Italian Pot Roast

A lot of people think a slow cooker is only good for an easy last minute meal you throw in the pot before you go to work. Sometimes that can be true. There are many crock pot meals that are just that. Cut things up and throw them in and they are tasty. But your slow cooker can also work its magic on meals that take a bit more work. In fact, it's those meals that make my slower cooker one of my favorite appliances and one I just couldn't do without.

When I am in a "fancy" slow cooker mood I always turn to The Gourmet Slow Cooker by Lynn Alley. Every recipe I have made from this book is mouth-watering delicious. They also take a lot of work. Really a lot, but worth every minute of it.

This Italian Pot Roast is one of those recipes. I will say that the prep time was probably about 45 minutes to an hour. It was worth it. This is one of the most delicious meals I have made in my slow cooker. If you have time and want to make something really special, I totally recommend this. Since it was so time intensive I actually got it going the night before, cooked it overnight then turned it back on about two hours before dinner. With this dish, the longer it cooks the better it tastes.

Ingredients

• 1 cinnamon stick, broken into pieces
• 4 whole cloves
• 3 allspice berries
• 6 black peppercorns
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 1/2 pounds beef pot roast, trimmed of excess fat
• 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 celery stalks, slicked
• 2 carrots, peeled and sliced
• 1 cup hearty dry red wine
• 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• Salt
• Chopped fresh parsley, for garnish

Instructions

1. Combine the cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and peppercorns in a mortar or coffee grinder and grind to a fine powder.
2. Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat and add the oil. Add the meat and cook, turning, for 10 to 15 minutes, until browned on all sides. Using tongs, transfer to the slow cooker.
3. Add the onion to the saute pan and saute, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes, or until lightly browned.
   
4. Add the garlic, celery, and carrots and saute for 3 - 4 minutes, until lightly browned.
5. Add the spice mixture and cook for 2 minutes.
6. Add the red wine and cook for about 10 minutes, until reduced by about one-third.
7. Stir in the crushed tomatoes and salt to taste.
8. Pour sauce over the meat in the slow cooker.
9. Cover and cook on low for about 8 hours, until the meat falls away from the bone.
10. Garnish with parsley.
    
11. Serve over polenta, potatoes or rice.

Notes

As I mentioned above I cooked this for 10 hours overnight, then two more hours before dinner to heat it up and thicken. It really did need thickening. I asked friends online how to thicken this and got different responses. My main question was whether to use corn starch or flour. Apparently, corn starch will thin out when reheating so I created a slurry with flour to thicken the pot roast. One thing you never do is just throw flour into the dish. You will get icky lumps. I took out some of the sauce (and fat) from the pot roast and heated it up in my saute pan. I then gradually whisked in about 2 tablespoons of flour. I let that heat up and added about another cup or two of the sauce from the pot roast and let that simmer and thicken. I then added it back to the pot roast and let it cook for about 30 minutes. It turned out perfectly.


P.S. On this post, special thanks to my good friend Brenda that caught all my silly mistakes!!!

Perfect Filet Mignon with Chive Butter

I know, what am I thinking putting Filet Mignon on my blog during "these trying economic times." Well, first off, I am really tired of that expression. I know these are trying times, but we are all going to get by one way or the other. Also, I believe that these times are exactly when we need to treat ourselves every once in awhile. If you are having a special occasion, why not have it at home and get the most out of your hard earned money?

To be honest, we got a pretty good deal on Filet Mignon at Costco, so I needed to find the best way to cook it. The recipe below is really a combination of a lot of recipes I have seen for this. It's a kind of a Tyler-Danny-Rachel-Paula method. I have taken all the best ideas and put them together. The finished product is perfection. Actually, I have to admit this was better than going out to a restaurant and for $5.00 a filet compared to what you would pay at a restaurant, it was well worth it.

The one thing you will need for this is an ovenproof skillet. I have my handy cast iron skillet that is a staple in any kitchen. If you don't have one, you might want to think about one. While I don't use is all the time, the times that I do need it, it's indespensible.

These come out perfectly since you sear them on the stove and then bake them in the oven. Trust me, you may never go out for filet mignon again!

Ingredients

Chive Butter

• 1 stick butter, softened
• Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 bunch chives

Filets

• 2 (8-ounce) filet mignon steaks
• Kosher salt and coarsely ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Instructions

• Remove filet mignon from refrigerator and allow to get to room temperature
• Preheat oven to 450°

• Place butter into a mixing bowl, season with salt and pepper and stir until blended and soft.
• Take a 12-inch piece of plastic wrap and lay it on the counter.
• Spoon the butter out onto the center of the plastic wrap and place the chives in the center on top of the butter.
• Pull the edge over the butter mixture, and tightly pinch the ends, then holding the plastic wrap tightly at each end, pull the mixture towards you. This should create a tight sausage shape. The chives will be in the center surrounded by butter. (Like a sushi roll.)
• Tie a knot on both ends of the butter roll and place into the freezer until you are ready to place it on top of your cooked filet.

• Season filet mignon generously with salt and pepper.
• In a heavy, ovenproof skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat until almost smoking.
• Pan-sear the steaks, only on 1 side, for 2 minutes until a crust forms.
• Transfer the pan to the oven and roast for 10 minutes or until cooked medium rare.
• Remove steaks from oven and let stand for 5 minutes
• Slice butter into thin coins and place one on each filet
• Serve and feel fancy
  

Sweet and Sour Braised Brisket

Sometimes what looks good on the Food Network and on paper does not come out the way you had hoped. That was the case with this recipe. It looked so delicious when I saw Dave Lieberman make it, but I was very disappointed with the end result.

I diligently got up super early on Sunday morning to get this thing in the oven. 6:30!!!! That's a challenge on week days, let alone Sunday! Anyway, I followed the instructions - browned the beef, sauted the vegetables. It smelled delicious! When I pulled it out of the oven, though, I was so sad. After 10 hours the liquid had actually increased and the meat was not all that tender. I was going to write this recipe off until last night.

I came home and Joey had our leftovers all plated up and ready to go for dinner. I was amazed at how delicious this dish had become! The meat was flavorful and tender. YUMMO! As Rachel would say.

If I were to make this again, I think I would do it in the crock pot rather than the oven. I would also decrease the liquid a bit. I don't know if I love beef brisket, but this really did make some great leftovers and, to us, that is just as important as the first time we have something.

Ingredients

• 1 (6-pound) brisket, upper portion
• Salt
• Vegetable oil
• 1/2 pound carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
• Few stalks celery, cut into big chunks
• 3 medium onions, peeled and cut into eights
• Cloves from 1 head garlic, peeled and lightly smashed
• 26-ounce box strained tomatoes (recommended: Pomi)
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.

Rub brisket generously with salt and vegetable oil.

Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add vegetable oil to evenly coat pan and when the oil is hot and is just beginning to smoke, add the brisket and brown on both sides. Transfer the brisket to a shallow baking dish. Add the vegetables to the saute pan. Cook until they brown and start to soften, about 5 minutes. Then pour the vegetables over the brisket.

Whisk together the tomatoes, sugar, stock and vinegar in a mixing bowl then pour it into the same saute pan. Cook for a few minutes to get all the flavor out of the skillet, and then pour over the brisket. It should be at least 3/4 of the way submersed in the liquid. Cover the dish loosely with aluminum foil and bake for 8 to 10 hours until tender and the meat begins to fall apart. Slice thinly and serve with veggies and cooking liquid.

Serves 8 - 10

Beef Stuffed Cabbage

YAY! My first blog posting!!! This weekend promises to be full o' cooking as next weekend is my birthday and I will probably be busy with that.

This is one of our favorite one-pot recipes. (Not to be confused with Crock Pot!) It's a bit time consuming to stuff the cabbage, but the end result is oh-so yummy. We usually double the recipe so that we have lots of lunches for the following week.

This recipe comes from the Weight Watchers site. For those of you interested it's only 6 points!

Ingredients

• 1/3 head savoy cabbage, about 8 whole leaves
• 1/2 pound uncooked lean ground beef (with 7% fat)
• 1/2 cup uncooked white rice
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs
• 1 medium carrot(s), peeled and grated
• 1 medium onion(s), finely chopped
• 1 medium garlic clove(s), minced
• 1 large egg white(s)
• 1/2 tsp table salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 29 oz canned diced tomatoes, with basil, garlic and oregano

Instructions

Wrap cabbage leaves in plastic wrap or moist paper towels and microwave on HIGH for 2 minutes, until soft. Cut off the thickest, white portion of the spine of each leaf to make leaves pliable and easy to fold; set aside.

Combine beef, rice, water, bread crumbs, carrot, onion, garlic, egg white, salt and pepper in a large bowl; mix well.

Spoon about 1/4 cup of beef mixture onto center of each leaf. Fold up bottom of leaf to cover filling, tuck in sides and then continue rolling to make loose rolls (rice will expand during cooking so it is important not to roll them too tightly).

Heat oil in a large stockpot over medium-high heat; add rolls and sauté until golden brown on all sides, turning frequently, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook until cooked through, checking pot every 15 minutes and stirring to prevent sticking, about 1 hour. (If sauce thickens or reduces, add water.) Yields 2 rolls per serving.