Corned Beef & Veggies

Corned Beef is super easy in the crock pot.

Ingredients:
2 lbs of corned beef brisket  - I got mine from the Handy Mart in Burbank
1 lbs of small potatoes cut into wedges
2 large onions cut into wedges
4-6 carrots cut into fork size chunks
1 small head of cabbage cut into wedges
1 can beer of your choice

Spray your crock with non stick spray or rub down with a little veggie oil.  Place about 1/2 the potatoes and onions on the bottom.  Trim any excess fat off the brisket and then place it on top of the veggies.  Pack in the rest of the potatoes, onions and carrots around the sides of the brisket.  Pour the beer over the brisket.  Place the cabbage on top of the brisket.   Cook on low for 8-10 hours.

I do not season the veggies because the corned beef already has a lot salt in it.  The broth made from the fat of the brisket & beer will season the veggies fairly well.  I did add some fresh cracked pepper to the potatoes when serving.

Any left over brisket makes great hash the next day.

Turkey & Barley Soup

Sunday evening I was surveying my kitchen and realized that I had a lot of bits and pieces left over, but not really enough for a whole meal.  After going through the pantry I realized that I could cobble together a soup in my crock-pot.

Ingredients: 
1 cup chopped turkey chunks
1 small onion chopped (you can use celery instead or a mix of both if you prefer)
1 cup sliced carrots (I used some leftover baby carrots)
1 can chicken stock
leftover turkey broth from Thanksgiving (I had about 1/2 cup of pan drippings)
2/3 cup of barley (feel free to use rice or some chopped up potato pieces
3 cups of water
Spices: liberal amount of black pepper, 1 teaspoon of savory, a dash of red chile flakes, 1 teaspoon of garlic powder and a few shakes of salt.

I tossed this all in the crock-pot and let it cook on low while I was at work.  The smell when I got home this evening was amazing and it tasted even better.

You could add a can of chopped tomatoes to this for an even heartier soup.

Tomato Meat Sauce in a Crock Pot

Ingredients:  Beef Short Ribs, (1) 28 ounce crushed tomatoes, 1 can tomato paste, a couple of fresh tomatoes, red wine, beef stock, 1 onion, garlic, salt & pepper, olive oil and spice blend.

Spice Blend: savory, oregano, garlic granules, onion granules, bay leaves, rosemary, salt & pepper.

In a large slow cooker crock place about  tablespoons of olive oil.  Then add in your Beef Short Ribs.  I used about 1 lbs of boneless short ribs.  If you are using bone in use about 2 lbs.  Season the ribs with salt & pepper.  Pour on top about 1 cup of beef stock and 1/2 cup of red wine. Add in about 1/2 of a finely chopped onion and several cloves of crushed garlic.  Cook on high for about 4-5 hours.

Once the meat is tender shred it and discard bones if necessary.  Pull out any super fatty pieces as well.  Add in the crushed tomatoes & tomato paste.  Peel and chop the fresh tomatoes and toss those in too.  Sprinkle spice blend over top.  Adjust the spices to your taste.  Simmer on low for another 2.5 hours.

 






Taste and adjust seasonings at this point.  If it's a little too thick add in a bit more beef stock.

Serve over Gnocchi.

Braised Beef Short Ribs

Ingredients: 8 beef short ribs, 2 large carrots, 1 large onion, 6 cloves of garlic, 1 can diced tomatoes, 1 cup beef stock, 1 can tomato sauce, oregano, onion granules, sun dried tomato flakes, red chile powder, salt & pepper.

Season each beef rib generously with salt & pepper. Then in a large sauce pan sear the beef ribs meat side down in about 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat.  Transfer ribs to a plate.

In the same sauce pan add in diced carrot, onion and garlic.  Cook until onion becomes translucent.  Do not burn the garlic.  De-glaze the pan with a little red wine or stock.

In a large slow cooker combine the seasonings, diced tomatoes, beef stock, tomato sauce and the veggies.  Stir to combine.  Add in all the short ribs.

Cook on low for 8 hours.  Serve the short ribs over buttered egg noodles with some roasted veggies on the side.  

Roasted Broccoli: Preheat Oven to 425.  Lay out broccoli in an even layer on a baking sheet.  Drizzle with olive oil and season liberally with salt, pepper and any other seasoning of your choice.   Roasted broccoli is also great with the addition of a little lemon zest and chile flakes.

Beef Brisket in the Crock Pot

How to make man food:  Buy a big piece of Brisket and put it in the crock pot!

 Cut up 1 lb of baby potatoes, 1 lbs of carrots, 1 lb of onions and season with salt and pepper.  Put in the bottom of your slow cooker.  Crush up a couple cloves of garlic and toss those in too.

Take your nice big Brisket and rub it down with garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, salt & pepper.   Lay the Brisket over the veggies and pour over the top 1/2 a beer and couple of splashes of Worcestershire sauce.

Cook on low for 8 hours and the meat will be falling apart.

Asian Inspired Crock Pot Pork

I generally am not a fan of Asian food, but Mr. Man is and I thought I'd give it a go.  Pork shoulder was on sale at the market on Saturday which cooks up beautifully in a crock pot.

Asian Inspired Pork Shoulder
Ingredients:
One pork shoulder roast cut into 1 inch cubes
4 tablespoons Soy Sauce, 1 tablespoon Mirin, 1 tablespoon brown sugar, juice of 1 tangerine or 1/2 an orange, 1 spoonful of apricot jam, salt, pepper, 1 teaspoons chile powder, 1 teaspoon garlic granules, 1 teaspoon of onion granules and 1 teaspoon hot paprika

Mix the cubed pork shoulder with all other ingredients and place in a greased slow cooker crock.  Cook on low for 8-10 hrs.

Once the pork was done I put about 1 cup of the broth from the crock pot into a sauce pan and reduced to about 1/3 of it's volume.

Veggies:  Cauliflower, Broccoli, and Red Bell Pepper sauteed in a little vegetable oil  seasoned with diced garlic, red pepper flakes, salt & pepper.

I served the pork cubes over rice with the veggies on the side and then drizzled the reduced sauce over everything.