Fall Apart Slow Cooker Cube Steak with Gravy

I have said it before, and I'm sure I'll say it again, but I am a meat and potatoes kind of girl. I had bought some cube steak at the market this weekend, and made this recipe. I was pretty disappointed in the outcome to say the least. So when I realized I had about twice the amount I actually needed for that recipe, I knew I would have to try something else this week with the remainder. I decided to go with a classic cube steak recipe, however when I was searching around the Internet, I was consistently missing one key ingredient from each one. So, I decided to make up my own thing.

Ingredients:

1lb or so cube steak cut into individual portions
1/2 packet of onion mushroom mix (or whatever mix you prefer)
1 packet of gravy mix (I used Au Jus)
4 cups water, divided
Flour for dredging
Canola oil

Directions:

Heat 2-3Tbsp oil in a skillet on medium-high. Dredge the steaks in flour and let sit for a few minutes. Brown the steaks for 1-2 minutes per side. Place in a slow cooker on low. Mix 2 cups of water with the onion mushroom mix and pour over the steaks. Cook for approximately 7 hours. Mix the remaining 2 cups of water with the gravy mix and pour into the slow cooker. Allow to cook for another 30 minutes. Serve over mashed potatoes.

*I made my mashed potatoes with buttermilk, butter, salt and pepper- ah ma goodness. Highly recommend that!

Beef Rolls with Spring Salad

I had, oh, about 12 magazines I hadn't even touched. So this past Saturday was a fun game of catch up. I got through about 3 of them. I'm actually going to be reading the magazine while the month that's on the spine is the same that is on today's calendar. Anywaaaaay, Everyday Food had a really delicious looking dinner that not only was quick but healthy! We are trying to focus more on what we eat, so this was really appealing to us. I can't wait to make this in the summer! It's the perfect light dish for eating outside.

I modified it just a touch from the magazine- mostly the amounts of things.

Ingredients:

• 1 pepper (I used 1/2 of a red and 1/2 of an orange)
• 1 small onion
• olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 3/4 c water
• 3/4 pound braciola beef (I used just a thinly sliced sirloin tip and pounded it a bit thinner)- cut into 4 equal pieces
• 2 ounces pepper Jack cheese
• 7 ounces spring lettuce mix
• 1 1/2 tsp sherry vinegar (I used balsamic vinegar)

1. In a large skillet, heat 1 tbsp oil over medium-high. Add onions and peppers; cook, stirring occasionally, until beginning to brown, about 7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and add 3/4 c water; cover and simmer 3 minutes. Uncover and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are soft and liquid has evaporated, 2 minutes.

2. Pat meat dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Place cheese and onion-pepper mixture in center of beef pieces. Beginning with narrow end of meat, roll filling up tightly. Carefully flip meat seam side up and secure with toothpicks.

3. In the same skillet as in step 1, heat to medium high. Place meat rolls, seam side down, in skillet and cook, turning occasionally, until beef browns and cheese melts, about 8 minutes. Reduce heat is beef is browning too quickly. Transfer beef rolls to a plate.

4. Toss lettuce with vinegar and 1 tsp oil; season with salt and pepper. Remove toothpicks from beef rolls; serve with salad.

Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Oriental Beef & Noodles

Carl needed an early dinner, and I had spotted this recipe on Cooking This and That last week. I knew it was the perfect time to try it since it would be ready right when I got home from work. It smelled divine all day long, and tasted just as good! It was really easy and really flavorful. We'll definitely make this again. Oh and it was especially nice since the temp didn't even reach 60 today. A nice warm you up meal!

Oriental Beef and Noodles
adapted from Cook Once, Eat Twice Slow Cooker Recipes
Makes 4-6 servings

1 (16 ounce) package frozen stir fry vegetables
2 - 2 1/2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1" cubes
1 (12 ounce) bottle stir-fry sauce, any flavor (I used Kikkoman Stir Fry Sauce)
1/2 cup water
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 (3 ounce) packages ramen noodles, broken
1/4 cup green onions, chopped

Coat a 4 quart slow cooker with cooking spray. Place frozen vegetables in the bottom and top with stew meat. In a medium bowl, stir together stir-fry sauce, water, and red pepper. Pour over stew meat and vegetables in cooker.

Cover and cook on low for 9-10 hours or on high for 4 1/2-5 hours (I recommend low, it will help to break the meat down more).

At the end of cooking time, discard spice packets from ramen noodles. Stir noodles and green onions into meat mixture. Cover and let stand 10 minutes more. Stir before serving. This can be kept on warm for 1-2 hours.

*After I added the noodles, I added another cup of water to cut down on the sauce. I think it needed it, but it just depends how thick and strong you want it to be.

5 Star Rouladen

This recipe comes all the way from Germany, literally. It came from Carl's great-grandma, who taught it to her daughter-in-law, Carl's grandma. She then passed the recipe to her daughter-in-law, Carl's mom. So naturally, my mother-in-law followed tradition and honored me with this recipe. And now (with a touch of hesitation as I feel as though this is sacred ground I am treading here), I'm sharing it with you!

The first time I had this meal was just a few short weeks into my relationship with Carl. I'll be honest, it didn't look all that appetizing, but my hesitations quickly fled after my first bite. This dish is so tender, so juicy, basically a festival of flavors in your mouth! So, if you have ALL day to cook, and I'm not exaggerating, and you want a guaranteed to please feast, include this one on your menu. It won't fail you!

Start with this cast of characters:

• 3 lbs sirloin tip- cut as thin as humanly (or bladely...) possible. Call ahead to your butcher. Tell them you need it REALLY thin and mention that freezing it for awhile helps. Trust me on this.
• 6 white onions, diced
• 1 lb bacon, chopped very finely, but not cooked
• Salt
• Pepper
• Mustard
• 1 stick of butter
• Small metal skewers- most commonly used for turkey

Make an assembly line of sorts with 3 pieces of meat laid out flat. If there are holes in it, just adjust the meat so they overlap. Give the meat a nice coating of mustard, a sprinkle of onion and bacon and season with salt and pepper.



Starting on the end closest to you start rolling it up and then pull the sides in- secure with a metal skewer. Hard to explain, but the visual should help. Repeat until the sight of meat, mustard and onion make you want to punch someone. Or until you run out of meat...that works too.



Heat up your skillet and melt the butter in it. If you do a full batch, you will most likely need two skillets, electric skillets work the best! Once the butter has melted, lay each of the meat rolls into the pan and cook them on medium until browned, turning once. This should take approximately 20-30 minutes.



Crank the heat down until the liquid is BARELY bubbling. Let it cook for approximately 4 hours. This could vary though, but when the meat is almost falling apart, it's Rouladen!




With the leftover drippings, make a gravy with water and cornstarch. It is a requirement to serve this with mashed potatoes. Trust me. (I've made you trust me a lot with this haven't I? Don't worry....I'm trustworthy)


We are looking at meat, more meat, mustard and onion. How much more German can you get? I plan to make this dish for many years and hope to pass the tradition on some day!

Classic Beef Stew

Apparently what I really wanted was classic stew. Don't get me wrong, Parker's Stew was good, but I just needed that nostalgic classic taste. I still had a plethora of stew meat in the freezer, so I thawed out another pound of it and snatched my father/mother-in-law's recipe. Oh and by the way- it was in a super cute recipe book their church had compiled in 1988. I can't wait to try some of the other recipes!

1-1 1/2 lb stewing beef cut into 1-2 inch pieces (I used 1 lb)
2 tbsp oil
1-2 bay leaves (I used 2)
6 cups boiling water
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 clove garlic (I used 2)
1 medium onion (I used 2 small onions)
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp pepper
dash allspice and cloves (I just used allspice)
6 carrots (I used a 1 lb bag of baby carrots)
4 potatoes- cut into cubes- about 2 inches

Brown meat in oil. Add water, spices and seasonings. Cover and simmer (don't boil) 1 1/2 hours. Remove bay leaves. Add carrots and potatoes. Cook 1/2 hour.

Dumplings (optional...but not according to Carl- he says they are a must)

Mix:
1 cup flour
1 egg
1 tsp salt
1/2 egg shell of milk (approx 1/8 cup)

Form into small balls (they will expand in the water) and add drop into boiling water. Cook approximately 20 minutes. (If you start these right after you put the carrots and potatoes in, it times very nicely)

After the 20 minutes (and now your carrots and potatoes have probably cooked for 30) put the dumplings in the stew and let simmer for another 10 minutes. Serve! (Enough for 6 hearty servings)

This is such a great recipe. Carl even said "The beef is just melting in my mouth!" I agreed! Just be careful and patient. I didn't want to wait any longer so we dove right in, and I'm still nursing the roof of my mouth because I burned it :(

Parker's Beef Stew

Carl was watching Barefoot Contessa one day and saw this recipe, he immediately asked me to make it. Well, I kind of forgot about the stew, even after I specifically bought stew meat at Sam's when it was marked down! I asked Carl what he wanted for dinner when he got home this week, and he promptly responded with STEW! I looked around for a little while to see if I found one that sounded better than this, but nothing seemed to compare. Meat and potatoes were staples...but all the additions to this one sounded heavenly! The prep time was rather intensive. I'd say it took me about an hour of prep and then the cook time was 2 hours, but the smells were worth those two hours and the taste backed it up! You could definitely taste the wine and rosemary- one herb I've never cooked with before today! Yay!


Ingredients

* 2 1/2 pounds good quality chuck beef, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
* 1 (750-ml bottle) good red wine (I only used about 3/4 of the bottle...what? I wanted a glass of it!)
* 2 whole garlic cloves, smashed
* 3 bay leaves
* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* Kosher salt
* Freshly ground black pepper
* Good olive oil
* 2 yellow onions, cut into 1-inch cubes
* 1 pound carrots, peeled and cut diagonally in 1 1/2-inch chunks
* 1/2 pound white mushrooms, stems discarded and cut in 1/2
* 1 pound small potatoes, halved or quartered
* 1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves)
* 2 cups or 1 (14 1/2-ounce can) chicken stock or broth
* 1 large (or 2 small) branch fresh rosemary
* 1/2 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes (I'm not a fan...so I left these bad boys out)
* 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
* 1 (10-ounce) package frozen peas

Directions

*I DID NOT DO THIS- I just marinated it for 2 hours the day of* Place the beef in a bowl with red wine, garlic, and bay leaves. Place in the refrigerator and marinate overnight.

The next day, preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

Combine the flour, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1 tablespoon pepper. Lift the beef out of the marinade with a slotted spoon and discard the bay leaves and garlic, saving the marinade. In batches, dredge the cubes of beef in the flour mixture and then shake off the excess. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot and brown half the beef over medium heat for 5 to 7 minutes, turning to brown evenly. Place the beef in a large oven-proof Dutch oven and continue to brown the remaining beef, adding oil as necessary. (If the beef is very lean, you'll need more oil.) Place all the beef in the Dutch oven.

Heat another 2 tablespoons of oil to the large pot and add the onions, carrots, mushrooms, and potatoes. Cook for 10 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and cook for 2 more minutes. Place all the vegetables in the Dutch oven over the beef. Add 2 1/2 cups of the reserved marinade to the empty pot and cook over high heat to deglaze the bottom of the pan, scraping up all the brown bits with a wooden spoon. Add the chicken stock, rosemary, sun-dried tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, 1 tablespoon salt, and 2 teaspoons pepper. Pour the sauce over the meat and vegetables in the Dutch oven and bring to a simmer over medium heat on top of the stove. Cover the pot and place it in the oven to bake it for about 2 hours, until the meat and vegetables are all tender, stirring once during cooking. If the stew is boiling rather than simmering, lower the heat to 250 or 275 degrees F.

Before serving, stir in the frozen peas, season to taste, and serve hot.

My Own Easy Beef Enchiladas

I could eat Mexican pretty much every night, seriously. But that would make for a boring blog, so I have to mix it up occasionally. Luckily though, I haven't blogged these bad boys yet, so now...for your viewing (and perhaps one day eating) pleasure, behold: MY SUPER EASY BEEF ENCHILADAS!

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
1 packet taco seasoning (I always use Ortega)
1 cup cooked white rice (yes that says cooked. I'm not explaining how to cook it, just do it now)
1 can refried beans (not warmed!)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 jar of salsa
10-12 burrito size tortilla shells
2 cups Colby Jack Cheese (or whatever yummy blend you'd like)

Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 pan. Brown the ground beef and drain. Add taco seasoning and 1 c water. Simmer for about 5 minutes. Add in the rice and stir it up real good!
2. Take the tortilla, spread a spoonful of refried beans on the tortilla. Spread 1/4 c of the meat mixture on top of that. Sprinkle with cheese and roll it up. Put the rolled tortilla seam side down into the 9x13 pan. Repeat until all your tortillas are gone- or the meat mix is gone.
3. Combine the cream of chicken soup and the jar of salsa in a bowl. Mix well. Pour the mix over the tortillas in the pan. Sprinkle with the remainder of the cheese.
4. Put the pan in the oven for 30 minutes or until the edges are slightly golden brown. Remove, cool and enjoy! I like to serve with a side of sour cream and sometimes extra salsa. YUM!

Notes: Ok, so I used to use an actual recipe for this, but now I just do my own thing...so I'm calling these mine. Really, they are easy and quick and ALWAYS get rave reviews. Plan on each person eating two enchiladas if you don't serve it with anything else.

Broiled Marinated Steak

I walked into the house to see my kitchen and family room completely disheveled. Carl decided to install the rear surround sound speakers in the ceiling today, nice. Good thing my dinner was a relatively simple and easy one. Again, not much of a recipe, but it was good...so it gets a post :)

Marinated Steaks:
2 top sirloin steaks
1 c BBQ marinade

We marinated them for about 3 hours. Then I broiled them for about 7 minutes on each side for me (I like it pretty rare) and 8 minutes for Carl (more medium rare). I really like broiling steaks when the grill isn't an option. (Carl was busy, it was drizzling...broiler it was)

Then I just steamed some green beans and made some butter noodles with the help of Lipton :).

Lindsay's Taco Bake

Ok, I needed something that didn't take much effort, and when I say not much effort I mean taking extra time to search for a recipe. This one has been raved about on The Knot thanks to iheartkeith, and I finally decided to give it a whirl.

Ingredients

* 1 lb ground beef (or ground turkey, or ground chicken)
* 1 packet taco seasoning
* 15 oz. tomato sauce
* 8 oz. seashell pasta
* 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened in microwave
* 1/2 cup sour cream
* 8 oz. shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Brown ground beef, drain. Add taco seasoning and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 20 minutes.
2. In the meantime, cook pasta according to directions. Drain.
3. Mix softened cream cheese and sour cream in separate bowl.
4. Spray bottom of 9x13 pan. Put pasta in bottom of pan.
5. Spread cream cheese mixture over pasta.
6. Spoon ground meat mixture over this.
7. Sprinkle shredded cheese on top.
8. Bake @ 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Let cool 15 minutes before serving.

My notes: I cut the entire recipe in half and it was perfect. Other than that...I'll just let this last picture do the talking:

Best Dinner Yet

Carl decided he wanted to have his parents over for dinner. I obliged and said we should make a rockin dinner. That we did. I don't think I've ever had a dinner with so much flavor. The IL's kept saying they felt like they were eating at a restaurant :) The menu consisted of Grilled Steak with Blue Cheese & Herb Butter, Mediterranean Orzo Salad and Roasted Potato Bites. First up...the beef.

Blue Cheese & Herb Butter
1/4 c butter, softened
2 tbsp crumbled blue cheese
2 tsp chopped green onion with top
1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp coarsely ground black pepper

Steaks
4 garlic cloves, pressed
4 beef ribeye steaks, cut 3/4 inch thick (about 8 ounces each)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper

For Blue Cheese and Herb Butter, place butter and blue cheese in a small bowl. Add green onion, lemon juice and black pepper and mix until well blended.

Prepare grill for cooking at medium temperature. For steaks, press garlic cloves and spread over both sides of the steaks. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Place steaks on grid of grill. Grill uncovered, 6-8 minutes for medium rare (145 degrees) to medium (160 degrees) doneness, turning occasionally. Top steaks with Blue Cheese & Herb Butter.

Notes: I was more in the mood for a filet...so we did that instead. Because of that, the cooking time was more like 12 minutes due to the thickness of the steaks. Other than that...we left it all the same. OMG- so good! (Lindsay, my fellow blue cheese lover,...if you are reading this- make it now!

Next up: Roasted Potato Bites
12 small red potatoes, unpeeled
1 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
4 ounces chive and onion cream cheese spread
3 tbsp sour cream

Optional toppings such as grated cheddar cheese, bacon bits and snipped fresh chives.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cut potatoes in half crosswise. Cut a thin slice off the bottom of each potato half. Carefully scoop out a small amount of pulp from each potato half. In medium mixing bowl combine oil, garlic, salt and black pepper. Add potato halves and toss to coat.

Place potato halves, hollowed side down, on a bar pan or cookie sheet. Bake 30-32 minutes or until deep golden brown and tender. Remove from oven, cool slightly.

In small mixing bowl, combine cream cheese spread and sour cream; whisk until smooth. Spoon a dab onto each potato and top with optional toppings.

Notes: I just used 8 potatoes because there were only 4 of us, but I still just made the normal amount of everything. That worked out well as the sour cream and cream cheese mixture was so good I wanted to use WAY more than it called for on each potato. These were seriously so good. I could have made a meal out of them alone.

And Last: Mediterranean Orzo Salad

(Monica...this one is for you :) )
1 pound asparagus spears, trimmed and in 1 inch pieces
1 large red bell pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 medium red onion, sliced into 1/2 inch wedges
1 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, pressed
Salt and coarsely ground black pepper optional
3/4 c uncooked orzo pasta
1 can garbanzo beans
1 package (4 ounces) crumbled feta cheese
1/2 c pitted whole kalamata olives
1/2 c snipped fresh parsley
1/4 c prepared Greek vinaigrette dressing

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Combine asparagus, bell pepper, onion and oil in a medium mixing bowl. Press garlic into mixing bowl; toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper if desired.

Arrange vegetables on a bar pan (or cookie sheet). Bake 25-30 minutes or until vegetables are tender and deep golden brown. Remove from oven; cool completely.

Meanwhile, prepare orzo according to package directions, drain and rinse under cold running water. Place orzo in large mixing bowl, add vegetable mixture, beans, feta cheese, olives, parsley and salad dressing. Toss gently and refrigerate for 30 minutes or more.

My Notes: Soooo much flavor. And since I had to send Carl on a mad search for orzo, I did things a little out of order- but it worked fine. It made enough for about 12 people- this could be a great dish to take to a gathering. The salad definitely got better the longer it sat in the fridge and I'm pretty anxious to see how good it is after sitting overnight. Yum.

I was honestly pretty proud of this meal- it took a good hour and half or so, but it was worth the time and energy!! Oh and sorry...the pic isn't really the greatest. I was too excited to eat it!

America's Favorite Pot Roast

So I had that other half of the roast we had last week hanging out in the freezer. I decided to thaw it out and cook the other beef recipe that looked good in my Crock Pot cookbook. They've deemed it "America's Favorite," but I think it needs more seasoning. Both Carl and I agree that next time I will either add a package of onion soup mix (thanks Mon) or coat the top with mustard. But all in all....this was a good, tender pot roast!

3 1/2 to 4 pound boneless pot roast
1/4 cup flour
2 teaspoons salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
3 carrots, pared, sliced lengthwise and cut into 2-inch pieces
3 potatoes, peeled and quartered
2 small onions, sliced
1 stalk celery, cut into 2-inch pieces
10 button mushrooms, sliced

Trim all excess fat from roast; brown and drain if using chuck or
another highly marbled cut. Combine 1/4 cup flour, the salt and pepper.
Coat meat with the flour mixture. Place all vegetables except
mushrooms in Crock-Pot and top with roast (cut roast in half, if
necessary, to fit easily). Spread mushrooms evenly over top
of roast. Cover and cook on Low for 10 to 12 hours.

Servings 4

Notes: So what did I do different? For starters, my roast was only 2lbs, so I cut the cooking time to about 6.5 hours. It was well done at that point, still very tender, but well. Next time I will start checking it at 5 hours. I dashed the top with thyme and paprika, but again, next time I'll add onion soup mix or coat the top with mustard- I think either will do the trick to give it a little kick! Lastly, don't forget the salt and pepper to taste...it needs a little more oomph.