September 12, 2013

So I Went Out & Bought Me A Crock Pot Slow Cooker!

So it's early Monday morning, Labor Day, but this post will probably publish a few days after Labor Day on the account that it evolves around the day.  It's my day off and you'd think I'd sleep in considering I get up at 5:30 everyday, but instead I'm up at 6:00 in the morning ready to take on the challenge of cooking an old good American favorite....pot roast.  Of course I'll be putting a little Cuban twist to it, not too much of a twist, I'll just be adding some cumin to the recipe.  There's something about the cumin smell that takes me back to my Mother's kitchen.  Ahhhh.

I love to cook, for some reason or another I haven't had the urge to cook.  I guess the length of time that some recipes require has lost its appeal to me.  So I went out and brought me a Crock Pot slow cooker. Yep I did.  This way I still can enjoy a homemade meal without investing too much time in the kitchen.  This will be a first attempt at both the pot roast and slow cooker.

Let's go to the kitchen and get started.
The recipe I followed is from the little cookbook that came with the purchase of my crock-pot.  But before I get to the recipe and although it didn't call for any marinating or pre-seasoning, I went ahead and did just that.  First I pinched a few deep holes in the roast with a steak knife and filled it with garlic gloves (a long-time tip from my beautiful eldest sister Zara).  Then I rubbed the roast with Badia's Complete Seasoning, salt and pepper and covered it with aluminum foil leaving all the seasonings marrying in the refrigerator for a little over 24 hours.
I take the roast out of the refrigerator, set it on the counter as I reach for the little recipe cook-book.  The first step is to brown and drain the roast.  So, I pour some extra-virgin olive oil in a frying pan heat up the oil on medium heat. The roast starts to make a nice sizzling sound as soon as I placed the roast on the pan.  I set it down on the fat part first and sizzled it to a nice crispy brown, then turn it over on its other side for more sizzling perfection.
While the roast was browning, I went ahead and cut up the vegetables:  carrots, celery, potatoes, onions and mushrooms.  Then I rinsed them and set them aside to prepare the mix to cover the roast.
The mixture for coating the pot roast consists of flour, salt and pepper ; this is where I added my own ingredient...Cumin.  Really easy to put together.  Just grabbed my favorite green bowl and started pouring in the ingredients. Then mixed it all together with my clean hands, followed by coating the pot roast and making sure I covered it all.
After coating the roast with the seasoned flour mixture, in the crock pot it goes.  Then top it with the onions and mushrooms I had previously chopped and put aside.  And although the recipe didn't call for it, I poured in a bit of beef stock, covered the pot, set it on low and left it to cook for 10 hours.
Then as if I didn't have enough of cooking, I continued in the kitchen and whipped me up what I call a yummy-mushroom-onion-scrambled-eggs-topped-with-sharp-cheddar-cheese-yum-yum for breakfast!!!  I know that's a mouthful, but it's fun to say!  Let say it again...yummy-mushroom-onion-scrambled-eggs-topped-with-sharp-cheddar-cheese-yum-yum!  Lol!  Anyhoo, I chopped up some onions and fresh portobella mushrooms and sauteed it in pan drizzled with extra virgin olive oil.  Then I added the whipped eggs and let it sit in the pan for a few minutes.  I like big chunky scrambled eggs so I let it sit in the pan as I grate some sharp cheddar cheese on top.   I let it form sorta into an omelet before I start scrambling it, that's how I get my big chunks!
Ready to eat!  Bon appetite!  Buen provecho!  Good eating!
Well, let's fast forward 10 hours and check on the pot roast....it's sure smelling good around the house!  Wow!  Looks good and ready.  Tasty too!
I enjoyed it very much.  The potatoes and carrots where nice and tender.  The pot roast was as juicy and tasty as it looks.  I look forward to cooking more recipe in my new crock pot slow cooker.
Oh before I forget, here is the recipe just in case y'all wanna try it.  It was really so simple for such a hearty meal!

                            Ingredients 


America's Favorite Pot Roast
-3 1/2 to 4 lbs boneless pot roast
-1/4 cup flour
-2 tsp salt
-1/8 tsp pepper
-3 carrots, chopped
-3 potatoes, peeled and quartered
-2 small celery, chopped
-10 buttons mushrooms, sliced  (I used portobello mushrooms)

Directions


-Trim all excess fat from the roast, brown and drain.
-Combine 1/4 cup flour, salt and pepper and coat meat with the flour mixture.
-Place all vegetables except mushrooms in the Crock Pot Slow Cooker and top with the roast.
-Spread mushrooms evenly over the top of the roast.
-Cover and cook on Low for 10-12 hours or on High for 4-6 hours.

Enjoy!  Now be sure you come back and let me know how it turned out for you!

Tootles!

10 comments:

  1. Hope you enjoy your crockpot Mayra - I am still a little hit and miss with mine. I think one of the problems is that I bought one that was a little too big. Cheers

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  2. Enjoy your crockpot! We love ours. I love coming home from work to smell a delicious dinner cooking. Blessings.

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  3. Yum! This meal sounds (and looks!) Delicious!! I havent used my crock pot in a while, but now that autumn is here, its perfect for some yummy fall meals!

    Blessed be!

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  4. How fun. I love my slow cooker. This recipe looks delicious.

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  5. Hi,
    I am visiting from the fun friday blog hop, and want to say thank you for co hosting.
    I am following you from http://www.wabyerley.blogspot.com, you would be most welcome anytime you wish to visit.
    Blog just done this morning so not much on it yet.
    I hope that you have a wonderful day.
    Love and best wishes.
    Anne

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm stopping by from the Fun Friday blog hop. I'm already following your lovely blog!
    Thanks
    Angie
    godsgrowinggarden.com

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Mayra! I came across your blog at the "Fun Friday Blog Hop". I'm so glad I did. I'm following you via Google Friends Connect. Please follow me back. I know I'm going to gain weight following you because your food looks so scrumptious! Have a great Sunday!

    Vashti
    http://vashtiqvega.wordpress.com

    ReplyDelete
  8. Yummy! I have a crock pot too and I guess it's getting lonely already.


    Luanne @ Whoosparty?
    http://whoosparty.weebly.com/

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  9. Oh, yum! I am pinning this for later and sharing. I love the way the crockpot makes everything so magically delicious. I just started coating my meat with a flour mix before frying it up to seal it all in and have that lovely brown sear to the outside...I am definitely going to do the flour mix after the sear. This is just devine looking!

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  10. Looks FANTASTIC!!! I love my crock pot. It makes cooking so much more convenient sometimes and everything always tastes to juicy and tender. Your pot roast looks so yummy. Enjoy!

    -DarkniteV
    http://darknitev.blogspot.com/
    http://vsimprovement.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete

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