Crock Pot Roast Beef

I had yesterday off and thought it would be a great day to put a roast in the crock pot...  Ok, what inspired me was, a few days back my boyfriend and I were in Safeway and he was drooling over a piece of hot Roast Beef in gravy.  Well, I haven't made a roast in a long time, so I decided that enough was enough and I wold go all out and put on a roast...

My friend was over for coffee and got to witness my magic in action.  Ha ha!  Magic I say.  She probably thinks I'm nuts now.  I secretly (or now not so secretly) hate touching meat.  But alas, meat must be handled somewhat.  So she had to witness my delight in repeatedly touching the lovely roast.  Don't get me wrong... I have handled a lot of meat in the past, and can do this.  I just don't like to.  Not my favorite thing.  

Anyways... Crockpot Roast Beef...  There is no real set rules in my kitchen for what goes into it.  But one thing I do like to do is put some sort of veggies into the bottom of the pot.  I think this adds flavor to it and helps to make yummy gravy.

So before the roast goes in, I put in some celery chopped a few times, but left in pretty long chunks.  Peel and chop up a few carrots, big chunks.  Peel and halve and roughly chop an onion into big chunks.  Spread out on bottom of crock pot.  Then I sprinkle in some onion soup mix.  Put in a cup or so of Beef Stock.  Yesterday I threw in a few springs of fresh Savory.  

The roast its self, I gave a rinse.  Stabbed it full of holes with a thin knife and stuffed them with slices of fresh garlic.  (About 3 or 4 cloves.) |All over top bottom and sides, randomly.  Put pepper all over the outside. Ok, sometimes I will sear the roast in a hot pan with oil to brown the outside and seal in the moisture.  This time I didn't.  I figured it usually comes out tender enough out of the crock pot.  You can sprinkle on more herbs or spices if you want.  Because I used Onion Soup Mix, I didn't add any salt to anything.  It was salty enough.  I put another sprig of Savory on top.  and dusted a little more onion soup mix on it.  You can also just use onion powder if you want.  Whatever floats your boat.

Into the Crock Pot.

Put a lid on it.  Pug it in and set it to Low.  Now, Forget about it.... For about 8 hours.  Or if you put it on High, then leave it for 4 hours.  Let the crock pot do it's magic!

In about 8 hours you will lift the lid to see this steaming beauty!

So last night to go with my roast I cooked Butternut Squash.  Just cut in half, seeds scooped out, and into a casserole dish.  I dab butter here and there all over it and sprinkle it over with salt and pepper. You cold put in a little splash of water if you want.  Cover with tin foil.  Bake at 350" until tender... (It takes my oven over an hour I think).

Also had Mashed Potatoes.  Peel, quarter, and boil until fork tender, Drain.  Throw in some butter, whipping cream (or milk), salt and pepper and mash.  Also good with a some dill sprinkled on top.  Yummm!

Of course we needed cooked carrots with butter and dill.  They go so well together.

Then I got all ambitious and attempted Yorkshire Pudding.  Oh yeah.  Something I haven't done for several years.  I will post the recipe separately as soon as I can.  I just love Yorkshire Pudding with roast and gravy.  Mmmm!

Oh yes!  Lets not forget the gravy.  Gravy is pretty easy.  After I took the roast out of the crock pot, I strained the juices and veggies.  The liquid went into a pot.  And back on to the stove top to be brought to a boil.  You can thicken it with flour and water shaken in a jar, or you can use a gravy browner.  I used a gravy browner for the first tiem ever last night and it came out really nice.  I just sprinkled it over the boiling broth and whisked it until it was thickened.  I didn't need to add anymore spices or salt, because of the onion soup mix.  Easy and good to go.

Oh yeah!  We also had my Wicked Greek Salad with our meal!  
http://thekitchenexpedition.blogspot.ca/2013/08/wicked-greek-salad-recipe.html

Well, I wish I had taken more pictures, but I was too busy preparing and by the time I was ready to eat I it was smelling to good to take the time.  Ahhhh!  What a life!

My New Job! The Baker Extraordinaire!

So, I'm rather excited about this!

I have a new job!  I have started working at a lovely little bakery called The Baker Extraordinaire! It's a small very homey bakery that grinds their own wholewheat flour and makes wonderful fresh bread, muffins, scones, cookies, and pies, as well as some seasonal things.   The baking is done fresh every day, so what ever you go pick off the shelf will be really yummy.  

 I've worked 4 shifts there and absolutely love it.  The owner arrives in the wee hours of the morning and gets the bread all on the go, and by the time I arrive in the morning I can smell the wonderful smell of baking bread wafting down the street.  Is that not the best smell in the world?  When I walk in the door there is such a homey feel to the place that I feel like I am stepping into someones kitchen.  I just love it.

I have so much to learn, but so far I am learning to make the muffins, scones, and pies among other things such as making up the mixes and prep.Soon we will be starting Thanks Giving and then it's Christmas Baking!

Yesterday I made my first ever Pumpkin Pies.  I've never bothered making them before.  Instead usually just have a slice at my Mom's or something like that.  For some reason, Mission Pumpkin Pie has always kind of scared me...  Well, people, no more!  It wasn't so bad to make after all.  The hardest part was getting it to the oven without spilling it.

I also made Mixed Berry Pecan Muffins, Cranberry Scones, Apple Pie, Apple Crumble, Blueberry Pie, Strawberry Rhubarb Pie, Mixed Berry Pie, and Peach Pie....  never made so many different pies in a day in my life!  Right now, I am feel like I am rather slow, but I hope with time and practice I can pick it up.  We use a dough roller to get the dough to the right thicknesses.  The pie dough is rolled back and forth on this sort of conveyor belt thing making it thinner with each passing.  You need to hit a start button and send it thought to the other side... then hit a stop button before it falls of the end of the conveyor... then back through to the other side.  Back and forth... start button, stop button, start button, stop button.  A different start button for each side depending on which way you are sending he dough.  My fear is hitting the wrong  button and sending the dough flying off the end.  So far it's only happened once.  Yay for the dough roller!

Anyways, I'm really enjoying working there... it's kind of a dream thing for me.  The owner is wonderful and are the coworkers and so far the customer base coming in are really nice.

I'm sure I'll be talking more about my job as time goes on.

Here's a link to their website.  Check it out!
http://www.engr.mun.ca/~brianclaus/bakerex/index.html

Super Dill Pickles

I finally found some pickling cucumbers!  Just the other day we finished the last jar of my Super Dills, so I was really happy to find these cucs at the Farmers Market.  I just wish I had bought more.

Brine

12 Cups Water

4 Cups Vinegar (7%|)

1 Cup Sugar

1 Cup Course Pickling Salt

2 Tsp Pickling Spice, tied in a cheese cloth.

  

Combine ingredients in a large pot.  Stir and bring to a a boil.  Boil 3-5 Minutes.  Left over brine can be stored in the fridge in jars for future use.

Pickles

1 Garlic Clove per Quart

2 Heads Dill, 3 inch stems in tact per quart

8 Lbs Small pickling cucumbers

Pack hot sterilized jars with garlic, dill and cucumbers to within 1 inch of top of jar.  Fill jar with boiling brine, 1/2 Inch from top.  Wipe rim of jar with clean cloth, Place sterilized metal lids on jars.  Screw on metal rings finger tight.

Place jars in a canner filled with warm (120*F - 140*) water.  Then add hot water to cover jars 1 inch above the tops.  Heat the water enough to maintain 180*F- 180*F for 30 Minutes.  Check with candy thermometer to be sure that water temperature is maintained.  

Let stand for 4 or 5 weeks before serving.

I like to halve the cucumber so I can get more in the jar.

I pre-peel a bunch of garlic.  Any unused can be pickled as well or put into a jar and kept in the fridge for cooking.  It keeps pretty good.in a canning jar with a tight lid.

Pack the Dill and Garlic into the hot Jars.  I can't resist adding some extra.

Pack as many cucumbers into the jars as you can, leaving an inch of head space.  It helps to tip the jars a little on their sides. 

 Pour boiling brine over the cucumbers stopping a half inch below the rim.

Wipe rims and place sterilized lids on top of jars.

Put on rims finger tight.

Place jars on rack in canner.

Make sure jars aren't touching.

Lower into hot water bath canner.  Make sure the water is an inch over the tops of the jars.

Put lid on canner.  Ok.  Here's a confession....  I didn't can my pickles this year according to the above instructions.  I found that they didn't come out quite as crunchy as I would have liked, although the flavor was wonderful.   This year, I put my pickles in the canner and let them boil for 10 minutes then removed them from the canner.  I'm hoping that this shorter canning time will leave me with a crisper pickle.  My mother tells me that she doesn't even hot water bath hers.  She just pours the brine over the cucumbers and seals the jars that way.  I'm a little chicken to try that yet.

When time is up, remove from canner and put on a tea towel on the counter to cool.  When they are completely cool, wash and label jars.

 Super Dill Peas

Instead of using pickling cucumbers use peas;

I discovered this a few years back when I had a whole bunch of peas that I needed to use up because I was going out of town and making pickles before I went.  I noticed the peas in the fridge, and thought "why not try pickling them?"  They turned out awesome!

Wash and trim the flower ends off as well as any tough zipper that is sometimes there.   Pack them into the jars with the dill, garlic and brine.  I make them in pints.  Process in the hot water bath for less less time, only 5 - 10 minutes.  I have found that the thinner flatter peas hold their crispness longer.

The color changes some when you can them, but they are delicious!

So here's my pickles for the day.  A little bit of a mishap when I pickled my cucumber.  One of the jars must of had a small hairline crack that I missed in the washing.  It broke while it was in the canner.  I ended up with 4 (5 including the broken one) out of 7 lbs of cucumbers.  

Home Canned Peaches

Yesterday morning my friend dropped off a case of peaches for me.  You really can't beat homemade canned peaches.  It's been a few years since I canned peaches, so I was really excited to do this.

The peaches were so juicy and ripe!  Absolutely beautiful.  They must be one of the prettiest fruits.

Things You Will Need!

Some things that you will need to can your peaches.

Peaches

Granulated Sugar

Lemon Juice

Quart Jars

Rings

Lids

Measuring Cups

Spoon, Ladle

Rubber Spatula

Jar Funnel

Sharp Knife

Large Pot

Kettle of Hot Water

Jar Lifter

Hot Water Bath Canner

I like to get my kitchen all ready for a day of canning by making sure everything is really clean.  After all, your food is going to be going into Jars to be pulled out and eaten at some later time like a cold winters day.

So, I clean and disinfect everything where the food will be prepared. 

I also fill my canner with water and get it heating on the stove so that it is ready to go by the time I have the peaches ready.

Sterilizing Jars!

Wash and sterilize your jars.  You can do this in your dish washer, in the hottest setting with the sanitize setting.  I don't have a dish washer, so I wash and rinse them by hand in the hottest possible soapy water.  

You can either sterilize with the dishwasher in the sanitize setting, or sterilize your jars with boiling water  by leaving them in the boiling water for 10 minutes.  Another method that I use to sterilize my jars is to put them in the oven at 225* for 20 minutes.  Then I keep them warm in the oven until I am ready to use them.  I sterilize the lids in a pot of boiling water for 5 minutes right before I go to use them.

Preparing the Sugar Syrup.

Making the syrup is pretty easy.  Measure your sugar into a pot, add water and bring to a boil to dissolve sugar.  Keep hot until you pack your jars with fruit.  

Light Syrup:  

2 Cups Sugar 

6 Cups Water 

Yields 7 Cups Syrup.  

Medium Syrup:

3 Cups Sugar

6 Cups Water

Yields 6 1/2 Syrup

Heavy Syrup:

4 Cups Sugar

6 Cups Water

Yields 7 Cups Syrup

I really like the Medium Syrup.  This syrup works for preserving other fruit as well.  I've use it when I can Black Berries.  There is another method for syrup that I read about this year that I tried, but you can read this further down!  

Washing Peaches.

Wash your Peaches.  I just load mine into the clean sink.

I wash each one under cold running water, rubbing them in my hands.  This gets off loose fuzz.

Don't they look yummy?  My girls can't resist eating them...

Peeling the Peaches!

Ok, So a lot of people peel peaches by dipping them  in boiling water for 20 - 40 seconds then putting them into a sink of ice water.  The peels come off quite easy if you do it this way.  Just pull them off with a knife.  Easy Peasy!  This can make it go faster if you have a large amount of peaches.  It also helps if the peaches are a little under ripe and the peals are stuck.

So, what I did this time, since I have a very small kitchen with a very small freezer and only one tray of ice, is peel my peaches by hand without dipping them in the boiling water.  This saved me a step too.  Actually since the peaches were pretty ripe the peals mostly came off pretty easily.  I just ran the knife around the center of the peach following the seam.  Gave it a twist to halve it.  Some I left in halves, some I quartered.  Then using the edge of the knife grabbed the edge of the peal and pulled it back.  Most of the peal just pulled off.  The more difficult ones I just peeled with the knife and peeler.  Easy enough to do.  The riper the peaches the easier they peel.

Preparing the peaches.

Ok, so peel, quarter or halve peaches.  Cut out really soft spots and bruises, and put in lemon juice.

Before I started peeling, I dumped a large bottle of lemon juice into a great big bowl.  As I peeled and quartered, I put the pieces into the bowl of lemon juice.  The lemon juice will help the peaches not to turn brown and discolor.  You can keep reusing the lemon juice as you peel and quarter more peaches.

As your bowl fills with peaches you will have to gently push them down and turn them over to make sure that all the peaches get covered in lemon juice.

Packing the Jars

Pack the peaches into the jars to about 1/2 inch from the top of the jar.  No need to rinse off the lemon juice.  Just leave it on.  Use a spoon or spatula to try and move the fruit around to bet as much in as possible.

Pour or ladle hot syrup to 1/2 from top of jar.   Get out any air bubbles by using a butter knife slipped in the jar to move the fruit to release the air bubbles.  I give the jar a gentle sort of swish-shake to loosen them.

Using a fresh clean damp cloth, give the rims of the jars a wipe to remove any fruit or syrup that may be on them.

Place the lids that you prepared ahead of time by boiling for 5 minutes in hot water on the jars.  I use a fork to lift out the hot lids.  Screw on rings to finger tight.  Do not over tighten them.  

Place the jars of fruit into the canner rack.

Lower the jars so that they are covered in an inch of water.  If there is not enough water, then use some hot water from your kettle to top it up.  

Put the lid on the canner, and bring it to a boil.  With my little stove, I have to make sure it is turn on to max to make it hot enough to boil the water.  

Start timing when the canner comes to a boil.  I let mine go for 20 minutes for quarts.  Canning times may vary depending on your altitude.  http://www.recipetips.com/kitchen-tips/t--1396/canning-temperatures-and-processing-times.asp

Turn off canner and remove lid.  Once the bubbling has slowed down, lift jars out using your jar lifters.  They will be very hot.   Sometimes the hot bubbling jars will have some liquid push it's way out.  This is usually ok and just leave them until they are cool.  

I place them in a draft free area on tea towels to protect my counter.  DO NOT TOUCH THE LIDS OF THE JARS!  Just leave the jars to cool on the counter.  As they cool, you will hear the most beautiful pinging and popping sounds of the lids sealing.  This is a most satisfying sound.  When the jars are completely cool you will be able to see the centers sucked down.  Yay!  My first batch is out of the canner.

Second Batch!  Another method!

Ok, so for my second batch that went into the canner, I tried something else that I had read about.  We will make the syrup right in the jar.

Peel and prepare your peaches just like I did in my first batch.  Peel, halve or quarter, remove bruises and put in lemon juice.   This time I left the peaches just halved.

Now for this method we will do something different.  To each quart jar, add 2/3 cups of sugar.  I use the jar funnel to keep the sugar off the rims of the jars and to help me from spilling it on the counter... I can be a messy girl.

Next, pour in some boiling water from your kettle.  Just enough to dissolve the sugar.

Give it a stir to dissolve it.

So you have a bit of syrup liquid in each jar.

Next, pack the fruit into the jars, leaving 1/2 inch head space.

You can see liquid part way up the jars.

Now just top up the jars with boiling water from your kettle.  Leave your 1/2 inch of head space.  With a clean cloth, wipe the rims of the jars free of sugar, syrup or fruit to get a good seal.

Place your sterilized lids and rings on jars.  Finger tight.  Place in hot water bath canner, and can as you did the first batch, starting timer once it comes back up to a boil.

Both batches of peaches.  Syrup method on left, Sugar in Jar in right.

After your jars are completely cooled, you can wash them.  They might be sticky from syrup overflowing.  I remove the rings and gently wash the rings and jars, then replace the rings.  Label your jars with the contents and the dates.  Any jars that don't seal can be refrigerated and eaten.

Now you can enjoy your home canned peaches!  Mmmmmm!  We love ours cold in a bowl with the syrup and whipping cream poured over them.  What a treat.

Giant Stuffed Pizza Pockets ~ Saucy Calzones

This evening I made great big Pizza Pockets for dinner.  Well, I actually always think of them as Calzones, but Calzones don't actually have sauce in them.  Personally, I would rather have my sauce in them then dipping them... but that's just me.

These also work well to make ahead of time and reheat.  They're pretty good cold to bring along for a snack, and they freeze really well.

Pizza Dough

3 1/2 - 4 Cups Flour

1 Tsp Sugar

2 Tsp Salt

1 pkg (2 1/4 Tsp) Active Yeast 

1 1/12 (110*F) Warm Water

1 Tbsp Oil

You can either do this pizza dough in your bread machine on the dough setting, in your Kitchen Aid or mix it up by hand.

In Kitchen Aid mix the dry ingredients, Flour, Sugar, Salt, and Yeast.  Turn mixer onto medium speed and slowly add water, then oil.  If dough is too sticky, add a little more flour about a table spoon at a time.  If dough is too dry add a tablespoon of water at a time.  Let it go on medium speed until it is well blended and forms a ball.  I let the machine knead it for a few minutes, then I turn it out on a floured surface and knead it for a little while longer until it forms a smooth elastic ball.  Place dough in a greased large bowl and turn it over so that the oil coats the ball of dough.  Let it rise for an hour.  Punch down dough, and cut it into 4 pieces, make it into balls and let it rest for 10 minutes.

Dough in greased bowl.

 While Dough is rising, do your stuffing prep.  It's a good time to grate or cube cheese, chop up some veggies and slice your meat.  Get your sauce all ready to go.

Your Choice Of Topping or Stuffings...  It's all up to you!

We like:

Pepperoni

Ham

Onions

Mushrooms

Green Peppers

Cheddar Cheese

Mozza Cheese's

Pizza Sauce,  or I use Campbell's Tomato with Basil and Oregano.

After the dough has risen for about an hour it should be about double in size.  ~ Here's a little tip.  When I let my dough rise, I cover it, and put it in the oven, then turn on the oven light and close the door.  The oven light will create some heat and help your dough to rise.

Punch down dough and divide into for balls.  Let them rest for 10 minutes.

Flatten out dough ball on a floured surface.  Sprinkle a little flour on top.

 Roll dough into a 10 or 11 inch circle.

Trasfer dough to parchment paper lined or greased baking sheet.

Now is the time to put on your sauce.  I love this sauce!!!

Spread the sauce in the middle leaving about an inch around the edges.

On half spread your veggies....

And your meat.

Next add your cheese.

Now pull the topping free half over the toppings.  You can stretch it a little.

Start at one end, pinching and rolling as you go.

Work your way around to the other end.

Cut in some vent holes, and brush with some oil.

This is optional.  You can sprinkle on some spices like oregano or basil and some Parmesan cheese.

I fit 2 per baking sheet.  Let them rest for 1/2 hour before baking.

Bake at 350* for half an our until nicely browned.  Remove to cooling rack and let set for a couple minutes to cool.

Careful you don't burn your mouth!  These are soooo yummy!