Crockpot BBQ Brisket

Crockpot BBQ Brisket 4-6 servings

3-4lb. beef brisket, extra fat removed
1c. apple cider
1c. BBQ sauce ( I used Cattlemans)
I med. onion, chopped
4-5 cloves garlic, chopped
3 bay leaves
1 tsp. celery seed powder
1 tsp. Bacon salt
1 tsp. fresh ground pepper

After trimming excess fat from brisket put in crockpot. (you want any big pieces of fat removed, it gets greasy otherwise). Turn crockpot up to High.

Combine cider, BBQ sauce, celery seed powder, bacon, and pepper. Pour over meat in crockpot. 

 Top with chopped onions, garlic and bay leaves. Stir then cover pot and cook on High for 4 hrs. Check to see if its getting tender. If it is, lower heat to Low for 2-3 more hrs. It should be fork tender and almost falling apart.

If there's too much juice in the pot, when you lower the heat , take the lid and put in on sideways to let some steam escape for about an hr. to thicken the juices.

Remove meat to serve, slice. Top with BBQ gravy in pot. 

I served this with baked potatoes topped with sour cream and Peas cooked in butter with mushrooms and garlic.

The perfect ending to a perfect day

Ever just have one of those perfect days? You know what I mean......you go about your day with general plans but things go so well and make you so happy that when the day is over your just smiling ear to ear. Thats how my day was today.

Started slow, its Sunday after all. Sipping my coffee and thinking about what to do today. My bf decided he was going surfing. It was a pretty day outside. Silly to stay home so I decided to go to the beach. I took my dog with me too. First time shes ever been on a beach. I live close enough now that I can go anytime I want. So after he left, I changed into clam digger pants so longer ones wouldnt get wet and my sandals. Of course it gets windy there and cool so I made sure to wear a sweater and jacket.

Me and the dog wandered down the beach and had a blast. When we got home she was all bouncy and smiling big time. Yea dogs really do smile. And so I changed and took off my sandy shoes. It was warm in the house, not only cuz of the day but because before I left, I started this recipe in my crockpot.

I watched the Olympic hockey game while it was cooking, having something nice to drink. Sadly USA lost but what bothered me most was that they looked so sad and defeated. Hey guys you still got silver~~! Way to go!!! Hold your heads up, you did good.....after all it was the last game and it went to OT! And then my bf came home. So as the roast cooked,  I cut up some potatoes to make my Oven roasted garlic potatoes and I cut up fresh broccoli to make broccoli and cheese. I also baked a pumpkin cake with cream cheese filling.

I'm stuffed now......dinner was beyond awesome and I dont know if we will have room for dessert now. But I wanted to share this recipe, its worth making it.

Slow Cooked Pot Roast with Mustard and Horseradish Gravy
2 carrots, peeled and cut in half width-wise
1 med. yellow onion, peeled, root trimmed but left intact, sliced into 4 wedges
3 cloves garlic, smashed
3 sprigs fresh thyme (I used 1tsp. dried)
1 large bay leaf
3  allspice berries
1 cup homemade or low-salt canned chicken broth
1 cup dry white wine (I used Chardonnay)
2 Tbs. tomato paste (I used a can of diced tomatoes, drained)
1 boneless beef chuck roast (2-1/2 to 3 lb.)
2 Tbs. olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp. prepared horseradish
1tsp. grainy prepared mustard
2 Tbs. sour cream
1 tsp. all-purpose flour

Put the carrots, onion, garlic, thyme, bay leaf, and allspice in the bottom of a slow cooker crock. In a measuring cup or bowl, whisk together the broth, wine, and tomato paste to blend.

Set a large heavy-based skillet over medium high heat. Pat the roast dry with paper towels, rub both sides with the olive oil, and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Sear the roast in the skillet until a dark crust forms on one side, 3 to 5 minutes. Turn and sear the other side, 3 to 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and put the roast on top of the vegetables in the crock. Add the broth mixture to the skillet, bring to a simmer, and scrape the pan bottom to loosen any browned bits. Pour the liquid over the roast and cover the crock; don't stir. Turn the slow cooker to low heat; cook gently without lifting the lid until the roast is fall-apart tender, 8 to 10 hours. (I put mine on high for about 7hrs.)

Transfer the roast to a cutting board and tent with foil to keep warm.

Strain the contents of the crock through a sieve set over a medium saucepan. Discard the solids. Skim the fat from the top of the strained liquid (or use a fat separator).

Bring to a boil and then simmer rapidly until reduced by half, about 10 minutes.

Whisk in the horseradish, and mustard. In a small bowl, mix the flour into the sour cream, stir in a few tablespoons of the sauce, and then pour the sour cream mixture into the sauce, whisking vigorously to blend. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes to blend the flavors. Meanwhile, slice the roast thinly. Serve with the gravy.

I reduced the liquid to half but next time Ill reduce it more. The 1tsp. flour isn't enough when you use the canned tomatoes. And so I would add 1tb. next time. But I will say this.........the gravy is awesome and enhanced the beef perfectly.  Didn't matter if it was too juicy this time. Serves 4.

Seas Italian Beef Surprise (surprised because it came out awesome)

I had a piece of chuck roast that I bought the other day. I had thought I would make a pot roast of some kind in my crockpot. I just didn't feel like cooking alot. I wandered online and all I saw were those crummy recipes that add onion soup mix and the like. I really didn't want that. I wanted alot more.

Then I remembered some Italian beef roast I had long ago and it was delicious. So I wandered online looking for something like that. This is what I ended up with. I will say I only used the pizza sauce and the au jus because I didn't have what I really wanted, in the house. I had preferred to use some canned tomatoes and beef broth. Honestly tho the extra flavors in the pizza sauce made this special. If I decide to do this without that sauce next time, Ill just use tomato paste and toss in some oregano. I told my bf, be prepared, this is gonna either be really good or really bad lol.

I did want to put this over buttered noodles but didn't have that in the house either. I thought polenta would be yummy but I got lazy. In the end the pasta I decided to make actually was the perfect thing. This makes an incredibly rich and luscious sauce. My bf all nite was raving about this. He really, really enjoyed it. And I think the sauce over that pasta was a great combo......the sour cream and cheese helped thicken the sauce on the plate and that lil added flavor from the pasta put it over the top. This is definitely a good experiment and Ill be making it again sometime.

Seas Italian Beef Surprise ( serves 3-4)
1 (2-3 lb. boneless chuck roast)
Olive oil
4 carrots, peeled and halved lengthwise, cut into 2in. pieces
1 lg. red Italian onion, peeled, halved and cut into chunks
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 can of Pizza sauce (I used Contadina)
1 pkg. of Au Jus gravy mix or 1 can of beef broth
1/2 bottle of a good red wine (I used a Coppola Rosso red)
4 lg. baby portabello mushrooms sliced, then lightly chopped
1 tsp. rosemary, crumbled
1 c. frozen peas
8 oz. of pasta of your choice (I used penne)
1 c. sour cream ( I used fat free)
Parmesan cheese, grated, to taste

I cooked this in a crock pot.

In a skillet drizzle a bit of olive oil and turn heat to high. When oil is hot put roast that has been sprinkled with S & P in. Brown on both sides till nice and caramelized. If heat is too high, lower a bit, you don't want it to burn but its necessary to start it going.

In the meantime do the carrots and add to crockpot. Then do mushrooms and add also. When meat is browned nicely put in crockpot on top of veggies.

Meanwhile toss the onion in and saute a bit in the leftover oil and beef juices. This will help use up the yummy browned bits and caramelize the onions a bit too. When almost done, add garlic and saute till soft. Do not burn garlic, it will make it bitter. Then add to the crock pot.

Pour red wine over all. Add pizza sauce, au jus and rosemary. Cover and make sure crockpot is turned up to high. Cook for about 6 hrs or till beef is tender and almost falling apart. When beef is at that point, add the frozen peas and cook till they are cooked thru. At this point I put the lid on crooked so the steam can escape and the juices can concentrate. I left it like this about 1 more hr.

As the peas were cooking, I cooked the pasta, then tossed with the sour cream and Parmesan cheese. Serve the beef and its luscious juices over all.

Sea's Osso Buco

I went shopping yesterday and came across a good buy. They had veal shanks, half price. I don't buy veal much altho I love it. Its quite expensive. But 5 nice veal shank slices ended up costing me about $10. Not bad. So since I haven't made Osso Buco in a long time and spotted those, I decided that would be dinner tonight. Let me say also that I judge a good Italian restaurant by if this dish is on the menu. I say that because while its not complicated, it does take time. If they take the time to do this, they usually take the care needed with the rest of their menu.

The weather is typical Spring,,,cloudy, sunny, windy and looking on and off like rain. The house was cold this morning so I thought this would be great to warm it up and us. I decided to make this in the crockpot tho, this time. So here's my version culled from reading many online.

Sea's Osso Buco serves 4-6

4-6 veal shanks about 3/4 in. thick
flour seasoned with S & freshly ground P
Olive oil ( I only use extra virgin)
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 lg. onion, chopped medium to fine
1 lg. carrot chopped fine
1 lg. celery stalk chopped fine
1 c. white wine ( I use white mostly cuz reds give me a headache)
2c. beef broth ( you could use chicken too, I use what I have)
1 can petite diced tomatoes ( you can add fresh if you have them, perhaps 4, seeded and diced well.)
1 bay leaf
1 pinch of dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp. dried rosemary

Gremolata (traditional topping)
1 garlic clove, minced fine
zest of 1 lemon, chopped
Italian parsley, chopped (eyeball it, you don't want it to overwhelm the other stuff)

First rinse and dry the veal shanks. The flour mixture wont stick as well if wet. Tie up the shanks so when cooking they don't fall apart as the picture shows.

Mix flour with salt and fresh ground pepper. Dredge each shank in the seasoned flour, coating well.

Drizzle some olive oil in a pan and let it get hot. Brown well, all the veal shanks on both sides and the edges. This is important, the brown caramel on it adds tons of flavor. Remove from pan. Do not clean pan, add veggies and scrape any browned bits off while cooking the rest.

Toss the onion in a bit more olive oil if you need it and saute. When getting limp, add the garlic, carrots and celery. This is your mirepoix (Mirepoix is the French name for a combination of onions, carrots, and celery and is the basis of many dishes.)

Saute for about 5min. then add the wine. Raise heat to high and reduce wine to about half or even a bit less. You want to concentrate the flavor. Once reduced, add beef broth and tomatoes and heat till bubbly. Then add bay leaf, thyme, rosemary and basil. Simmer 5min. more.

Put browned veal shanks in bottom of crockpot. Pour veggie sauce over all. Make sure the shanks are either covered or the liquid goes up the side about half way. If not enough, add some water. Cover and cook on high in the crockpot for about 3hrs. or till meat is fork tender.

Gremolata: Zest lemon, peel garlic clove and take a the leaves off a handful of Italian parsley. Chop very finely, together. When serving sprinkle a bit on each serving. Its worth it. It adds a fresh level of flavor to it. Don't forget the marrow in the bones too.....scoop it out and eat it or mix it in the sauce on your place. Its heavenly! Serve with the Rice and Peas.

Rice and Peas

1c. rice
2c. water
1 tsp. salt
1/2 c. frozen peas
2 tb. butter
1/4 c. + parmesan cheese

Mix rice, peas, water and salt and cook over high heat till boiling then lower heat. Cover. When water in pot is almost gone and you can see little holes where its been bubbling, shut the heat off and let stand for 15min. This will help absorb the rest of the water and not overcook the rice so its nice and fluffy. Add butter and cheese and stir well, making sure all of butter is melted. Serve with Osso Buco.