3 Ingredient Roast That Will Knock Your Socks Off

So would it help if I told you one of the ingredients is BACON.  Truthfully, what isn't better with a little bacon.

Yesterday I needed to throw together a dinner main course that would feed a crowd and not require me to spend an inordinate amount of time in the kitchen - for this I dragged out my trusty crock-pot.  I pulled out a roast from the freezer.  Would you think less of me if I told you that I didn't know what type of roast it was...it was a beef roast for sure, but I'm lousy with knowing what type of cut it was. However, I do know that it was big!!

Putting together this roast couldn't have been any simpler.  Here's the ingredient list (and I don't count salt& pepper, or olive oil, because those are pantry staples):

6 cloves of garlic
1 package bacon
1 Jar of Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Sauce (Fischer & Wieser)

That's it!

So I first, defrosted the roast (I had less then 10 hours to cook this and so I wasn't about to wait for the crockpot to defrost and cook the roast). Once the roast was defrosted enough, I sprinkled salt and pepper (liberal on the pepper) on both sides of the roast.

Next, I peeled 6 cloves of garlic, diced them up and then drizzled a bit of olive oil on them (less than a tsp.) and sprinkled course salt on top of garlic. Then using the flat side of my knife I mashed and smeared my garlic.  The goal is to make a kind of garlic paste.  It's totally cool if it's kind of chunky.  Once you're happy with the garlic paste, scrape it up and smear it on oneside of your roast.

I then put the roast in the crockpot, garlic side up.

Now the rest couldn't be any easier.  I opened a package of bacon and layered the bacon across the surface of the roast to cover the entire thing.  I had several extra pieces so I just stuffed them under the roast.

Finally, I opened a jar of Fischer & Wieser's Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Sauce and poured the whole thing over the bacon covered roast.  That's It!

I turned the crockpot on high and left it for about 6-7 hours.

I got home from church last night about 5:30 and there was only one tiny little piece left for my dinner, because everyone else (all 6 adults & 8 children) had devoured it.  I didn't eve get a chance to take a picture of the finished product.  But I'm happy to report, the last piece that I had was AWESOME!  The meat was perfectly tendered, and the bacon had just pretty much melted and flavored everything, and the sweetness from the sauce was a perfect compliment.  In fact we all agreed these ingredients would also be perfect on a pork roast....hmmmm, the possibilities.

And once again I've proved that everything tastes better with bacon.

Bolognese & Homemade Pasta

OK, so it's been FOREVER since I've posted. It's not that I haven't been cooking, it's just that I haven't been taking the time to record the experience. However, I decided to come back with a big splash... Pastor Ryan's Bolognese. I got this recipe from one of my favorite blogs -- Pioneer Woman. It is an AMAZING recipe and it makes a ton.

Tuesday night I made it and also made some homemade pasta to serve it over. The combination was killer. The freshness of homemade pasta is so refreshing and really supported the robustness of the Bolognese sauce. Friday, I recycled the leftover sauce into lasagna, yum.

Enjoy!

Ryan’s Bolognese

1 1/2 cups grated carrots
1 large red onion, diced
1/2 cup olive oil
2 pounds ground beef (I used 1 lb ground beef and 1 lb sausage - delicious)
2 tablespoons oregano flakes
2 tablespoons dried basil flakes
1 6-ounce can tomato paste
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 to 2 cups red wine (I don't drink wine so I used beef broth instead and it works great)
2 tablespoons Worcestershire
salt
pepper
2 28-ounce cans whole tomatoes
1 cup milk
Fresh Parmesan cheese

Heat oil in a large Dutch oven or skillet over medium heat. Add grated carrots and onions and cook for a few minutes. Make a well in the center of the mixture, then add in the ground beef. Cook for a few minutes until brown, gradually stirring it into the carrot mixture.

Throw in oregano and basil. Use fresh if you have it; if you don’t, it’s fine. When the meat is browned and combined with other ingredients, make another well. Add tomato paste and let it heat. Add garlic and stir to combine. Make a well in the center of the mixture and add red wine. Stir together. Add Worcestershire and stir. Add canned tomatoes.

Finally, pour in milk, stir, and let simmer for 30 minutes to 2 hours—however long you need.
Serve with pasta and a generous sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.

Sweet and Sour Beef -- it's a simple staple

Fry's had their lean hamburger on sale for $1.77 a lb, so of course I had to take advantage of the sale. And one of my favorite things to make with hamburger is the quick and simple dish of Sweet and Sour Beef. Most people have all the ingredients in their cabinet. Here's the recipe:

Sweet & Sour Beef
1 lb. ground beef
1 chopped medium onion
1/3 c. brown sugar
2 TBS. cornstarch
1/4 c. cider vinegar
3 TBS. soy sauce
1 can of pineapple tidbits - drained, and juice reserved
cooked rice

Brown and sautee beef and onions.
Combine sugar, cornstarch, cider vinegar, soy sauce. Add enough water to the reserved juice to make one cup and add the combination to the sugar mixture.


Pour over beef.
Heat to boiling, reduce heat. Stir in pineapple and heat thru.Cook stirring occasionally til thickened.

Serve over rice.(This is one of my favorite kitchen appliances...my rice cooker. Actually, I inherited it from my mother. She bought this when we were living in Hawaii, over 30 years ago, and it is still THE VERY BEST RICE COOKER around. She bought herself a new one and gave me this one, and I think she may be thinking twice about her decision, too bad!).



Deliciously simple.

Mac-n-Cheese-Sans-Yellow-Powder

I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do with the rest of the delicious Irish White Sharp Cheddar Cheese I had. I bought it from Costco and so of course I end up with a GIANT chunk of cheese. Sooooo, what to do with cheese....why, Macaroni-n-Cheese of course!!! So here's a delicious version of Mac-N-Cheese-sans-yellow-powder from Martha Stewart. I did a little adjustment to use up all my sharp Irish cheddar and it turned out FABULOUS. To keep from eating the entire casserole dish all by myself (very, very tempting), I'll take it over to my mom's for Sunday family dinner. You should give it a try for your own Sunday dinner.

Macaroni and Cheese
by Martha Stewart

1 lb elbow pasta, cooked and drained
4 TBS butter
1 medium onion, chopped fine
1/4 c. all-purpose flour
4 C. milk
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper (optional)
1 1/4 C. shredded yellow cheddar cheese
1 1/4 C. shredded white cheddar cheese
8 ouces ham, diced
2 slices white bread

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cook pasta, and drain -- set aside. Meanwhile, in a 5 qt heavy pot, melt butter of medium heat. Add onion, cook, stirring occasionally until softened, 3-5 minutes (I chopped the onions supper fine, because I know some little kiddies who turn up their noses at onions; however, they are needed for flavor. When I cut them so fine, they all but disappear in the cheese sauce, but still add the yum factor.) Whisk in flour to coat onion. In a slow steady stream, whisk in milk until there are no lumps.
2. Cook whisking often, until mixture is thick and bubbly and coats the back of a wooden spoon, approx. 6-8 min. Stir in cayenne, if using, and 1 C. of yellow cheddar and 1 C. white cheddar (I just added 2 cups of white). Season with 1 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper.3. Toss pasta with cheese mixture; fold in ham (I didn't add any but I think it would also be delicious with cooked broccoli florets). Transfer to 9"x13" baking dish. Set aside.4. In a food processor (I used my hand stick blender and I used a frozen whole wheat hamburger bun - cuz I just don't have any white bread) and pulse the 2 bread slices until fine bread crumbs form. Toss together with remaining 1/4 C. each of white and yellow cheddar, add 1/4 tsp. salt. Top pasta with breadcrumb mixture. Bake until top is golden, about 30 minutes.

A Nod to the Irish

I'm not even Irish but I love an excuse to cook with potatoes! Last year for St. Patrick's Day I was visiting my sister in ID. We had a little St. Patrick's Day celebration with the kids, made some decorations, and discovered the most delicious Irish Soda Bread Recipe. As it is that time of year again, I dug up the recipe and it's still FABULOUS.

My dinner tonight consisted of the FABULOUS Irish Soda Bread with a bowl of homemade potato soup, which turned out delicious too. Here are the recipe which you can use for your own Irish celebration.

Potato Soup
serves 4-6

5 peeled and diced golden potatoes
1/2 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, diced
1TBS olive oil
2 C. chicken broth
1/2 tsp dried herbs, your choice (I'd suggest herbes de provence or thyme)
2 tsp. salt (you may need more depending on your preference)
1 C. sour cream
1 tsp chopped fresh dill


Sautee chopped onions and garlic in olive oil. Add potatoes, allow them to brown/cook for about 3-4 minutes. Add chicken broth and then enough water to make sure that the potatoes are completely covered. Put the lid on and allow potatoes cook at a low boil for about 8-10 minutes (check them with a fork for doneness). Reduce the heat to low. Using an immersion blender CAREFULLY puree up the soup. Did I mention that you should be CAREFUL when you do this cuz its HOT!!!!
After it's blended to your desired consistency (I like lumps in mine), add the dry herbs and salt. Simmer for about another 5 minutes, stiring periodically. Just before serving stir in the sour cream and chopped dill.
I served mine with shredded white cheddar on top as a garnish.

Now along side my Irish Potato Soup I had 2 slices of the FABULOUS Irish Soda Bread. You'll definitely want to try this one out.

Irish Soda Bread
by: Arlene Costello/Agnes Walters -- allrecipes.com
Makes 2 loves

4 C. all-purpose flour
1 C. white sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3 eggs
1 pint sour cream
1 C. raisins

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease 2 loaf pans. Mix flour, sugar, soda, baking powder, and salt. Add the eggs, sour cream, and raisins and mix until just combined. Distribute batter evenly between the two pans. Bake loaves at 325 degrees for 50-60 minutes.Happy St. Patrick's Day!