Pot Roast Stew

In the rare chance that you or your family ever has left over Pot Roast, this makes for a great pick me up dinner mid week. What I recommend is that if you have Pot Roast as a Sunday dinner, you have this on a Wednesday or Thursday night the same week. 

And just a word to the wise - if you are planning on doing this in a house where the term 'left over pot roast' is almost comical because it is as rare as seeing a three legged duck, I recommend you reserve the amount of roast you'll need immediately after cooking it and never let it reach the table. Tuck it away in the fridge along with the reserved broth and other veggies (mainly onions and carrots). 

When I've planned this into the weeks menu, I buy a roast that is slightly larger and toss in the extra veggies during the initial cooking so this dish ends up being a quick mid-week wonder. 

Ingredients: 

1/2 lb leftover Pot Roast*

1 cup cooked carrots*

1 cup cooked pearl onions*

1 6oz package baby button mushrooms, washed and halved

4 cups beef broth*

1 teaspoon garlic powder, or 2 garlic cloves diced

1/4 cup flour 

3 Tablespoons Olive Oil or Butter 

*preferable reserved from the pot roast

Directions:

In a medium pot, heat olive oil over medium high. Add flour and stir quickly. Add broth slowly, stirring vigorously to combine throughly. Add mushrooms and garlic then bring to a boil - about 5 minutes. Reduce to a simmer for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, dice carrots and cube left over roast. After mushrooms start to soften up, add carrots, onions, and roast. Cook an additional 5 minutes until roast and veggies are hot. 

Serves 4-6

Pictured here over Garlic Mashed Potatoes (coming soon!)

Ratatouille: Slow cooker style

Guys! Guys!!! I made Ratatouille!!!!! Seriously - major accomplishment on my part. I now get to cross something off my bucket list.



After seeing Disney's movie "Ratatouille" in which it portrayed a lovable mouse helping a goofy kid live up to his potential, find love and acceptance...yada yada yada.... I  always wondered what this magical dish was all about. Why could some potentially soggy veggies turn a grouchy old man into a lovable hero who defends his arch nemesis? Here is what I found -  Ratatouille is a provincial french dish. As I understand it, it's a type of French comfort food. While the movie portrays this to some extent, I never fully understood why it was a comfort food until last night when I made this for dinner.

While I deviated from the more traditional recipes, what I came up with was delicious. It's one of those cooking magic tricks where the sum of the whole is greater than the individual ingredients. I never would have thought these vegetables plus some pasta sauce would equal anything edible, but I stand corrected.

So, my excitement in making this dish was two fold. One - I crossed off an item on my bucket list. And two - it turned out fantastic!! If you make it, please share your results in the comments, even if you think it's gross! I love feedback :)



Ingredients:
1 Sweet potato, peeled
1 yellow summer squash
1 green zucchini
1 Italian Eggplant
1/2 medium onion, diced

~1 teaspoon Herbs de Province
Olive Oil
Salt/Pepper

Tomato sauce (I used pasta sauce from a jar, feel free to use your favorite or make your own)

Directions:
Wash and slice all veggies (except the onion) into 1/4" rounds. Half the sweet potatoes rounds (yes, you'll have a bunch of half circles). Cover the bottom of your slow cooker with the diced onions, then layer in the veggies, alternating between each one until all are used. You can do a second layer if you'd like!

Cook on low 3-4 hours until veggies are tender. Serve over your favorite pasta sauce and sit down to watch Disney's Ratatouille. 

Layered veggies

Spread the sauce

Add the cooked veggies (I used a slotted spatula, fyi) for a finished product! 

Short Hand: In the slow cooker, layer sliced veggies on top of diced onions. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with herbs de province, salt, and pepper. Cook on low for 3-4 hours until veggies are tender. Serve over pasta sauce.

Savory Acorn Squash Soup

Enter the immersion blender. I received one as a wedding gift and have been oh-so-glad that I did. This little All-Clad beauty has been wonderful for me. I've been able to make salsa's, sauces, soups, puree's, and instand hot chocolate with it. You could use it for smoothies, milk shakes, etc, but I have a Magic Bullet for those.

Anyway.... I was grocery shopping this week browsing the produce section after I procured everything on my list and my eyes fell upon their squash cart. The acorn squashes seemed to fling themselves at me saying "Eat me! Eat me! Pick me!!!! I want to go home with you!" So I made my impulse by for the day (I allow myself one per shopping trip) and went on my merry way. Yes, I impulse bought a vegetable.

I thought about what I could do with it, and was vaguely dreaming of a gorgeously grilled or baked whole squash with sweet whipped cream and rich maple syrup.... THEN reality slapped me in the face and reminded me that I HATE the starchy, stringy, slightly gritty taste that squashes, gourds, or pumpkins can get when cooked, but not mashed or purred.  So, I quickly dismissed my notion of eating it whole and decided to turn it into a soup. My immersion blender plus the slow cooker made this super quick and fairly easy. I got home from work and was eating fresh, homemade soup less than 15 minutes later.

This soup is savory, rich, and very satisfying. It's thick and smooth, but is a great base if you wanted thin it down and add a slew of meats and veggies. It's also pretty easy, with basic ingredients. I like it in the summer because I cook my squash in the slow cooker rather than heat up my oven. This also allows me to purred it directly in the slow cooker and keep it warm if needed.

 For now though, I give you my most recent masterpiece: Savory Acorn Squash Soup



Ingredients:
1 acorn squash
1 cup chicken broth
2 cloves garlic

1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup cream
salt to taste

Optional:
Cheese
Parsley
Bacon

Directions:

Place chicken broth and garlic in slow cooker. Cut top off squash, deseed, and place in slow cooker. Cook on low for 4-5 hours or until all flesh is soft (test my inserting fork - there should be no resistance).

Remove squash onto place, scrape out all the flesh (THIS IS HOT!!! Use tongs, forks, spoons, whatever - but not your fingers!) and place it back in the slow cooker. Add milk and blend until totally smooth using soft up and down movements.

The dishes you see were the only ones I used. For me, this is an impressively limited amount of
 clean up - the slow cooker, plate, and a few utensils. It's really half the reason I love this soup. 

Add cream and salt, and mix just until blended (you don't want to whip it). Taste, salt as needed.

Serve with grated cheese, bacon bits, parsley, or pepper.

Shown with parsley, Jarlsberg, Cheddar, and Swiss Cheese

Serves 2-4 (Two for a main dish, 4 for sampler/starter sizes)

p.s. not all squashes are created equal. If you use a different squash/gourd, this will taste different. Feel free to swap out different squashes, or use a combination, but be warned!

Hearty Vegetable Beef Soup

This is one of my comfort foods. Dicing the veggies, searing the meat, and tasting the almost finished product are all highly therapeutic.  Once it's done,  I love to ladle up a large bowl, heat up some good bread, and eat it as fast as humanly possible. Feeling full after eating this is one of the most enjoyable things for me.


With a thousand possible variations on how to make this, you can use this as a base recipe and come up with your own classic combination. I've been eating this since I was 3, and making it since I was 14, and the following recipe is my favorite after years of tweaking, testing, and tasting.

The ingredient list may seem intimidating, but honestly, it's just a bunch of veggies in a pot, simmered in savory beef broth with a few seasonings. It's super easy!



Ingredients (used in this order):

2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 - 1 1/2 lbs stewing beef
1 large onion, diced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

5-7 stalks celery, diced
4-5 large carros, diced
4-5 potatoes (sweet or regular), diced - optional

1/2 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
OR
1/2 teaspoon Herbs de Provence (what I use)

2 cups corn (thawed if using frozen)
8 cups beef broth

1 can diced fire roasted tomatoes
3 stalks kale or swiss chard
1/8 cup Worcestershire sauce

Directions:

In large pot, heat olive oil on high - don't let it smoke! Add beef, onion, salt and pepper. Sear meat until brown, and onions are starting to become translucent around the edges.



Add vegetables and spices. Cook, stirring frequently, about 10 minutes.



Add corn and broth. Bring to a boil, and reduce from high (yes, everything to this point is still done on high, or medium high - don't burn it) to low and simmer, covered, for about 11/2 - 2 hours hours, stirring occasionally.



Add tomatoes and chard/kale, and Worcestershire sauce. Stir well, taste, and adjust if necessary.



Viloa - you're done. Serve and enjoy the fruits of your labor!







Notes: Because this calls for more ingredients than I typically feature in my recipes, here are a few tips about how to streamline making this.

Get all your ingredients and tools out at once.
Take a basket around your kitchen, fridge, pantry, etc if you must.

Make a 'graveyard'. Designate a bowl, old plastic bag (featured), or similar as the place where all trash goes while cooking. This saves you needless steps to the trash can or constant turning and missed shots while attempting to lob your trash halfway across your kitchen. Dirty/used dishes or tools can go here too - this saves unnecessary trips to the sink.

Chop your veggies first, set aside, then chop your meat and be done
with the chopping block. This will reduce clean up amount and time.

Eyeball how much spice to use, as it's not an exact science. Measure if you're not confident in your ability to gauge.




Short Hand: Sear 1-2lbs stewing beef with eevo, s/p. Add 'hard' veggies and spices, saute 10 mins. Add broth and corn. Simmer 1-2 hours. Add 'soft' veggies. Cook 10 mins. Serve hot, fall in love.