Shredded Beef Roast

One beef roast, can use chuck or some tougher cuts
1 onion chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 package onion soup mix
2 Cinnamon sticks

Put the onions, onion soup mix and Cinnamon sticks into the bottom of a crockpot. Put your beef roast on top. Cook on high for 5 hours and low for another 3 hours until the roast is fork tender and can be shredded with two forks.

The roast will make it's own juice and mingle well with the onion soup and the Cinnamon. Shred in the crock pot so that the juices become incorporated with the meat. You can use this on a sandwich with BBQ sauce, in a burrito, in a casserole or any other way you can think of. Use this in the enchilada casserole recipe in this blog for a tasty treat

Rita's Sausage Bread

This is a favorite at our church coffee hours and a frequent family request

1 package of pizza dough in the can that you smash on the counter to open.
1/2 pound of bulk italian sausage sauteed and broken into small pieces
1 cup of mozerella cheese shredded
sprinkle of oregano or basil (your choice)
jared spaghetti sauce for dipping
Cooking spray

Heat your oven to 350
spray cooking spray on a cookie sheet (I use one with sides)
Spread out pizza dough on pan making sure all cracks are sealed
sprinkle on cooked sausage, sprinkle over mozerella cheese and seasoning
Roll the dough into a log stretching it into a "u". Make sure the seam side is down.
Optional (brush with olive oil and sprinkle with parmesan cheese)

Bake for 15 minutes or until the crust looks browned.
Remove from oven, cut into 1/2 slices and dip in warmed spaghetti sauce
Yum Yum

Scallops with Creamy Fresh Tomato Sauce and Pasta

2 pints cherry tomatoes
2T olive oil
1 generous pinch dried chopped garlic

Roast in oven at 400 for 30 minutes
remove and scrape all the good stuff into a sauce pan.

Cook the pasta according to package directions

To the tomatoes add:
1/2 cup 2% milk
1/2 cup chicken stock or
1/2 packet of seasoning from ramen noodles (chicken variety)
and 1/2 cup hot water from the pasta
Using a stick blender, puree the mixture until smooth, place on low heat to warm.

In a saute pan, add 2 T butter and 1T olive oil
Heat until the foam has dissapated
Add scallops (that have been thawed and patted dry)
sear on first side for two minutes
Flip and sear on the second side

Toss pasta with the sauce and place scallops alongside.

Mexican Shredded Pork

1 bone-in butt end pork sirloin roast
1 jar of salsa
1T dried garlic
1 Cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste

Put 1/2 the salsa and the spices on the bottom of a crock pot. Put the meat on top and put the remaining salsa over the top of the roast. Cover and cook on high for 6 hours. Part way through I pulled the roast apart where the butcher had cut it and let it continue to cook.

This makes great Mexican dishes like burritos and tamales....

Crab and Fish Artichoke Dip

2/3 c. mayo (I use the regular)
2/3 c. shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 package cream cheese
1/2 cup lump crab meat
1/2 cup cooked white type fish (use your favorite and break into small pieces)
1 jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1/2 tsp Old Bay seasoning
pepper to taste

Mix the mayo and cream cheese together, breaking up the big pieces of cream cheese. Add the cheddar cheese and chopped artichoke hearts, Old Bay seasoning and the pepper. Stir in the fish and crab. Bake at 30 for 30 minutes or so until it is all heated through and bubbly. Serve with whole wheat type crackers. Yummy!

Baked Roast Pork Sandwiches

If you made the roast in the crockpot that is below, here is another way to use the leftovers.

Purchased frozen pizza dough (defrost according to package directions)
leftover pork roast from crockpot pork roast recipe
purchased BBQ sauce

divide the defrosted dough into 8 mostly equal pieces
make a circle (or something resembling one)
Sometimes the dough will get a little dry crust on it from sitting out raising so I put that side on top so it will be folded into the middle of the sandwich

Add about 1/4 cup of meat (make sure there is room to seal the tops!), drizzle with BBQ sauce, pull the edges together at the top and pinch to seal. A little meat and sauce showing is just fine.

Bake on a cookie sheet in a 375 oven for about 20 minutes (you just have to cook the dough.) Serve with extra sauce. These were a hit for after school and even breakfast. Reheating them in the toaster oven worked best.

A Roast in a Crockpot?

I know the first time I thought about this, I thought "Man that sounds weird!" But it depends on how you want to use the meat. I have discovered that pork works best. I use a pork loin (boneless or not). The crockpot I have is now oval in shape instead of circular and that works better too.

1 whole sweet onion (vadalia or equivalent)
1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes
4-5 cloves of garlic coarsely chopped
if your final meal will be BBQ in some form, add about 1/2 bottle BBQ sauce
Put this on the bottom of the crockpot
put in the roast
cover the pot
turn on high and walk away.

After a few hours, things will be getting juicy.
I let this cook all day.

Remove roast from crockpot and transfer all the juices, cooked onions and tomatoes to a saucepan. Reduce by about 1/4 to 1/3 depending on how much liquid is there. Using a stick blender or your food processor, blend the sauce until smooth. Now you have a lovely gravy/BBQ sauce to pour over the meat.

The meat will basically fall apart in chunks, that's what you want and you don't want to slice it. Just put chunks on a plate, cover with the sauce and you are good to go. I serve with mashed potatoes and a veggie. If you have leftovers, you can shred the meat, heat with the sauce you made fortified with extra BBQ sauce in a pan and put on rolls for a great BBQ sandwich. I usually serve with coleslaw I have added some fruit to: raisins, small pineapple chunks, small apple chunks (or even all three).

If you don't add BBQ sauce, I use this meat as a base for a number of Mexican favorites. Burritos, soft tacos or even homemade tamales.