Recipe to Reality: Crockpot Pot Roast

My crockpot and I have been getting to know each other this autumn.

One of my very best work friends gave me her old crockpot two years ago and I'm finally utilizing it!

I wish it had a timer feature, but because it doesn't, I try to pick recipes that need to cook for many, many hours while I'm at work.

This was my very first pot roast and I'd say it was very successful. The roast cooked on low for 10 hours and was extremely tender. I only wish I seasoned the meat before adding it to the pot!

I adapted this recipe from Betty Crocker.

Serves 6
Time: 10+ hours
Here's What You'll Need!

• 2 tsp. olive oil
• A 2-2 1/2 pound beef bottom round roast
• 6 medium potatoes cut into chunks
• 2 1/2 cups of baby carrots
• 2 cups sliced white mushrooms
• 1 stalk of celery, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 1/4 tsp. ground thyme
• A 14 oz. can diced tomatoes, not drained (I used the garlic and oregano ones)
• 1 can condensed beef consomme 
• 1 cup V-8 juice

Put it All Together!

1) Heat oil in a medium-sized skillet. Season meat with salt and pepper and brown the meat on all sides (about 10 minutes).

2) Add the potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, celery, and onion to the 4-5 quart crockpot. Season with the salt, pepper, and thyme. Place beef on top of the veggies, and add the liquids- tomatoes, beef consomme, and V-8 juice. 

3) Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours.  

4) If you want when you serve the beef, whisk a little flour into the leftover juices to make a gravy. I made some rice to serve as a bed for my roast.

The best part of this meal was the way the apartment smelled when I came home from work! A great way to save some time on a weeknight meal!

Stay Savory,

Recipe to Reality: Tuscan Bean Soup

Well, New York has truly said its farewells to summer and has welcomed autumn with open arms.

The leaves in the Hudson Valley are truly a stunning sight at this time of year.

Golden yellow, crisp orange, and deep reds are all around.

With these gorgeous leaves comes cool weather which makes it the perfect time for soups and stews.

Here's another delicious soup to add to your collection.

This recipe is adapted from Emeril Lagasse and was found through Food Network Online.

Serves 8
Time: 1 hour and 45 minutes
Here's What You'll Need!

• 1 14 oz. can dark red kidney beans
• 1 14 oz. can cannellini beans
• 1 14 oz. can chickpeas
• 3 tbs. olive oil
• 1 8 oz. container of diced pancetta
• 1 large yellow onion
• 3 celery stalks, diced
• 3 carrots, peeled and diced
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 large potatoes, cut into chunks
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes (I used ones with garlic and oregano too)
• 2 quarts chicken stock
• 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
• 1/4 tsp. ground thyme
• 1/4 tsp. Italian seasonings
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 1/2 lb. elbow pasta
• 2 handfuls of fresh baby spinach
• Parmesan cheese for serving

Looks like a ton of ingredients, but so easy to make and so flavorful!

Put it All Together!

1. In a large soup pot, add the olive oil and the pancetta to render the fat. Cook until crispy, about 3 minutes. 

1. Saute the onion, celery, carrots, garlic, and potatoes for about 3-4 minutes or until soft. Season with salt and pepper.

1. Add the diced tomatoes, kidney beans, chickpeas, and cannellini beans along with the chicken stock.
2. Add the herbs-rosemary, thyme, Italian seasonings, bayleaf, red pepper flakes, as well as more salt and pepper. 
3. Cook for 15-20 minutes (until potatoes are tender) and then add the handfuls of spinach and allow to wilt. (If you want, add some elbow pasta in about 8 minutes before soup is done)
4. Serve with Parmesan cheese and crusty bread and get ready to warm yourself up from the inside out.

I am a huge fan of very hearty soups, so if you like your soup with more broth just add less of everything I added!

Looking forward to more soups and stews as fall leads us to winter :)

Stay Savory,

Recipe to Reality: Trick or Treat Salted Caramel Peanut Bars

This "treat" was absolutely a "trick" for me.

I have never tried to make a bar dessert before, nor have I worked with caramel so I found this one very challenging to get together!

Good thing I had the day off when I decided to make this because if I had tried this on a work day I may have lost my mind!

I found this recipe on Just a Pinch Recipes, but had such difficulty with it I would never attempt it again!

For me, this dessert was extremely difficult to manipulate and wasn't scrumptious enough to go through all the trouble again...

If you still want to make this dessert...

Serves: 12
Time: 1 hour 15 mins.
Here's What You'll Need!

• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup crunchy peanut butter
• 1 14 oz. package of wrapped caramels
• 2 tbs. water
• 1 cup confectioners sugar
• 1 cup marshmallow fluff
• 2 cups salted peanuts
• 1/4 cup candy corn

Put it All Together!

1) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees for baking your crust. Line a 8-inch baking pan with greased aluminum foil. (If you use non-stick foil, you do not need to grease!)

2) Combine flour, brown sugar, butter, and peanut butter in a mixer on medium speed for 1-2 minutes until tiny crumbs begin to form. Press onto the bottom of pan and bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown. Allow to cool completely.

3) Unwrap your caramels...all 40 of them... then melt them over a double boiler. I don't currently own a double boiler, so I boiled water in a pot and used a skillet on top. Worked just fine! Keep stirring it once in a while so it doesn't burn. WARNING: This becomes unbearably sticky!

4) Beat the confectioners sugar with the marshmallow fluff in your mixer. Good luck getting it out!!! Use extra powdered sugar to act as flour to remove the marshmallow mixture onto a flexible cutting board. Mold into a square about the size of your crust. I found this part to be extremely difficult. Everytime I touched the fluffy stuff my hands were completely covered in this stuff. I actually started to feel a little claustrophobic like I couldn't get away! I don't even have any pictures of this because my hands were SO sticky!!!

5) Spread half of the caramel onto the crust (if you can...) and then place the marshmallow "square" on top of the caramel and crust. Pour the rest of the caramel on top of the marshmallow (if you can...) top with peanuts and candy corn and use a piece of saran wrap or parchment paper to push down and condense the bars.

I hope if you decide to make this you have better luck than I, but I found them to be a lot of work for not enough taste.

Too tricky for me!

Stay Sweet,

Recipe to Reality: Hearty Meatball Stew

There's nothing I love more than fall for a number of reasons.

1) Cooler weather! This means I can start pulling out my sweaters, scarves, and leggings!

2) Pumpkin everything! Need I say more?

3) Soups and Stews galore!

Although my husband is not the biggest soup/stew fan, I find it very comforting to make one pot meals that taste great the day of and even better the day after.

This week I decided to make Giada DeLaurentiis' Hearty Meatball Stew, which I have made once before, but this time I made my own meatballs from scratch for the first time and they came out delicious!

Here's What You'll Need! (Adapted from Giada DeLaurentiis' Hearty Meatball Stew)

For Meatballs:

• 1 slice of potato bread, torn into pieces
• 1 lb ground meatloaf mix (beef, pork, & veal)
• 1 egg
• 2 tbs. chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper

For Stew:

• 1 tbs. flour
• 4 tbs. olive oil
• 1 small red onion sliced, about 1 cup
• 1 large red bell pepper, cut into 1/2 inch slices
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp. Italian seasonings
• 2 small red potatoes, cut into pieces
• 1 cup frozen green beans, cut into 1-inch long pieces
• 1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes, drained (I used the one with garlic, basil, and oregano)
• 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 cup white wine

Put it All Together!

1) Put the torn bread and 3 tbs. of the water into a big bowl and use a spoon to mash the bread to a thick paste. Add your ground meat, egg, parsley, salt, pepper, and use your hands to thoroughly combine ingredients. Form the meat mixture into about 14-16 meatballs and store on tin foil until ready to use them.

2) Sprinkle the meatballs with flour, and roll them around to try and coat as much as possible.

3) Heat a medium-sized pot over medium heat for one minute. Then add 2 tbs. of olive oil to your pot.

4) Drop the meatballs into the pot trying to space them a little bit apart.Cook for two minutes until the bottoms and browned, and then rotate the meatballs cooking for another 2 minutes. Continue until all sides are browned and you can't see any more pink. Then remove meatballs from pot and reserve on a plate.

5) Heat another 2 tbs. in the pot and add the onions, peppers, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and Italian seasonings. Cook until soft, about 4 minutes. Deglaze with white wine. 

6) Then add potatoes, beans, tomatoes, red pepper flakes, and chicken broth. Return meatballs to the stew and bring the stew up to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, and cook until meatballs are cooked through and potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. 

I decided to serve my stew in a sourdough bread bowl from Panera instead of over rice, but feel free to be creative with your serving style!

A perfect dish for the incoming autumn weather!

Stay Savory,