Slow Cooker Balsamic Shredded Roast Beef

After my Flavorless Roast failure I wasn't sure if I wanted to make another Roast Beef again but one of my friends sent me this recipe and told me that she absolutely love it! And if she loves it, then I know I would have to try it.

(Updated 2014/03/01 - I made this again and after 8 hours in the slow cooker it shredded the way that it was supposed to! It had way more flavor to it when the shredded pieces had time to soak)

Ingredients:
2 - lb beef chuck roast
1 - Cup beef broth
1/2 - Cup light brown sugar
1/4 - Cup balsamic vinegar
1 - Tbsp soy sauce
1 - Tsp kosher salt
1/4 - Tsp crushed red pepper flakes
3 - Cloves garlic, chopped

Directions:
Whisk together all the ingredients and add to the bottom of a slow cooker. Put the roast in.

Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours. Remove roast and shred with a fork, return to juices.

(I know, that's not a photo of Shredded beef. See comments below)

Serve and enjoy. The gravy is delicious with mashed potatoes too!

(I should have put the juices over top of the beef for the shot. I ended up putting in on for dinner but it would have made this picture look a lot better)

What did I think of this roast? I loved it! but I wanted to point out a couple of things. First, I don't know much about Roast Beefs and I couldn't find anything called a "Chuck Roast" so I ended up getting a "Bottom Round Steak Roast". I think the only reason that I got it was because it was 4.49\lb and everything else was 3.99\lb. I figured it would be a better quality? but it didn't "Shred" so I ended up slicing it up into thin pieces, putting those pieces back into the juice and they actually absorbed the flavors really well! This was a very good dinner :)

How to make Powdered Sugar

I had no idea nor had I ever though about how Powdered Sugar was made... I've listed the ingredients and instructions but I will have to try this out for myself. Now I'm wondering if I can put something else in with it to change the colour!?!?!? Do even they make different colour powdered sugars?

Ingredients:
1 - Cup granulated sugar
1 - Tblsp corn starch

Directions:
Place ingredients in a blender and blend on high for 30 seconds. Check and see if it's the desired powder consistency. You may need to scrap the sides and keep mixing until it's powdery.

Sun-dried Tomato Breads 2

I was trying to think of something to make quickly this afternoon before running out to get some groceries I needed for dinner so I thought I'd make the Sun-dried Tomato Breads, not remembering that I'd already posted about them but oh well, I have some new pictures :)

The original posts is located here

Ingredients:
100 - Grams of Sundried Tomatoes in olive oil
1 - Green Onion
1/2 - Package of Goat Cheese
1 French Baguette
1/2 - Package of Grape Tomatoes

Directions:
Finely Chop up Sundried Tomatoes and Green Onion. Combine in medium size bowl with Goat Cheese

Mix well (I just mash it all around with a fork)

Slice up a couple of Grape Tomatoes

Slice the Baguette into 3/4 inch slices

Brush olive oil onto one side

Place in oven for 8 minutes or until the bottoms are golden brown. Once they are all brown, pull the pan out of the oven, flip over the Baguette pieces so that the brown side is up

Using the back of the fork, spread the mixture on to each Baguette piece

Put back into the oven for 5 - 7 more minutes or until the cheese is nice and warm or starting to brown a little

Top with the sliced tomatoes and server warm

Rack of Lamb Braised with Cinnamon and Honey

This is my all time favorite recipe and it's very easy to make. I found it in the Winter 2012 Food and Drink Magazine from the LCBO. Lamb here (Kitchener Ontario) generally comes frozen, imported from New Zealand and costs $17.99 for 8 little pieces. But I have to tell you that it's totally worth it and when you think about getting lamb in a restaurant, it will run you about $25 - $30 a plate so if I can spend $17.99 then it's still a pretty good deal!

Ingredients:
1- Rack of Lamb (8 pieces can be cut from it)
Kosher salt
Ground black pepper
1 - Tbsp olive oil
1 - Small onion, chopped
1 - Tsp cinnamon
1 - Cup chicken stock
1/4 - Cup liquid Honey
6 - Cloves garlic, unpeeled (weird I know but leave them unpeeled)
2 - Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
4 - Bay leaves

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F and then cut the Rack of Lamb into individual pieces

Pat each piece on a paper towel and the sprinkle both sides with Salt and Pepper

Heat oil in an oven safe pan (Dutch Oven) over medium heat. Cook Lamb pieces for 10 to 12 minutes, turning occasionally, until browned on all sides

Remove Lamb pieces, put on a plate and cover

Reduce heat to medium and add onion to the Lamb fat remaining in the pan. Cook, stirring often, for 4 to 6 minutes, until the onion is golden brown

Add cinnamon and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds or until fragrant

Stir in stock, honey, garlic, Worcestershire sauce and bay leaves. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring to scrape up and brown bits from bottom of the pan

Return the Lamb to the Pan, cover and transfer to the Oven

Cook, turning half way through, for 1h - 1h 15m or until Lamb is tender

 Remove Lamb to a warm plate and cover to keep warm

With a slotted spoon, remove garlic and set a side. Discard bay leaves. When Garlic is cool enough to handle, squeeze garlic from skins and mash smoothly. Whisk garlic into cooking juices and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until juices have reduced and thickened slightly. Plate the Lamb; spoon cooking juices over shanks and enjoy!
 

2014/10/05 - Here's an updated photo from tonight's dinner. The side dish is actually an appetizer Potato and Rice Paddy's with Cocktail Toppings

Family Christmas Party

Every year in December we have a family Christmas Party on my Granmmie's side of the family (Henderson's). I think it was up to 60 people this year! We rent a hall, all bring a bunch of different food. It's mostly traditional Christmas Foods but I like to punch it up where I can. This year I was responsible for the Corn, Carrots and a Potato dish. I made normal corn, normal sliced carrots and I had thought about glazing the carrots with some brown sugar but I didn't have all my supplies with me (lame excuse). For the Potatoes I made two batches of Roasted Potatoes. One plain and one with all my spices, onions, peppers, mushrooms, garlic and topped with Cheese! My Roasted Potatoes are really good :)

I've update this post (2013/12/08) to include what I used to make the Roasted Potatoes but I don't remember the portions. If I'm making something I generally just wing it and go but what I think looks right.

Ingredients:
Rustic and Yellow Potatoes
Onion
Mushrooms
Orange Pepper
Garlic and Herb Seasoning
Olive Oil
Old Cheddar Cheese
Grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:
Peeled and chopped potatoes. Put the potatoes in a big roasting pan. This took the longest as there were so many potatoes! Though I think it felt like it took so long as I just before this I had to peel and choppy 2 bags of carrots.

Chop up Onion, Mushroom and Orange Pepper. heat a pan to medium heat with a little Olive Oil and then add the onion, mushroom and orange pepper, stirring occasionally until onions start to get translucent.

Combined onion, mushroom and orange pepper mixture with potatoes in the roasting pan, mix together with just a little bit more olive oil and then sprinkle with a generous amount of the Garlic and Herb Seasoning. Cover and then cook in the oven at 400 F for 40 - 60 minutes.

Stir everything up every 15 minutes so so to make sure that nothing sticks to the sides of the roasting pan and when the potatoes are cooked, put it out of the oven. Sprinkle the Cheddar and Parmesan on top, put the lid back on for another 5 - 10 minutes to allow the cheese to melt and then you are read to serve!

Here are some of the other photos of the food that I took as it was being put out.

(Buns, Condiments, Cranberries and my Home made Pickled Beets!) 

(Cheese Platter, Fruit Platter) 

(Deviled Eggs, Turkey) 

(Turkey, Potato Stuffing, Scalloped Potatoes)

(Ham) 

(Regular Roasted Potatoes, Stuffing) 

(Home made Perogies) 

(Corn, Carrots, My Roasted Potatoes, Lazy Cabbage Rolls) 

(Mashed Potatoes) 

(Stuffing) 

(Veggie Trays with different Dips) 

(Apple Juice, Tomato Juice, Chocolate Milk!) 

(Desserts) 

(Desserts) 

(Desserts) 

Slow Cooker Brown Sugar & Garlic Chicken

This recipe was originally from Six Sisters' Stuff but I adapted it a little bit for what I like. Funny story about this recipe. I found it a couple of months ago and in the directions it says to cook for 6-8 hours or 4 hours on high. I thought "Great, I can start this in the morning and it will be ready when I get home from work". I've often found that when I make ribs in the slow cooker that have a high sugar content that the sauce tends to burn on the sides of the slow cooker if not stirred every couple of hours so I decided to come home at lunch to check on them. The house smelt amazing when I came in, the chicken looked good and nothing appeared to be burning (This is on low after 4 hours). I went back to work for another for another 4.5 hours and when I got home and it smelt burnt in the house... 8.5 hours was way too long and it was destroyed. Normally I wouldn't attempt a recipe again after killing it but when I tasted the dried out over cooked chicken, the flavor in the meat was so good that I knew i had to try it again.

If the "Funny Story" didn't scare you off then below is the recipe and photos from my extremely successfully attempt. The Chicken had that same amazing flavor and the sauce was really, really good! This was pretty easy to make so I'll be added it to the regular rotation.

Ingredients:
2 - Boneless / Skinless Chicken breasts
3/4 - Cup packed brown sugar
2/3 - Cup white vinegar
1/2 - Cup 7up (or Sprite)
2 - Cloves of finely chopped garlic
2 - Tbsp soy sauce
1 - Tsp of ground pepper
2 - Tbsp corn starch
2 - Tbsp water
1 - Tsp Red Pepper Flakes (separated into two portions)



Directions:
Spray the slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray. Place the chicken inside the slow cooker. Mix together the brown sugar, vinegar, 7up soda, garlic, soy sauce and pepper together. (I whisked it all up)

Pour the mixture over the chicken in the slow cooker. You can use some additional 7up to top it up a little bit.

Cook on low for 4 - 5 hours. Take the chicken pieces out (careful as they may fall apart on you), cover to keep warm. Pour the mixture into a sauce pan. Mix together Corn Starch and Water then combined it with the mixture in the sauce pan.

Let the sauce come to a boil and boil for a minute or two or until it starts to thicken and turns into a glaze. Remove from heat and let sit for a minute (it will continue to thicken as it cools down)

Plate the chicken, spoon sauce over top and sprinkle with Red Pepper Flakes.

Serve with rice and veggies.

(This was the nice plating for the photo but I ended up pouring a lot more sauce all over the chicken and the rice because I liked it so much!)