Cranberry pot roast and cheesy cauliflower mash

Cranberry Thyme Pot Roast w/ Easy, Cheesy Cauliflower Mash...the utmost in comfort food!

So, with a little pre-planning, this can be assembled in about 3 minutes in the slowcooker and 5 minutes of hands on time with the microwave. It doesn't get any easier...or more yummy, especially when it's 14 degrees outside (seriously, that's what it is...no exaggeration here, unfortunately...)

So, pre-planning...as a busy Mom of two little ones, I don't have time to spend hours in the kitchen. I know, travesty, but that's life these days. Like many of you, we're busy people, work and play and kids and life all get in the way of the time that we have to prepare good, quality food for our families. Enter...pre-planning.  I'm going to be posting more recipes like this in the very near future, as they have become the crutch that I depend on to ensure there is always food in the fridge for lunches and on the table for dinner...yes, I could  order out, but we can't afford it and honestly, end up disappointed by the quality for the cost when we do succumb to the ease of restaurant take-out. Not to toot my own horn, but my food just tastes better, and I know exactly what I put in it...and it's not junk. Sooo...back to pre-planning.  For this to be SUPER easy, you have to have made some cranberry sauce before, and have doubled the recipe, and put about 2 cups in your freezer...remember that next Thanksgiving! (I usually make about 4 times the amount we need...that covers us for a few months!) That's all...not so tough, right? So, what about if you don't have cranberry sauce in the freezer? Well, my friend, this is your lucky day. It will take you approximately 30 minutes longer, but only about 3 of that is hands on...and next time you will have pre-planned and you'll have some there, won't you?

Ok, so assuming you have no cranberry sauce in your freezer...you need to make some. Rinse your 2 bags of cranberries (we're pre-planning for next time...remember?!?!) and put them in a saucepan. Add a cup of water (or cider beer if you are feeling adventurous), a couple squirts of citrus (your choice, I usually mix lemon and orange, about 1/3 cup), 1 chopped up apple or pear, a little cinnamon, 1 tsp of stevia glycerite (or 1 cup of sugar) and simmer it all until the cranberries pop and it thickens up a bit. Taste it...if it's still bitter, add a little more sweetener. It should take about 30 minutes...

Now, cool it a bit and portion it into 1 cup portions (this makes 4 portions-ish) and freeze all but 1 cup, for today's pot roast, of course...

Now, onto the Pot Roast...

2-3 lb chuck shoulder roast, boneless, thawed or frozen**

1 cup cranberry sauce, fresh or frozen**

1 1/2 cups brewed coffee, hot or cold

1 onion, sliced thinly

3-4 carrots, daikon, parsnip (peeled and cut into 2 inch sections)

Layer the veggies (if using) and onion into the bottom of your slow-cooker. Add the meat. Sprinkle liberally with salt, pepper, ground mustard and onion powder. Turn meat over and pour coffee and cranberry sauce over the meat. Season on bottom side with salt, pepper, mustard and onion powder.

Cook on high for approximately 8 hours or until the meat can be pulled apart with a fork.

**If you are using a frozen chunk of meat, add a couple additional hours. If you are using cranberry sauce from the freezer, add it to the top of the meat after you season it, instead of before. It can be like a cranberry ice cube...it will melt! :)

Cheesy Cauliflower Mash (one bowl and 24 minutes...)

1 head of cauliflower

3-4 Tbsp of butter, depending on the size of your cauliflower.

1/3 c. heavy whipping cream

4 ounces (approximately 1/3 block) Mediterranean Herb Cheese (I use Cracker Barrel)

Wash your cauliflower and take off all the green leaves. Cut out any brown spots. Chunk it up into smallish pieces, so that it will all fit in your microwave safe container (preferably glass) with a lid. I use Pyrex. DON'T ADD WATER!!! Cut your butter into 4-5 pats and lay it on top of the florets. Pour the cream over the top. Put on the lid and microwave that bad boy for 22 minutes. This is NOT a typo...it takes awhile.

If you think your microwave is super fast, feel free to check it at 15, 18, 20 and then finally 22, but make sure it is done...you want it super tender and even beginning to get little brown marks on some of the top florets.

Once you get at least a couple brown edges, remove from the microwave and top with the cheese (which you chopped into small chunks while the cauliflower was cooking) and put the lid on it for 1 minute to allow the cheese to melt. Use an immersion blender, regular blender or food processor to puree your cauliflower into the most beautiful, cheesy mash you've ever had.

On the off chance that you had a very small head of cauliflower and your mash seems too mushy or watery, simply put it back in the microwave for 4-5 minutes with the lid off. It should thicken right up.

Notes -

1. You can shred your cheese, I just hate grating cheese.

2. The meat it also really good with a healthy helping of thyme.

3.  For a sweeter meat, you can double the cranberry sauce.

4. This would probably work without the coffee, using a dry red wine or even beef stock instead, but it probably won't be as good.

5. Double down by making a double roast and use the leftovers the next night to make an easy Roasted Veggie Beef stew (recipe coming soon).

Cinnamon Apple Pork Loin Roast (slow cooker! gluten free!)

2-3 lb pork loin (would probably work with tenderloin too)
4 Tbsp cider vinegar
1/3 c dark brown sugar
1/2 Tbsp salt
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp rosemary
3-4 apples (I used golden delicious and granny smith)
1 onion
1/4 c half and half or heavy cream (for sauce)


(I always have to defrost my meat, which makes step 1 easier...)

Defrost the pork loin and after is is about 25% defrosted, go ahead and do step 1 (below)...if the pork is still mostly frozen and you use a good serated knife (I use a bread knife...) it will be 1000 times easier.

1. Cut through the pork, almost like you are slicing it, but leave about an inch uncut at the bottom. I had about 8 cuts in mine. (Kind of like a Hasselback potato?)

2.  Combine all ingrediants, excluding the apples, onions and half and half in a bag and marinate the sliced pork overnight, or up to 48 hours.

3. Morning of cooking - Slice 2 of the apples into sixths(ish) if they are large or quarters if they are small, and do the same with the onion. Throw those in the bottom of the crock pot. Sprinkle some cinnamon over the apples.

4. Slice the remainder of your apples into thin pieces (I used my apple peeler/corer/slicer for this part).

5. Remove the meat from the marinating bag (don't throw it away!) and begin sliding the apple slices into the slits in your meat. I put about 3 half slices into each cut. Place the stuffed meat into the crockpot and dump the remaining marinade over it.

6. Cook on high for 6-8 hours or low for 10-12.

7. (Optional) About 20 minutes before serving, carefully remove the roast and strain out the apples and onions. Puree them in a food processor to make a savory applesaucey kind of thing. Add more cinnamon, should you so desire.  Take the liquid from the slowcooker and pour it into a saucepan. Reduce it by about 1/3 and then add your cream or half and half. Taste it and add salt and pepper if needed.

Serve on a pretty platter surrounded by veggies, if you want to impress people...I served it with roasted butternut squash and cranberries. It was a big hit...

Carnitas...gluten free, low carb

According to my hubby...this (although not labor intensive AT ALL), is in his top 5 recipes that I have ever made. High praises. I served it with some chopped peppers that were roasted in the remaining pan juices (after I removed the pork) for about an hour w/ salt, pepper and minced garlic! Definitely a keeper!

3-4 lb pork loin, chopped into 4 large chunks
1 Tbsp Salt
1 Tbsp Oregano
1/2 Tbsp black pepper
1 tsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 tsp minced onion
1 tsp paprika
7 bay leaves
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
fresh lime slices for serving

Mix all the spices except the bay leaves and then roll the pork chunks in the spice mixture. Add the chicken broth to a large dutch oven (5-7 qts is ideal) or a slowcooker. Add the bay leaves to the broth and then nestle the pork into the broth. 

Roast at 350 (if using a dutch oven) for 3 hours. Shred the meat and stir, replace lid and return to oven for another hour. If you are using the slowcooker, cook on high for 6-7 hours, shred and cook for another 2 hours or so.

Serve topped with fresh squeezed lime juice, either alone or in tacos or on nachos. Easy & delicious!

Slow Cooker Corned Beef

1 Corned Beef – 3.5-5 lbs
Seasoning Packet from corned beef
2 bottles of gluten free beer (I used Red Bridge) OR 1 bottle of beer and 12 oz of water
Spicy Mustard
1 Tbsp (heaping) of minced garlic
2 bay leaves
6 peppercorns – whole

1 onion, chopped into large pieces

Baby carrots, 2 cups (optional)

Heat your slowcooker/crockpot to high.

Cut the fat layer off the corned beef…seriously, it’s nasty if you leave it on. I recommend a combo of scissors and a serrated knife for this task. It isn’t fun, but it’s worth it.

Slather the corned beef with the mustard – I used a spicy horseradish version (Kroger brand). Probably around ¼ of a cup, but you can’t really use too much!

Put the “mustarded” corned beef into the crockpot. Dump seasoning packet on top. Add bay leaves, peppercorns, garlic and onion. Pour beer (or beer and water) around the beef.

Cook on medium for 6 hours. Add the carrots, if you want and turn up to high for remaining 2-3 hours.

Remove from liquid and serve the carrots and beef (sliced against the grain) with your choice of mustard.

(Goes very nicely with braised cabbage and bacon).

Smoked Pork Shoulder

Pork Shoulder – Smoked
1 pork shoulder, 12-15 lbs, cut into 6-8 “chunks” by the butcher…yes, they look at you funny when you ask for this, but they will do it…

Dry rub:

1 Tbsp Salt

1 Tbsp Pepper

1 Tbsp Onion Powder

½  cup brown sugar –OR -- ¼ cup brown sugar splenda

1 Tbsp Oregano

½ Tbsp Garlic Powder

½ Tbsp Paprika

(If you have another spice(s) that you like and want to add…probably wouldn’t hurt. This is by no means an “exact” science)

Remove the plastic from your pork pieces and carefully cover each piece with the dry rub…make sure to get into all the nooks and crannies of your pork pieces. I usually do this in a bowl…be generous. If you need to make more rub, that’s ok.

Refrigerate pork pieces (I use the Styrofoam that it comes on and just wrap it up tightly in press and seal, place it on a tray so that when – not if, but when – it leaks, it doesn’t get all over your lettuce) for at least a few hours, preferably a day or two.

 Heat grill to medium heat and add wood chips (our favorite is apple, but hickory is nice too). Place pork on grill and turn every 10-15 minutes or so until all the sides of your pork chunks are browned and caramelized. Add more wood chips if necessary. (When we did this, it took about 1 hour). Once all pieces are browned, remove from grill and transfer to crockpot.  Dump any juice that has escaped into your bowl and pan on top. Don’t add any other liquid!

Cover and cook over low crockpot heat for 8-10 hours (we did this overnight). Once done, remove all bones, as the meat will FALL off of them. Serve immediately or refrigerate until you are ready to serve. To reheat a lot of it – put it on a pan in the oven at 350˚ for 20-30 minutes / 300˚ for an hour. To reheat a small portion, the microwave works spendidly…

 

Hoisin (asian) Pork Wraps w/ Carrot Slaw

Delicious...tastes like something you would get at PF Changs.


6 pounds pork butt, trimmed of thick fat & cut into 4-5 chunks
2 tsp pepper
6 cloves garlic, smashed
1 large piece fresh ginger (approx 5 inches) chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
1 batch Hoisin Sauce (below)

Hoison Sauce
Mix all ingrediants until slightly combined...if using for Pork Shoulder, don't worry about everything being smooth, it will all even out in the slow cooker.
1/2 cup Soy Sauce
1/4 cup Peanut Butter
2 Tbsp Blackstrap Molasses
4 tsp Rice Wine Vinegar
1/4 tsp Garlic Powder
2 tsp Sesame Seed Oil
30 drops Siracha (asian hot sauce)
1/4 tsp Pepper

Add pork shoulder chunks to slow cooker. Mix Hoisin Sauce with remaining ingrediants. Dump sauce on pork and smush around to ensure that every piece is covered.
 
Set Slow Cooker to high for 6-8 hours (if yours works correctly. Mine is slow, I have to leave it on high for 9-11 hours), or low for 8-10 hours (again, if your works correctly).
 
Before serving, remove pork from sauce and shred with 2 forks. Meat should be fall apart tender. Ladle a couple scoops of sauce into the dish you are serving the pork from to ensure moistness. Serve with low carb tortillas and some type of asain-y slaw. I served mine with shredded carrots and radishes doused in low carb ginger dressing. Delicious!