CONFESSION: To say my husband’s a little timid about cooking is an understatement. Still, occasionally he’s willing to tackle dinner, as long as he has VERY SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS. This is the email I sent him to make this delicious beef stew. You really can’t go wrong with this recipe, just season to taste (I season generously with garlic salt, pepper and random herbs).

1. Clean carrots (peel if you want, it’s not necessary if they’re clean), cut into large chunks. All of them (yummm, carrots)
2. Clean potatoes, cut into large chunks (quarters). About half as many potatoes as carrots is a good margin (yummm, carrots)
3. Cut mushrooms in half if button, chunks if portobella
4. Peel and cut two red onions in quarters
5. Mince one full clove of elephant garlic (you can cut it in pieces and run it through the garlic press)
6. Use the Penzey’s beef roast seasoning. Read the directions and add 2x  the recommended amount of spice.
7. Up to you if you want to chop the meat into cubes. It can go in as one big slab and will break apart well enough.
8. Place potatoes and carrots and half of onions and garlic at bottom of crock pot with a sprinkling of the spices.
9. Add beef
10. Add the rest of the beef broth in the carton in the fridge (1 cup) and 1 can cream of mushroom soup and 1 can cream of celery
    
11. Add seasoning
12. Add mushrooms and second half of onions and garlic.
13. Heat on low ‘til I come home.

About 8 hours later we had awesome stew!! Because of the cream soups, this version isn’t a very rich gravy but it’s tasty and  full of flavor. Super easy!

Since I started teaching in August, my 10-hour days plus my teaching schedule have made dinners at home generally boring and certainly nothing worth posting. Lots of repeats of previous favorite meals, that sort of thing. But I’ve decided to begin harnessing what time I *do* have to begin cooking meals ahead of time. As a result, my Hamilton Beach Programmable Slow-Cooker has been getting quite the workout!!

This recipe was a gamble, and an exercise in clearing out a bottle of honey mustard from the fridge that was not really my favorite — too honey, not enough mustard. This was mostly eyeballed but it’s worth recording. The end result was unbelievable.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of honey mustard
• 1 tsp ground sage
• Fresh ground pepper (to taste)
• 1 large clove garlic, minced
• 1 cup low-sodium beef broth (as usual, I swear by Kitchen Basics)
• 2 tbsp tarragon vinegar (my husband’s uncle’s homemade stuff… to die for! It’s easy to find Tarragon vinegar in the store, too)
• 2 onions, chopped
• 1 1.5lb pork tenderloin

Cook honey mustard, vinegar, garlic and sage in a saucepan ’til warm and combined. Toss onions in bottom of your slow cooker, and put thawed tenderloin on top. Add beef broth. Pour sauce over tenderloin. Cook for 6-8 hours on high or 3-4 hours on low.

Okay, here’s the caveat. If you have a newer model Rival Crock Pot, there’s no way you can cook this for 6-8 hours. They have redefined “high” and “low” and, well, it’s just sad. If you have one of these, Goodwill is always happy to receive your crock pot. Then you can get the Hamilton Beach Programmable Slow-Cooker, which ACTUALLY cooks things slowly (what a concept, right?!).

When it’s done, shred the meat with a fork and combine the  meat with the sauce and onions. Great for sandwiches or served with Pillsbury Crescent Rolls.

Sunday dinner this week was a team effort, pairing my pot roast with Samm’s unbelievably creamy “Wallpaper Paste” mashed potatoes. And so here are two recipes for you!

Slow Cooker Pot Roast
INGREDIENTS:

• 1 4-lb. Pot Roast, well marbled, cut into chunks
• 3–4 large carrots (or two ENORMOUS carrots, like I used)
• 1 parsnip, peeled and cut into chunks
• 1  turnip, peeled and cut into chunks
• 1 medium onion, sliced thick
• 1 package baby bella mushrooms
• 4 large cloves minced garlic
• 12 oz. (approx 1 can) beef broth (reduced sodium or a natural brand)
• 1 small can Cream of Mushroom soup
• 1 packet Lipton Onion Mushroom soup mix
• 1/4 cup flour
• Penzey’s Krakow Nights seasoning, to taste

Line bottom of your crock pot with the carrots, parsnip, turnip and garlic. You can use potato too, but since I knew this would be accompanying mashed potatoes I kept them out. Pour cream of mushroom soup and broth on top.

Mix onion soup mix with the flour; toss meat to coat, then layer meat on top of vegetable/soup mixture. Top with onions and mushrooms.

Cook on high for 5 hours, low for 8–10 if your crock pot can handle it. When about an hour is left to cook, add the Krakow  Nights seasoning. 

For a thicker gravy, spoon out the juices into a saucepan and mix with a cornstarch roux.

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Samm’s Wallpaper Paste Mashed Potatoes

• 6 russet potatoes washed and half way skinned and cut into evenly sized pieces (about 1 inch wide)
• Boil
  a big pot of water. Once the water is at a rolling boil add the
  potatoes. Cook for about 10-12 minutes or until potatoes are soft.
• Put hot potatoes into the food processor. Add about a 1/4 cup of
  milk and a 1/4 cup of butter (or more butter if you like). Add salt to
  taste.
• Pulse the food processor making sure you get the majority
  of the lumps. It’s done when the potatoes are smooth and sticky. They
  should stick to your spoon when you turn the spoon upside down. You can
  add more or less butter/milk depending on how you like it.
• A trick I like to do is during the last 3-4 minutes of the potatoes
  cooking time I add some garlic powder and fresh chopped garlic to the
  boiling water. It adds a nice garlic flavor that’s subtle and not too
  strong.

These were the perfect complement to the stew; I’ll definitely make this recipe again!

We saw a segment on 190 North, a Chicago alternative-news program, about Pizza Beer, brewed in St. Charles, IL with oregano, basil and tomatoes, and were curious. When the people who made it were at our local Binny’s Liquor Store, we had to try some. It’s actually quite good, and was rumoured to be excellent for making beer bread. So I decided to try it with our gloomy-day dinner of slow-cooker pot roast.

While there’s a great recipe on Mamma Mia’s Pizza Beer site, I used a trusted favorite, Tastefully Simple Bountiful Beer Bread Mix and ended up with an amazing bread, full of that delicious beer bread tang and accompanied by the hints of oregano and tomato in the beer. It was outstanding!!

As for the pizza beer, we’ll probably buy a four-pack for the next time we order a pizza. It’s really yummy stuff!!