Pizza Steak Sandwiches in a Slow Cooker

Pizza Steak Sandwiches in the Slow Cooker adapted from Debbie Does Dinner
Adapted from Eat at Home
2 - 2 1/2 chuck roast, trimmed of visible fat
6 oz. pepperoni
1 large onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
2 - 15 oz. cans diced tomatoes
1 tbsp. garlic, minced
1 tbsp. oregano
2 tsp. basil
Salt and pepper to taste
Provolone or mozzerella cheese slices

Directions:  Place meat in slow cooker. Add the rest of the ingredients, except for the cheese. Cook on high 5 - 6 hours or low for 7 - 8 or until meat can be shredded. Serve on buns or over potatoes if you're gluten free. Top with cheese slices.

Here's what you'll need:

Salt and pepper the roast.  Put the roast and the pepperoni in a slow cooker.

Add the herbs.

Chop up the peppers, onions, and garlic.

Add to the crockpot.

Add the diced tomatoes.

Once the meat is cooked and tender, shred it.

Make a sandwich and add the cheese.

Here's what you'll end up with:

Our Thoughts:
This dish was easy to make and only took about 5 minutes in prep time.  As it was cooking, it smelled delicious. 

The meat was very tender and the onions, pepper, and garlic gave it great flavor.

One complaint that I had is that the pepperoni, even though it was Boar's Head, made the sauce very greasy.  I actually drained a bunch of the juices out and ended up adding an extra can of tomato sauce.  Another thing with the pepperoni is that it definitely did not get that crispy pizza-like crunch that you get when you order a pepperoni pizza. 

You could make this dish with any of your favorite pizza toppings (pork, Italian sausage, chicken, etc). 

Also, I think you could you either canned pizza sauce or even spaghetti sauce instead of the diced tomatoes.  Serve it on some crusty bread.

Overall, I think this dish was a success.

Hope you enjoy!
April

Don't Peek Chicken

Don't Peek Chicken adapted from Mr. Food
1 cup uncooked long-grain rice
1 (10-3/4 ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
1 (10-3/4 ounce) can cream of celery soup
1 envelope onion soup mix (from a 2-ounce box)
1 soup can cold water
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 chicken (3-1/2 to 4 pounds), cut into 8 pieces
Paprika for sprinkling

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 9- x 13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, mix together rice, soups, soup mix, water, garlic, parsley, and Worcestershire sauce.
3. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Press chicken into mixture. Sprinkle with paprika, then cover tightly with aluminum foil.

    4. Bake 1-1/4 hours. Do NOT open cover (not even to peek) during baking.



Modifications:
-I used quick cooking rice.

Here's what you'll need:

 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Mix the soups, onio soup mix, parsley, and garlic.

Add the water and the worcestershire sauce.

Mix 

Lay the chicken breasts in a baking dish.  Pour the soup mixture over the chicken. 

  

Cover the dish with tin foil.

Place the dish in the oven and cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Here's what you'll end up with:

Our Thoughts:

How can you go wrong, flavor-wise, when you use cream of anything? The combination of the cream of celery, cream of mushroom, and onion soup mix packed tons of rich, comforting flavor.

The chicken was moist and tender and really soaked up the soup. 

I used quick-cooking rice rather than cooking the rice in with the chicken.  It still tasted great.  We just spooned the soup over the rice and then laid the chicken on top of it. 

Hope you enjoy!

April

Glazed Chicken/Fish Breast

Glazed Chicken/Fish adapted from Mr. Food
1 envelope onion soup mix (from a 2-ounce box)
2/3 cup apricot preserves
1/2 cup water
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
2 large red or green bell peppers, sliced into thin rings

Directions:  Preheat oven to broil.   In a small bowl thoroughly combine onion soup mix, apricot preserves, and water; set aside.  Place chicken breasts in a foil-lined broiler pan. Top chicken with soup mixture and broil 5 minutes; turn chicken.  Place pepper rings over chicken, baste pan juices, then broil an addtional 5 to 10 minutes, or until chicken is fork-tender and no pink remains.

Here's what you'll need:

 

Slice up the peppers.

Mix the preserves, onion soup mix, water.

Preheat the broiler.  Mine was set to 500F.

Lay the chicken out on tinfoil and spoon the mixture on top.

Broil for 5 minutes.  Pull out and flip the chicken.  Baste with more of the mixture.  Put back in broiler for another 10-12 minutes.

After flipping the chicken, I also added 2 pieces of tilapia to the pan and cover with the mixture.

Top with the peppers.

Here's what you'll end up with:

Our Thoughts:
I've had this recipe sitting around for a while now and decided to give it a try this week.  Earlier in the week we went to Costco and I bought a package of fresh tilapia (TIP:  I used a few fillets fresh and then froze them in individual storage bags for later.  I defrosted a couple for this recipe by letting the bag float around in some water water for about 30 minutes). 

To be honest, the fish tasted better with this recipe than the chicken.  The chicken never really soaked in the flavor while the mild tilapia really took in the sweetness of the preserves as well as the tanginess of the onion soup.  The fish was cooked perfectly and even Scott preferred it over the chicken.

If you aren't "in" to apricots, I'm sure any preserve/jelly mixture would work.

Hope you enjoy!
April

Coffee-Braised Pot Roast with Caramelized Onions

Coffee-Braised Pot Roast with Caramelized Onions adapted from Eating Well

1 4-pound beef chuck roast, (see Ingredient note), trimmed of fat

1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste

Freshly ground pepper, to taste

4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided

2 large onions, halved and thinly sliced (4 cups)

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon dried thyme

3/4 cup strong brewed coffee

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons water

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 300°F.  Season beef with salt and pepper. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a Dutch oven or soup pot over medium-high heat. Add beef and cook, turning from time to time, until well browned on all sides, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a plate.

Add the remaining 2 teaspoons oil to the pot. Add onions, reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring often, until softened and golden, 5 to 7 minutes. Add garlic and thyme; cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Stir in coffee and vinegar; bring to a simmer. Return the beef to the pot and spoon some onions over it. Cover and transfer to the oven.

Braise the beef in the oven until fork-tender but not falling apart, 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Transfer beef to a cutting board, tent with foil and let rest for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, skim fat from the braising liquid; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the cornstarch mixture and cook, whisking, until the gravy thickens slightly, about 1 minute. Season with pepper. Carve the beef and serve with gravy.

Here's what you'll need:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Slice up an onion.

Mince up garlic cloves.

Season with salt and pepper and sear in a stockpot.

Pull the beef out of the pan and lay it on a plate.

 Once you take the meat out, put the onions in.  Let them caramelize.

Once the onions are soft and brown, add the garlic and thyme.

Add the coffee and balsamic vinegar.

Add the meat back to the pot.

Pile the onions onto the meat.

Cover the pot and put in the oven for 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

Once the meat is fork-tender, remove the pot from the oven.  Mix the corn starch solution.

Pull the meat out of the pot and add the cornstarch mixture.

Let this simmer for a minute or so until the sauce thickens.

Pour the sauce back over the meat.

Here's what you'll end up with:

Our Thoughts:

My family loves pot roast.  This dish was a simple and easy way to make pot roast.  The onions did have a sweet, tangy flavor from the coffee and the vinegar and they had a good caramelization on them.

I couldn't tell that the coffee really "braised" the pot roast as it didn't have a particularly distinct flavor other than the base of onion.  The meat was tender but didn't shred apart.

As good as the dish was, we all agreed that we still preferred my Mom's Roast.

I served this with a Potato Cauliflower Mash.

Hope you enjoy!

April

Potato-Cauliflower Mash

Potato-Cauliflower Mash
2-3 potatoes
1-2 sweet potatoes
1/2-1 head of cauliflower florets
2-3TBsp Greek yogurt
Small pad of butter
Splash of milk
Salt and Pepper

Directions:  Peel the sweet potato.  Dice up the potoato, sweet potato, and caulfilower.  Boil until the potatoes are fork tender.  Drain.  Add the Greek yogurt, butter, and splash of milk.  Mash.  Salt & Pepper to taste.

Here's what you'll need:

Boil and drain.

Add the Greek yogurt, butter, and milk.

Mash

Here's what you'll end up with:

Our Thoughts:
Over the past couple of years, Scott has really started to love cauliflower.  We've had several great cauliflower dishes in the past (Cheesy Cauliflower, Cauliflower Medley, and Cheesy Artichokes, Cauliflower and Red Pepper) but this one might just be an all-time favorite!

I could go on and on and on about this dish but the bottom line, is that it was delicious.  Every single one of my kids ate it.  It actually reminded me of twice-baked potatoes with the skin of the Idaho potatoes left on.  The orange sweetness of the sweet potato reminded me of the cheese and smooth, creamy texture of the cauliflower was like the sour cream. 

You could always make this dish even healthier by reducing the Idaho potatoes and adding more sweet potato and cauliflower.  You could also cut out the small pad of butter and milk and just use more Greek yogurt.

Of course, if you are feeling really decadent, add in some cheese (your choice) and bacon bits.

Hope you enjoy!
April