crock pot pot roast.

It's officially fall and that's the beginning of my cooking season! By now you must have realized I have a slight obsession with my crock pot. Tonight I made a pot roast, complete with all the veggies and homemade gravy. I prepped it all the night before and put it in the fridge overnight; this morning I set it to low and left it for the day.  I was a little nervous about it, but it was actually really good and basically effortless. One great thing about this meal is that it has a lot of root vegetables which are coming in to season.

Pot Roast (serves 4-5)
3-3 1/2 lb lean roast, trimmed (I used top round roast)
1/3 cup flour plus 3 tbsp flour, divided
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 tsp olive oil
4 carrots
3 potatoes
3 small turnip
2 small yellow onions
2-3 celery stalks
1/2 cup mushroom gravy
1/4 cup water

You may want to prep everything the night before as this is a 10 hour cooking process.  First start by giving all of the veggies a coarse chop. Peel the carrots and cut them into thirds, peel the potatoes, onions, and turnips and quarter them, slice the celery into thirds and add them to the crock pot.

In a skillet, heat the oil. Add 1/3 cup flour, salt and pepper to a plate. Pat the meat dry and roll in the flour to cover it, shake off the excess. Add it to the skillet just to brown it. This will help seal in the flavors of the beef.

1) flour it

2) brown it

Once browned, add it to the crock pot on top of the veggies. Add the 1/4 cup water to the empty skillet to transfer the drippings and excess flour to the crock pot.

Top the beef with 1/2 cup mushroom gravy. This will prevent it from drying out over the long cooking process. If you are prepping the night before, this is the stopping point. You can place the lid on the crock pot and stick it in the fridge until you're ready. When you're ready, turn the crock pot on low heat and cook for 10 hours.  Set the crock pot to high for the last hour to ensure that all the veggies cook through.

When it's ready, you can remove the meat and veggies from the pot. You can make gravy with the drippings and juice from the vegetables.  Transfer the liquid into a small pot and set on medium heat. There was barely any visible fat in the juice because the cut of meat was very lean. If you do see a lot of fat in the juices, you can ladle it out before you start your gravy to keep it healthy. While stirring constantly with a whisk, add flour 1 tbsp at a time.  It will thicken up into a brown gravy-- I thought this was a necessary addition as the meat was a little on the dry side by itself. I was pleasantly surprised by how this one turned out. I hope you enjoy it too!

crock pot porridge.

I know what you're thinking, the weather has finally changed and it's time to clear up some real estate on your counter where your crock pot once sat. But before it gets too hot and humid, you really need to try this recipe. At the very least save it and dust it off in the Fall.  
I should preface this post with a little back story on why I am making porridge of all things.
I got a call from my sister in February asking if I could bring porridge to my niece's first birthday brunch in May (she's a planner!). Well sure, in February porridge sounds like a great addition to any brunch menu, but alas here we are in May and porridge she shall get! I don't know what "real porridge" is actually made of-- I just think of the bowl of mush from Goodnight Moon. But I did understand exactly what my sister was asking for.  There is a deliciously adorable restaurant in my hometown of Gloucester, MA called Sugar Magnolia's that makes there own porridge (read: fancy oatmeal).  It's loaded with all sorts of goodies like nuts, dried fruit, apples, coconut etc... She wanted me to recreate it and I was up for the challenge. Rather than old fashioned oats, I used steel cut oats which have a more hearty texture so I assumed they'd hold up better for hours in a slow cooker.  This is a super simple recipe, just add everything into the crock pot at once, set on low and cook for several hours (6-8 at least)-- it'd be a good idea to do it right before bed and breakfast will be ready for you when you wake up. 


Crock Pot Porridge (serves a LOT)
3 cups dry steel cut oats
12 cups water
2 granny smith apples
1 cup pecans
1 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup raisins
2 cinnamon sticks 
1/2 cup brown sugar
ground cinnamon, a generous sprinkle


Start by adding the water and oats to the crock pot. Then chop the apples-- you want them to be spoon size, but not so small that they'll breakdown into nothing in the crock pot. I peeled them but did leave some skin here and there, to each their own.  Add it to the slow cooker. 

Next measure out a cup of whole or halved pecans and then give them a coarse chop. I just put them in a plastic bag and stepped on them.  Walnuts would also be a good choice. Add those to the crock pot too.

Then add the remaining ingredients. Get creative with what you put into it, dates, figs, coconut would all be good! Cover and cook on low heat for about 8 hours. Make sure you remove the cinnamon sticks before serving, and if you don't want to make enough to feed the Duggers, cut the recipe into 3rds for a more manageable batch. I hope you like it! 

Pumpkin baked beef stew

It's that time of year when pumpkin starts invading any and all other foods, even in the most unsuspecting places, pumpkin bread, pies, muffins, lattes, pasta, ice cream, beer, where does the madness end...? Well if I had it my way, it never would.  Everything is better with a little pumpkin! 
Well now I think I've jumped off the pumpkin deep end.  This innovative squash recipe comes from a family friend who's entire family looks forward to the fall season because it means one thing: Pumpkin baked beef stew... you heard that correctly, it's beef stew, IN A PUMPKIN!  It's like the modern day peanut butter and jelly, a culinary match made in heaven!! Now it's time for you to hop on the pumpkin bandwagon.  Although somewhat labor intensive, it's quite simple in terms of culinary talent-- and it makes for a great presentation!  This was my first go around at beef stew and with some coaching from my mom, I think it came out great.  I definitely would not hesitate to make this recipe again real soon.  Loaded with seasonal veggies and very hearty, this filling recipe can feed an army at a very reasonable price. 

Pumpkin baked Beef Stew (serves...a TLC sized family)
1 medium-large pumpkin (make sure you can fit it in your oven and you can lift it)
2 tbsp margarine
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp olive oil
1 lb stewing beef
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1 bag carrots 
5 medium potatoes 
1/2 large or 1 small turnip 
1 large yellow onion
1-2 cups green beans
5 beef bouillon cubes
1/2 tsp cinnamon (use a cinnamon stick or two if you have them around)
water


You can either make this a two day event, or it you have a whole day to spend in the kitchen, you can knock it out in one fell swoop.  Use any veggies you like, I stuck with the classics.  Start by prepping all your veggies, rinsing, peeling and chopping.  You don't want to cut them too small because they'll cook down.  Chop the turnip and potatoes in equal size pieces, slice the carrots, cut the green beans about 1 inch thick, and chop the onions.  Set aside.

First, flour the beef.  Add the flour to a shallow dish or plate.  Drop each piece of meat into the flour, shaking off any excess.  The flour will coat the meat when you brown it, and will help add a little bit of thickness to the broth.

Now that all the meat is floured, heat the 2 tbsp oil in a large pot on medium heat. Make sure you have an ample pot to cook with, I unfortunately made the mistake of using a pot too small and had to transfer to the crock pot midway through, avoid this extra step!  Once the oil is hot, add the meat.  You don't want to cook it all the way through, just brown it up, flipping it after a few minutes. 

 Once the meat starts to brown, turn the temp down a little and add the onion, stirring frequently.  I add the onions first to maximize the flavor.

 Now add the vegetables in order of hardness, turnip, carrots, green beans, and lastly the potatoes.  You want to add the potatoes last because the starch will break down if they're overcooked.  Mix the vegetables as you add them, and next add the water. Fill it as high as the veggies & meat in the pot.  

 Once the broth is hot, add the bouillon cubes... depending on how much water you add will determine how many you need.  Add three to start, stir and taste then go from there.  Next add the cinnamon.  Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until the hardest vegetables are tender (1-2 hours).  Now you can either call it Christmas and store the beef stew in the fridge for a night, or power through and continue the recipe (but this is a great stopping point).

Start buy cutting the top off your pumpkin and clean out the insides, use a sturdy soon to get out as much of the stringy inside as you can.  Save the seeds to make pumpkin seeds to snack on later (spray a pan, sprinkle with salt bake on 400 degrees til brown, flippin' em half way through)!  

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, make sure you move the rack to the lowest possible position and take any extra racks out that might get in the way.  Next add equal parts margarine and brown sugar to a small pan to melt.  then add the mix to the pumpkin-- pick the pumpkin up and whirl it around to coat the sides evenly. 

Place the pumpkin in a baking dish or on a strong baking sheet, something that will make it easier to handle a very hot and very heavy pumpkin (not an easy feat).  Add the HOT stew to the pumpkin.  If you refrigerated the stew overnight, heat it up first, then add it to the pumpkin before you bake it to make sure everything is heated evenly throughout.  The safest/easiest way to do this is by spooning all of the solid stew then pouring in the liquid.  Bake it in the oven for 45 minutes to an hour.  

Another option to this recipe is to buy smaller personal pumpkins, especially if you are having a dinner party.  Each guest will be able to enjoy there own special bowl, and what a nutritious alternative to the carb-heavy bread bowl!! This is definitely a MUST-TRY recipe, enjoy :)