Monday, January 10, 2011

Pot Roast in the Slow Cooker

Family Friendly Meals Series—Day 11

This one is a no brainer. It's both easy-peasy to cook, and the reason I have no photos is that my family ate it all so quickly that it's all gone. No lie!

Put a pot roast in your slow cooker with the beer from a bottle of Long Trail IPA. Turn it on low and walk away. Let it cook for the 8-9 hours you are at work. When you get home, throw a pound of wide egg noodles on the stove top, and toss together a salad. The pot roast shreds easily (I hand removed the fatty parts of the meat so my kids weren't grossed out) and I served it over the noodles with a little bit of the juice from the crock pot. It will definitely need salt; you can add it while it is cooking or season to taste based on the dietary needs of your family.

Enjoy!

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Today's Experiment

I wanted something comforting for lunch, but I also wanted something healthy. After having gone to Park Central in Hamden for dinner last week, where I had butternut squash soup, I have been wanting to make my own. Well, today was the day.

Ingredients
2.5-3 lbs butternut squash, diced
2 red potatoes, peeled and diced
1 large stalk of celery, diced
1 large red onion, diced
2T butter
chicken stock, about 6 cups or so
salt and cambodian kampot pepper

1. Melt the butter on medium high heat in a large pot. Put all the diced ingredients in the pot and stir them around for about 5 minutes.

2. Cover the vegetable and butter mix with chicken stock, cover the mixture and let it come to a boil. Once the mixture comes to a boil, turn the burner down and let it simmer for about 45 mins, or until all the veggies are soft.
3. Using a submersible blender, puree the mixture. If the mixture is too thick for your liking, you can add a bit more chicken stock. Mine was perfect as is. Season with salt and fresh ground pepper—I used Cambodian kampot pepper and it was out of this world. My husband, for whom I have been cooking for 20 years, says it is one of the tastiest things I have ever made.