New England Pot Roast

The school The Hubble is in has several foreign students in it. Within his group is a student from Poland. With us being so interested in different cultures and enjoying diversity amongst the people we associate with, The Hubble was more than willing to volunteer to be the Polish student's sponsor for the duration of the program.

Of course to me, that meant that I got to introduce the Polish student to American cuisine! Woohoo!! My dilemma was: what to make???

Naturally, I went with pot roast! What says "American cuisine" like pot roast?? But not just any pot roast, no. I was going to make him New England pot roast! And for dessert?? Congo Bars! The Hubble says the Polish student loved dinner. Now I just have to get him to give me some Polish recipes!

On to the recipe!

Ingredients: beef roast, potatoes, onions, carrots, horseradish sauce, salt, pepper, and water.

Generously salt...

And pepper both sides of the pot roast.

Place in a large Dutch oven and brown all sides.

I know this wasn't listed in the ingredients but once the top is brown I like to sprinkle it with Montreal Steak seasoning. Yum!

See how pretty...and yummy?!?!

After all the sides are browned and you've properly seasoned your roast, dump your horseradish sauce on that bad boy.

And just smear it all over the meat.

Now pour in some water. And pay no attention to the fact that I have two roasts in there. I couldn't find one big enough at our grocery store so I got two small ones. But you don't see that second one!

Bring the water to a boil while still ignoring my second roast. Unless you had the same small roast dilemma. Then you can look at my second one because you have a second one as well.

At this point we cover the roast, lower the heat, and let everything simmer for 2 and a half hours. You can now go take a bath, do the dishes, color your hair, read a book...heck, you can even watch a movie during this time!

When the house starts to smell so delicious you can hardly stand it anymore (about half an hour before the 2 and a half hours is up) you want to go start prepping your veggies. Wash your potatoes...

Cut them in half...

And place them in a large bowl.

Peel your carrots...

Chop off the tops...

And the bottoms...

Cut them into four pieces.

Toss them into the bowl with the potatoes.

Take your onion and chop off the top...

And the bottom...

And peel.

Cut it in half one way...

Then rotate it 45 degrees and cut in half the other way...

Yay! We just quartered an onion! Now do this several more times until all your onions are quartered.

Toss those in with the carrots and potatoes.

When the 2 and a half hours are up (oh man that looks good!)...

Dump your veggies in the pot with the meat.

Try to get all the potatoes as covered as possible. Then cover and cook another hour or so until the potatoes are cooked through.

When the potatoes are done remove everything to a platter. If you don't work very fast, cover it with foil to keep it warm.

Now at this point people started arriving so I don't have pictures of this part. But, you want to take about half a cup of the juice out of the pot and put it in a bowl. Whisk in a quarter cup of flour (like with did with the chicken with 20 cloves of garlic). When the flour dissolves, whisk that mixture back into the pot. Bring to a boil for a minute or two to thicken. Now you have a nice gravy to go over your post roast. Serve it up and enjoy!!

New England Pot Roast
Adapted from Betty Crocker BigRed Cookbook

Ingredients: 

• 4 pound beef pot roast
• salt
• pepper
• 1 jar (12-16 oz) horseradish sauce
• 1 cup water
• 8-10 small red potatoes, cut in half
• 8-10 medium carrots, cut in fourths
• 6-8 small onions, quartered
• 1/4 cup flour (for gravy)
• Montreal Steak Seasoning (optional)

 Directions:

1. Generously salt and pepper both sides of meat.
2. Place in large Dutch oven and brown all sides.
3. Sprinkle with Montreal Steak seasoning (if desired).
4. Spread horseradish all over meat.
5. Add water, heat to boiling.
6. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 2 1/2 hours.
7. Add potatoes, carrots and onions, cover and simmer another hour to an hour and 15 minutes, until potatoes are cooked through.
8. Transfer meat and veggies to platter, cover with foil to keep warm.
9. Remove 1/2 a cup of broth from pot. Whisk in flour. Whisk mixture back into pot. Allow to boil for 1 to 2 minutes until thick. Serve over roast and veggies. Enjoy!

Espresso-Walnut Cake

Okay. Today I am going to try to redeem myself as a coffee drinker, lover, holic. I'm sure we all remember the Earl Grey tea cake debacle. Well, I now bring you espresso walnut bars! Woohoo!!

While we are having a little downtime here in the middle of nowhere Missouri while The Hubble is in school, I've decided that the perfect way to make as many treats and sweets I want without gaining back all the weight I lost is to make the stuff and send them off to school with The Hubble! Genius right?? I thought so.

So last Monday was the first time I've been able to concentrate on making something for The Hubble's class since we got here a month ago. I gave The Hubble a list of choices and I was MORE than willing when he selected I make this recipe. See...The Hubble claims to be a tea drinker but he is quickly realizing things are so much better on my side of the fence. I will corrupt him and make him a coffee drinker if it's the last thing I do!! (Cue evil laugh) Muahahahahahahahaha!!

Okay I'm done. Here we go...

Ingredients: flour, brown sugar, walnuts, cinnamon, instant espresso, butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla yogurt, vanilla extract, baking soda, and salt. Whew, I'm out of breath now!

In a small bowl, dump in your tightly packed brown sugar...

Your finely chopped walnuts...

And 1 teaspoon of the instant espresso. I like to use the Starbucks VIA because it's in those nice little packets and you don't have to buy a big jar for a small recipe. And hello?? It's Starbucks! (I'm a fan if you didn't know. If they sold IV's of the Kenya blend I would buy stock!)

But I digress...

Mix those ingredients together and set aside.

Now, get a large microwave safe bowl and nuke your butter until it is melted.

Dump in the sugar. And whisk it all together.

Add in your eggs.

And whisk those in until you have a smooth mixture.

Then whisk in the yogurt, vanilla, baking soda, and salt.

Dump in the flour and the rest of the espresso.

And whisk until just mixed together.

Spray your pan with this stuff. And if you don't have this stuff go ahead and spray the pan with regular cooking spray then dust with 2 teaspoons flour.

Spoon half of your mixture into the bottom of the greased and floured pan. Smooth it out as best you can.

Then take that lovely brown sugar, walnut, and espresso mixture from earlier and sprinkle half of that over the other mixture in the pan.

Now comes the tricky part. You want to pour the rest of the mixture into the pan and spread it.

But you have to be careful not to disturb the brown sugar mixture in the center too much.

Then sprinkle the rest of the brown sugar mixture over the top of the entire thing.

Bake until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool on a cooling rack.

Once they are cool you can cut them up...

Serve, and enjoy!


Espresso-Walnut Cake
Adapted from Cooking Light Magazine

Ingredients

• 1/4  cup  packed brown sugar
• 3  tablespoons  finely chopped walnuts
• 1  teaspoon  ground cinnamon
• 1  tablespoon  instant espresso or 2 tablespoons instant coffee granules, divided
• 5  tablespoons  butter
• 1  cup  granulated sugar
• 2  large eggs
• 2/3  cup vanilla fat-free yogurt
• 2  teaspoons  vanilla extract
• 1/2  teaspoon  baking soda
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 1 1/3  cups  all-purpose flour

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Combine brown sugar, walnuts, cinnamon, and 1 teaspoon espresso granules in a small bowl.
3. Place the butter in a large microwave-safe bowl. Cover and microwave at HIGH for 1 minute or until butter melts. 
4. Add granulated sugar, stirring with a whisk. 
5. Add eggs; stir well. 
6. Stir in yogurt, vanilla, baking soda, and salt. Lightly spoon 1 1/3 cups flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. 
7. Add flour and 2 teaspoons espresso powder, stirring just until blended (do not overstir).
8. Spread half of the batter into the prepared pan, and sprinkle with half of the brown sugar mixture.
9. Carefully spread remaining batter over brown sugar mixture, and sprinkle with remaining brown sugar mixture.
10. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. 
11. Cool for 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack. 
12. Cut into squares.
13. Enjoy!