Crockpot Beef Pot Roast with Mashed Potatoes

Feb 18 2015

It feels like we are in a deep freeze here in NW Ohio! It is 3 deg. right now and a high of 5 deg. tomorrow! I just looked at the temps across the US and its cold everywhere! The only place that looked half warm was CA a high of 59 deg.

One of our favorite winter meals; a beef pot roast sure tasted good tonight. I knew when I picked out this beef chuck roast at Sam’s it would be tender. I got up early and got it in the Crockpot at 7:30. I seasoned with a little salt and pepper and seared; then on some sliced onions, deglazed the skillet and added that to the pot. I then added a half a lager beer and beef broth to come up half way on the meat.  I put it on high to get heated for a half hour then set it to low and I went back to bed a while.

I got up at 9:00 and cleaned about 6 carrots and two parsnips and added them to the Crockpot. After lunch I made up a pint of Creole mustard. I will post the recipe for it tomorrow.

At 4:00 I removed the roast and got rid of the fat and skimmed some of the fat from the pot; then added the meat back in.

At 5:00 I baked a take home baguette and made some mashed potatoes. At 5:30 I mixed a packet of Pioneer brown gravy mix with a half cup of water and added that to the Crockpot to make some good gravy.

We ate at 6:00 and with some bread and butter it all hit the spot! That was some of the most tender beef I have had in a while. The gravy had great flavor too.

My supper

The beef

Searing

In the pot

After nine hours

Fat removed and beef added back

Pulled Pork Enchilladas

Feb 17 2015

After seeing several Lets Talk BBQ forum members make some great looking tacos the last few days I was hungry for some Mexican style food. I had some pulled pork thawed out that I had done in a peach sauce. I used some for my stuffed cornbread. What was left would work for tonight’s supper.

I bought some flour tortillas, Old El Paso enchilada sauce and some Rico’s Con Queso white cheddar. I heated up the pork and added a little of the enchilada sauce. I sautéed a sliced onion and some sliced red and green peppers.

I covered the bottom of a casserole dish with some enchilada sauce. I made up the enchiladas with some of the pork some of the onions and peppers and some shredded cheese. I made four and they went in the casserole dish; I poured some enchilada sauce over both ends and some of the white cheddar in the middle. I sprinkled some Cajun seasoning over all. It went into a 360 deg. preheated oven for 25 minutes. I then turned the broiler on to brown the cheese some. While I was watching the cheese the tortillas was getting almost burnt on the ends. When I saw that I got it out quick. It didn’t get bad enough to affect the taste though!

My wife had a side salad with hers; I had an avocado with a little lime juice, Penzey’s sandwich sprinkle and sour cream. Some sliced lettuce and fresh salsa. It was not as pretty as some of the other dishes I saw cooked in LTBBQ but tasted pretty good!

My supper

Heating the pork

Onions and peppers sauteing

Making an enchillada

Ready for the oven

Ready to serve

Pork Stuffed Cornbread and Mac N Cheese

Feb 15 2015

I have fixed cornbread many ways; adding bacon, cheese, peppers and onions to the batter in any combination. I got the idea for stuffing it with pulled pork from Regina Charboneau’s Mississippi Current cookbook. She used a square muffin pan and filled halfway with her cornbread mix, added a Tbs. of pulled pork and some chopped mustard greens then more batter and baked. It looked delicious.

I had found a muffin pan that had 8 oblong mini loaves to use.  I cheated some and used my favorite cornbread mix; Miracle Maize Sweet. I had some pulled pork I had done with peaches thawed out. I chopped it up some and added a little BBQ sauce. I didn’t add any greens to mine. I baked them at 350 deg. for 30 minutes.

For our sides I had peas and some baked Mac and cheese that was supposed to be a recipe from Sam and Daves BBQ in Marietta, GA. It had three cheeses and I used half and half instead of cream; and topped it with some Savor’s Savor All. I just made a half recipe that served four.

Our daughter in law and grandson came to eat with us. I made 4 of the cornbread loaves plain for her. We all thought it was all good. I thought the Mac and cheese could have had some more half and half added to be creamier. The cornbread and Mac and cheese were easy to fix together; they both baked at 350 deg. and was done in 30 minutes.

Click here for Mac N Cheese recipe

Some ingredients

Mac N Cheese ready to bake

Making up the cornbread

Cornbreads done

Mac N Cheese done

My supper

Beef Tenderloins, Baked Potatoes and Corn

Feb 10 2015

A couple of weeks ago the wife was supposed to by tenderloins at Sams Club and came home with eye of round steaks. She finally made it back there and bought the right ones. They usually come in a two pound package and 3 or 4 steaks. The pack she bought was two large ones and two small ones. I wish they would pack them the same size. These are full of flavor, tender and better than any you can get in a restaurant. They were $13.88 a pound.

I had baked potatoes and corn on the cob with the steaks. Corn on the cob is not in season here but I bought some in the store that looked pretty good. I steamed them in my rice cooker and they were pretty decent; not as good as fresh picked but good.

I seasoned the steaks with a little grey sea salt and they went on a rack, covered with plastic wrap and in the fridge for 2 hours before cooking. I heated a skillet on med. high and seared the steaks in a little olive oil 4 minutes and then turned for another 3 minutes then skillet and all went in the 350 deg. oven with the baked potatoes for 5 minutes. I let them set for 5 minutes before cutting into.

I had used this method and times before but should have known I usually was doing steaks 1 to 1 and ¼ inches thick. These were 1 ¾ inches thick. They were too rare for both the wife and I so a quick nuke in the microwave took care of that. If you can get your times down, a sear in a skillet and then in a 350 deg. oven is the best way I have found to cook steaks indoors.

It all was delicious! Even after nuking mine was a little rarer than I usually like but was tasty!

My Supper

Tenderloins

Salted and in the fridge for two hours

Browning

My plate and corn

Before nuking, a little rare

Last two bites! Good!

Pannekoeken by Pam

Feb 10 2015

I just finished eating some of Pam’s pannekoeken. Pam is a fellow member of Lets Talk BBQ. The wife and I loved it; it’s to die for good! Pam & I both saw it on DDD and she came up with the recipe.

I fried up some of Kah’s thick cut smoked bacon to have with it and made whipped cream. I made the whipped cream from a pint of heavy cream, a tsp. each of sugar and vanilla. Pam flipper hers out of the skillet but to save time and effort I just cut and served it from the skillet.

Click here to see more pics by Pam and her recipe.

Finished baking

My brunch

Jowl Bacon, Grits, Red Eye Gravy and Eggs

Feb 09 2015

I had saved 3 thick slices of the jowl bacon to fry for a breakfast. I can’t remember the last time I had red eye gravy. It’s usually made after frying ham but thought the jowl bacon would do. I made a small batch of stone ground grits, fried the bacon and made the red eye gravy. I had the eggs frying and made the gravy with some black coffee and a little coca cola.

This was my lunch today, and tasted great. I had saved one piece of the bacon for my wife but it disappeared while I was ridding up the dishes! She went to a movie and will never know!

I had planned to go get a slab of ribs to do tomorrow on my Traeger with the new SS v3 controller. I wanted to do a longer cook with it. It said sunny and 27 deg.; cold but I don’t need to stay out much. I took a second look and it said a chill factor of zero. I chickened out so looks like it will be next week before I get back out on my smoker; supposed to be cold all week.

The grits

Jowl bacon

Red Eye Gravy

My brunch

Smoked Sausage and Jowl Bacon 15 Bean Soup

Feb 08 2015

I was tired out yesterday after getting my smoker cleaned up and my new Savannah Stoker controller installed. I was glad though I went ahead and smoked the meat for my bean soup today. It made for a lazy day for me.

My wife did her usual today, went to church and then out to lunch with friends after. Today though several of the ladies went to a play this afternoon and then out to eat. Since my wife does not like beans it was a great time to make myself a pot of bean soup.

I like to use some of the Hurst 15 bean soup mix once in a while for some great soup. This time I used the recipe on the package, changing just a little. I like Rotel tomatoes and use Cajun seasoning instead of the chili powder. I diced up the jowl bacon and used some of the fattier pieces to brown up a little with the onions and garlic. I then added the rest of the bacon and the sliced smoked sausage, stirred to heat through then added water to deglaze the pan. I brought all to a boil then down to simmer for 2 hours.

While that was cooking I baked some cornbread. I used my favorite mix, Miracle Maize Sweet and baked it in my old Wapak skillet. I added some brown sugar topping for something different. I got the idea from a BBQ show. It was at a joint down south and all there was raving about the cornbread with the brown sugar. I thought southerners didn’t like sweet cornbread; maybe there was all Yankees eating there! Mine didn’t look as good as theirs did; I think they must have swirled it in with the batter some before baking. I didn’t remember them doing that but will try it the next time.

I had the cornbread done and after the beans had simmered two hours I added in the tomatoes, Cajun seasoning and lemon juice then cooked another half hour. I don’t usually add in the flavor packet but did this time and was good.

I had mine with some chopped onions and hot sauce over and a large piece of the cornbread with a little butter! The soup was great and I liked the brown sugar cornbread, it went good with the heat. I had a good Black Butte Porter to wash all down.

Click here for printable bean soup recipe

My supper

Ingredients

15 Bean mix

Some bacon, onions and garlic in

Rest of the meat is in

Some water in

Beans added to simmer 2 hours

For the cornbread

Ready for the oven

Done baking

All and ready to serve

NOLA Style BBQ Shrimp

Feb 06 2015

Most people when you say BBQ shrimp thinks of shrimp done on the outdoor grill. If you are from Louisiana you probably think of shrimp cooked or baked in a lot of butter, bacon grease and seasonings. I found this recipe years ago from the Frugal Gourmet. I love it done this way and has been a year or more since I have done them this way.

When we have this all we need with it is a good salad and some crusty bread to mop up the good butter.

Our salad tonight was some organic spring mix and baby spinach with a few pickled beets added.

I did the bacon, butter and seasonings in my lodge steel skillet then poured over the shrimp and baked in the oven. I placed the dish on the table so we could dip the bread in the good sauce. We were hungry as two Cajuns cause we ate all those shrimp!

Click here for printable shrimp recipe

My Plate

Ingredients

Shrimp

Bacon, garlic butter and seasonings in

Cajun seasoning added to the shrimp

Butter bacon sauce poured over

Baked, ready to serve

My salad