c flour
1/4 t of salt
oil

Beat the eggs with a beater until light, add milk and water, beat again. Gradually add the flour and salt, continuing to beat as you add the flour. Beat until smooth. The batter will be thin. Pour a few tbsps of batter into the center of a heated and greased small frying pan. Tilt the pan to distribute the batter evenly across the bottom. Cook over moderate heat. When lightly browned on the bottom and firm to the touch on top remove cake to a plate. Continue frying in this manner until the batter is used up.

Filling for Nalysnyky

2 cups of dry cottage cheese
2 egg yolks
2 T cream
1/4 tsp of salt
1 tsp of dill (dry or fresh)
2-3 cups of cream to cover
2 tbsps of soft butter

Combine cottage cheese, egg yolks, 2tbsps of cream, salt and dill until smooth in texture. Add 1 or 2 more tablespoons of cream if mixture appears to thick. Spread filling down the center of each Nalysnyky and roll each into a tube. Lay the Nalysnyky side by side in a buttered casserole dish .Spread 1 tablespoon of butter over each layer. You may have up to 2 layers. Pour the 2-3 cup of cream over the Nalysnyky and cover with foil. Bake at 325*F for 30 minutes. Remove the foil for the last 5 minutes of baking.

Updated: I was thrilled to receive feedback from a reader who offered this bit of a 'hint' to make a delicious and quick chicken version;

"... I wanted to recommend ground chicken for the inside. We usually just buy a rotisserie chicken that's already cooked to save time. Pick the meat off, run it through a food processor or meat grinder and with some salt, pepper, garlic, caramelized onions, whatever you like. Simply stuff and roll. They make an excellent dinner with some sour cream or cheese sprinkled on top and a side salad."

Thanks Kelly!!!! I love hearing from my readers!

Product Review: Shrimp and Crab Stuffed Ravioli

Twenty years ago my husband and I lived in Southern California and were members of a large membership warehouse where we bought our groceries. Over the next two decades whenever we've lived in a large city where one of the two major membership warehouses were nearby, we continued to enjoy membership and savings and availability of the grocery products. Almost everyone knows the type of retail store I'm talking about most of you probably have joined or at least shopped with a friend in one.

One of the products I like from the membership warehouses is their stuffed pasta. This version was a simple crab and shrimp stuffed ravioli. Although bland with just butter and salt and pepper and not quite 'right' to serve with a red Italian sauce, the perfect addition (I feel) to seafood stuffed pasta is an alfredo sauce.

Here is a quick and simple idea for you to try if you are interested. I made a very simple alfredo sauce (use your favorite recipe) and added grated smoked gouda cheese to add a bit of a twist on the flavor. As the sauce thickened I sauteed onions in a pan until they were caramelized.


Topping the cooked and drained pasta with a smoked Gouda infused alfredo sauce and garnishing with caramelized onions? Mmmm. Perfection.