Crock Pot Beef Dip Sandwiches

The first time I made this was for my son's birthday party at the beginning of August. My entire family loves my Mom's beef dip sandwiches, so I decided to put my own spin on them and create my own recipe. They turned out really good. I used a Crock Pot for this to cut down on my kitchen time on party day, but it could be simmered or baked for a few hours if you don't have a crock pot, or don't feel like using one. My Crock Pot was tied up that day making baked potatoes, so I borrowed my Mom's. Her's is one of those newer ones where the crock can be used on the stove top. I LOVE it! I did everything in one pan, it was so easy. If mine weren't also brand new, I'd go get myself one just like hers.



INGREDIENTS:

3 lb Chuck Roast
1 TBS Olive Oil
1 Sweet Onion, diced
4 Cloves of Garlic, chopped
1 TBS Dried Rosemary
1 TBS Worcestershire Sauce
1 cup Beef Broth
1 cup dry Red Wine
Salt and Pepper

Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet, dutch oven, or your fancy stovetop-safe crock. Season beef roast with salt and plenty of pepper. Sear roast on both sides, about 4 minutes per side. Try to let it develop a nice crust. Add everything to your crock pot and set it on low for 8 hours.
Serve on buttered, toasted hoagie rolls with the juices for dipping. Enjoy.

This recipe was linked up at the Weekend Potluck hosted by The Country Cook. Check it out for more recipes and inspiration!

Crock Pot: Porcupine Meatballs

This super-simple, but fabulous recipe came from the mother of a friend of my Mom's. My Mom first had it at their house nearly 40 years ago; but the lady has been making it for longer than that. Her children made it for their kids growing up; and I know a few of her grandchildren make it for their kids. My Mom made this every few months and it was one of the few recipes every one of us loved. (My sisters can be picky eaters). It is so simple; it's really a last minute "throw together" type of meal. I think it was usually made on nights when we all had soccer practice or other things going on. My Mom usually made double this amount for the 6 of us to make sure there was enough for whoever we might bring home with us or leftovers.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef (or turkey)
1 cup instant rice (instant brown rice works too)
1 tsp black pepper
a few dashes of salt
Condensed tomato soup - 3 of the regular sized cans, undiluted.

Combine the meat, rice, and spices; roll into golf ball sized meat balls. I get a dozen meatballs per pound of meat. Place in crock pot, pour undiluted tomato soup over them. Cook on HIGH for 4 hours or LOW for 8 hours. If you're home, gently stir them every so often.

Serve with a vegetable, my 1 Hour Dinner Rolls, and a side salad and you've got a delicious plate of comfort food.

Italian Pork Roast & Uses for Leftovers

I love using an economical cut of meat to make something spectacular. This recipe is a great way to prepare an expensive pork roast, with a little twist on the traditional. It is great sliced and served with veggies and mashed potatoes, in a sandwich, and so many other ways. I'm going to show you how I prepared it, and the various ways I served it.

One of our local grocers had boston butt on sale for .99/lb, so of course I had to get some. Boston butt is usually sold in 3-5 lb packages. I sent my hubbie to buy two. He called me very perplexed and asked where I planned to store so much meat. "Uh, in the freezeer" I replied. "I'll bring you one, if you still want more, I'll pick another one up tomorrow". I said "OK"; but I was a little confused, until he got home five minutes later. These suckers were being soldin 20 lb packages. It was huge, two would NOT have fit in my freezer, I wasn't even sure about one. Luckily, Hubbie was able to cut it into four 5lb roasts and pack them in the fridge.

 Ingredients:

Boston Butt (pork shoulder) - 3-5 lbs
Garlic - 2 cloves
Fennel Seed - 1 TBS
Salt - 1 TBS
Dried Rosemary - 3/4 TBS
Pepper - 1 tsp
Ground Cloves - 1pinch

Grate garlic with a microplane, addthe remaining herbs and spices and mix together. Place the meat in a roasting pan, fat side up. Score the top in a criss cross pattern. I go through the fat and maybe 1/4 inch into the meat. Rub the spice mixture into the meat, pushing it into the score marks as you go. Cover with foil or plastic wrap and let it sit for at least a few hours. I seasoned mine about 11:30 Monday night and let it hang out until 7:00 Wednesday morning. Then I put it in the Crock Pot on HIGH for four hours, then switched it to low for about four hours.

These are some sandwiches I have made from the leftovers this week:

 

Pork roast, onions that were cooked with it, romaine pepperoncinis, and mozzarella on a focaccia roll, drizzled with oil & vinegar.

 

 

Pork roast, grilled zucchini, grilled onions, grilled bell peppers, spicy bread and butter pickles, pepperoncinis, mozzarella, and feta on a focaccia roll, spread with Dijon mustard. I made this into a panini since I already had the panini maker out to grill the veggies on.

 

We also made Pulled Pork Sandwiches, BBQ Pork Pizza, and sliced pork roast with gravy made from the juices.

 

So, next time you see Boston Butt or Pork Shoulder roasts on sale, pick one up. It's an economical cut of meat that can be made into several delicious meals. For more inspiration, check out my Boston Butt post.

Beef Tips and Gravy

This is a very simple, easy slow cooker meal.  I love how a slow cooker can make magic of a few simple ingredients. You can easily double or triple the recipe depending on the size of your crock.

1 lb beef stew meat (i bought a pre-made package that was 1.25 lbs, so no need to be exact)
1 12 oz. jar Beef Gravy
1/2 onion, chopped

Place all ingredients in slow cooker, gently mix together to break up the beef. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 (if cooking on low, I usually set it to high for the first 30 mins to an hour then turn it down) . If you want, you could brown the meat in a skillet first, but you really don't have to. Serve over hot rice or egg noodles. Sometimes I add a package of sliced mushrooms with the rest of the ingredients.