Winter Comfort Food: Slow Cooker Italian Pot Roast!

Good morning folks! Hope this Sunday morning finds you doing well. I couldn't sleep this morning due to all kinds of stressful situations giving me some pretty weird/ disturbing dreams, so I decided to head downstairs into my kitchen - the one place in my house where I can forget about whatever is bothering me and just relax. I whipped up a batch of Anna Olson's Apple Cheddar Walnut scones and now I'm enjoying them with some Bailey's and coffee as I write this post. Needless to say, I'm feeling much better after spending some time in my kitchen and enjoying a delish breakfast, so I am ready to get this post going!

The other day I was making the rounds of my favorite food blogs to see who had posted what and I came across this amazing looking recipe for Italian Pot Roast posted on Jen's blog Food & Whine. The pictures looked so delicious that I just had to make it - the only catch was that I was feeling a little lazy and felt like trying it out in the slow cooker. So here is my rendition of Jen's Italian Pot Roast recipe adapted for use in a slow cooker!

Slow Cooker Italian Pot Roast
Adapted from Food & Whine

Ingredients:

• 3 lb beef pot roast
• 3-4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
• 1 large onion, peeled and chopped
• 2 cups beef stock
• 2 1/2 cups canned crushed tomatoes
• 1 1/2 cups good red wine
• 1 tbsp white sugar
• 1/4 cup fresh italian parsley, roughly chopped
• 1 1/2 tbsp each fresh rosemary and thyme, roughly chopped
• fresh ground black pepper (no need for salt - this dish is plenty salty enough with the tomatoes and the beef stock)

Method:

1. In a large heavy skillet, heat 2 tbsp of the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the pot roast and sear on all sides - you want the nice carmelized brown bits as this is what gives the roast flavour and locks in the juices. Once browned on all sides, remove the roast to a  plate.
2. Add the remaining olive oil to the skillet and add the onions. Cook, stirring until softened. Add the red pepper flakes and garlic and cook stirring constantly until the aroma is apparent, but the garlic isn't browned.
3. Remove onion mixture from the heat and mix with the red wine,  sugar, crushed tomatoes, beef stock, and fresh herbs.  Stir together well.
4. Place the seared roast into the slow cooker and then carefully pour the sauce mixture over top of the beef. Place lid on slow cooker and cook on low for 7.5 - 8 hours.
5. When the roast is done, remove it to a plate. While it rests, strain the liquid from the slow cooker into a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and add a mixture of 1tbsp cornstarch and 2 tbsp water (called a slurry) to the gravy. Stir until thickened to desired consistency. Serve over thick slices of roast beef with garlic mashed potatoes.

 This is such an easy and delicious meal - very little babysitting required because the slow cooker does all the work. :) And this is perfect comfort food for this cold, dready winter weather we've been getting.

Happy Cooking my Friends!

Holiday Recipe Roundup!

Its that time of year again! The time when you have to host the obligatory Christmas cocktail party, family dinner, or bring a salad or side dish to someone else's house. This post will give you some great ideas for menu planning. I've included a selection of Appetizers & Snacks, Sides, Mains, and of course Desserts/ Holiday Baking. Lets get started!

Appetizers & Snacks

• Crunchy Roasted Chickpeas
• Roasted Garlic & Feta Walnut Dip
• Ultimate Chicken Wings with Curry Lime Butter
• Smoked Salmon Canapes
• Spinach & Date Filo Triangles
• Italian Stuffed Mushrooms
• Rosemary Parmesan Coins
• Hot Crab & Artichoke Dip
• Addictive Rosemary Pecans
• Sauteed Mushrooms on Crostini
• Boconcini Tied with Proscuitto
• Chutney Baked Brie
• Filo Wrapped Baked Brie
• Herbed Goat Cheese Bites

 Side Dishes

• Blackberry & Avocado Salad
• Salad with Strawberries, Feta & Homemade Croutons
• Best Stuffing Ever
• Golden Mashed Potato Casserole
• Vegetable Gratin
• Salad with Pears, Candied Pecans & Goat Cheese

 Mains

• Pork Tenderloin with Maple Onion Cream
• Delicious Turkey & Gravy
• Red Wine & Balsamic Roasted Chicken
• Roast Beef

Dessert & Holiday Baking

• Ginger Spice Sandwich Cookies with Lemon Cream Filling
• Gingerbread Cupcakes with Carmelized Mango Buttercream
• Cranberry Pear Linzer Tart
• Maple Pecan Shortbread
• Peanut Butter Cups
• Toblerone Cheesecake
• Christmas Stollen
• Gingerbread Biscotti
• Easy Oreo Truffles
• Eggnog Pudding
• Chocolate Tea Cakes with Earl Grey Icing

I hope this helps you find some great ideas for your holiday menu planning! These recipes have been hits at past gatherings for me, so I know you'll love them.

Happy Baking my Friends!

Blog Love - Liebster Award!

Well I'm pretty excited! Teri from The Freshman Cook just awarded me the Liebster Blog award. It totally made my day to be recognized by a fellow food blogger - so thanks Teri. :)

A liebster blog award is given to an awesome blog that has under 200 followers, but is on their way to many more! Part of this award is to pass it on to five other up-and-coming bloggers that meet the above criteria. I'm passing it on to the following awesome bloggers:

1. Lisa of Cook Lisa Cook
2. Merut of Eating with my Mouth Open
3. Shelley of C Mom Cook
4. Marcellina of Marcellina in Cucina
5. Ellie of The Bitchin' Kitchin'

I will contact each of you to let you know about your award! The rules are that you pass it along to your five favoriet , under 200 members blogs and mention and link back to the person who awarded the Liebster to you.

Congrats to all of you! Keep up the awesome blogging. :)

November 2011 Daring Bakers' Challenge - Filipino Desserts!

I'm on a roll! I've completed two Daring Bakers' Challenges in a row!! October's challenge was to make Povitica and it was a great success.  This month was equally successful! Catherine of Munchie Musings was our November Daring Bakers' host and she challenged us to make a traditional Filipino dessert - the delicious Sans Rival cake! And for those of us who wanted to try an additional Filipino dessert (not me unfortunately - ran out of time!!), Catherine also gave us a bonus recipe for Bibingka which comes from her friend Jun of Jun-Blog.

 This was probably the quickest and easiest DB challenge I've participated in since I started the club back in August of 2010. While being quite easy and not really containing any new techniques, the end result was absolutely delicious and I got to experience a desert from a different culture that I've never had the privilege of tasting. This is something that is easily achievable in an evening (I started at 8pm and finished by 10:30) and uses pretty basic ingredients.

The recipe has two main components: baked meringue layers (four of them), and french buttercream. Both recipes can be found on the Daring Kitchen website.  I'm not going to reproduce it here. I omitted the cocoa powder in the meringue and flavoured the buttercream with vanilla extract. If I was going to make this recipe again (which I think I will!!), I would bake the meringue layers longer to crisp them up a little bit more, but either way, this dessert was delish. Even hubby enjoyed it thoroughly!

 Hope you enjoy the pics!! I certainly had a great evening making this last night and I wasn't exhausted by the time I was finished, so that is always a nice thing. :)

 Thanks Catherine for a wonderful challenge! I love the creativity of this challenge and the lovely flavours. I have just one regret: that I didn't have time to try both dessert recipes!! Eventually I will get around to it. :)

Happy Baking my Friends!

Brown Butter Pumpkin Layer Cake

 I have a whole load of pumpkins in my house leftover from pumpkin carving. I was sitting there the other day trying to figure out what to do with them so they don't go to waste when I realized I had scanned a number of recipes from my friend D's scads of Fine Cooking magazines and surely one of them used pumpkin! Sure enough, I found this recipe for pumpkin brown butter cake. The recipe was a bit of work, but if you make it over a couple of days, it is definitely do-able without exhuasting yourself.

 I was so pleasantly surprised by the amazing flavour and texture of this cake. My friend D and her hubby dubbed this to be one of the best cakes they've ever eaten and I would have to agree!! Its awesome! Try it out this weekend - it is worth the effort. Make sure you have someone to share it with though - it makes a lot of cake!!

 Brown Butter Pumpkin Layer Cake
Recipe adapted from Fine Cooking Magazine (Finecooking.com)

Ingredients:

•  1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree (buy it canned, or make your own)
• 6 oz unsalted butter
• 9 oz all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 3/4 tsp fine salt
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 1 recipe of topping (see recipe below)
• 1 recipe of frosting (see recipe below)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Butter and flour two nine inch cake pans, line the bottoms with parchment paper and butter the parchment.
2. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook, swirling the pan occasionally until he butter turns a nutty golden-brown - watch it carefully to ensure it doesn't burn. Pour into a small bowl and let stand until cool but not set, about 15 minutes.
3. In a medium bowl, whick the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and cloves. In a large bowl whisk 1 1/2 cups of pumpkin puree with the sugar and brown sugar, eggs, and buttermilk until very well blended. With a rubber spatula, stir in flour mixture until just combined. Gently whisk in the brown butter until completely incorporated. Divide mixture evenly among the pans.
4. Bake the cakes until a tester inserted into the cakes comes out clean - about 28 minutes. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes. Turn the cakes out onto cooling racks and peel parchment from the top. Allow to cool completely.
5. To assemble the cake, put one cake layer on a cake plate. Spread 1/2 cup of the frosting onto the top of the cake layer and sprinkle with 1/2 cup of the topping. Top with the second cake layer. Frost the top and sides with the remaining frosting. Arrange the remaining topping in a ring 1 1/2 inches from the edge of the cake. Serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate for up to two days. Serve at room temperature.

 Nut Topping
Recipe adapted from Fine Cooking Magazine

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup sliced almonds
• 1/3 cup walnuts
• 1/2 cup roasted pepitas
• 2 tbsp firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp fine salt
• 1 1/2 tbsp crystallized ginger

Method:

1. Melt the butter in a heavy 12 inch non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add nuts and pepitas and cook until nuts begin to brown and pepitas begin to pop. Sprinkle in brown sugar and salt and stir until the sugar melts and the nuts are glazed. Stir in the ginger. Remove from the heat and let the mixture cool in the skillet.

Frosting
Recipe adapted from Fine Cooking Magazine

Ingredients:

• 4 oz unsalted butter
• 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 5 oz icing sugar

Method:

1. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, swirling the pan occasionally until the butter turns a nutty golden, brown. Pour into small bowl and let stand until the solids settle at the bottom of the bowl, about 5 minutes. Carefully transfer the bowl to the freezer and chill until firm, about 18 minutes. Using a spoon, carefully scrape butter from the bowl, leaving the browned solids at the bottom, discard the solids.
2. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and the cream cheese and brown sugar on medium high speed until light in colour and brown sugar has dissolved. Gradually beat in the icing sugar and continue beating until fluffy, 1-2 minutes. 

I've linked this post up with Whatcha Baking Wednesdays over at Cajun Sugar Pie. Head over there to check out some of the other yummy desserts fellow food bloggers baked up this week. :)

I hope you enjoy this cake like we did!

Happy Thanksgiving weekend to my American readers!! Hope you have a wonderful holiday weekend.

Happy Baking my Friends!

Mississippi Mud Pie

 Hi Friends! I am trying to be a better person and blog more frequently so you have some delicious recipes to check out on this site. While I'm not necessarily doing that much better, you have to admit, I've improved slightly! Last month I even participated in the Daring Bakers Challenge for the first time in a while annnddd I have plans to participate in this month's challenge too! Go me. Ohhhh and one more thing to brag about: I am trying to be more technologically savvy - I got Twitter! Can you believe it?? If you want to follow, click on the follow me button on the right hand side of my blog. :) Woot!

Its not that I haven't been cooking and baking - oh, that doesn't cease around here... I just haven't been photographing things and when I do get inspired to take photos, I take photos of the beginning stages and then get too lazy to take photos of the finished food. :( I'm not really quite sure why this lack of motivation is going on, but I am trying to improve!! So you can imagine my joy when I finally managed to photograph some finished baked goods: I made this Mississippi Mud Pie on Rememberance day weekend.  And I'm blogging about it already because I'm excited to share such a yummy recipe with you!

 Mississippi Mud Pie
Recipe adapted from Gordon Ramsay's World Kitchen

Ingredients:

• 7 oz (200g) graham crackers
• generous 1/4 cup lightly salted butter, diced
• 2 oz (60g) good-quality semisweet chocolate, chopped (I just used chocolate chips)
• 6.5 oz good-quality semisweet chocolate, chopped (I just used chocolate chips)
• generous 3/4 cup butter, diced
• 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
• scant 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• scant 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• generous 3/4 cup heavy cream
• another generous 1/2 cup heavy cream, well chilled
• 2-3 tbsp confectioners sugar, to taste
• chocolate shavings, to finish

Method:

1. To make the base, whirl the graham crackers in your food processor until they form fine crumbs. Tip into a large bowl. Melt the butter and chocolate together in a heatproof bowl in the microwave (my microwave has a melt chocolate and melt butter function that gently melts delicate things like chocolate and butter than burn easily, if your microwave doesn't have this function, do this in a double boiler on your stove). Mix until smooth, pour onto the graham crumbs and mix until evenly combined.
2. Tip the crumb mixture into a 9" tart pan with a removable base. Using the back of a spoon, press the mixture into the base and up the sides of the pan to cover evenly. Chill to allow the base to firm up. Preheat oven to 350F.
3. To make the filling, melt chocolate together in a heatproof bowl in your microwave (same story as in step 1). In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the eggs and brown sugars together until thick and doubled in volume. Whisk in the cream, then fold through the melted chocolate and butter.
4. Pour the mixture over the cookie base and bake in the oven for about 45 (mine too just over 50 minutes) minutes until just firm. Allow to cool completely before removing from the pan (if making in advance, remove from the fridge at least 30 minutes before serving as chocolate filling will set and harden when cold).
5. For the topping, whip the cream with confectioners sugar and a splash of vanilla until it holds soft peaks. Spread over top of the cooled pie and finish with a scattering of chocolate shavings. Cut into slices and serve.

This is a fairly easy dessert to make and is great to serve to company because it tastes great and your guests will think you put in a load of effort. Maybe some of my American friends will incorporate this into their Thanksgiving menus this weekend??!!! :D

Happy Baking my Friends!

Jane's Yummy Bread for SRC!

 Secret Recipe Club... what a great thing! I look forward to it every month and agonize over what I'm going to make. This month I was assigned Jane - Adventures in Dinner. Jane is a teacher and a mother, so you know what that means! She is busy. I am always so amazed at women who have a family and a career and a blog... I mean, its enough work to have a family or a career, but do it all at once, then add a blog to that? Wow! I'm impressed!

And I was even more impressed as I started browsing through recipes on her blog. I settled on this amazing looking bread that Jane actually made because the rosemary potato loaf at the store cost almost $7 per loaf. I can't blame her for wanting to make her own - especially because this recipe was so delicious. Oh, and did I mention how easy it is? You can make this delicious bread in under two hours. Woot!

Rosemary Potato Bread
Recipe adapted from Jane - Adventures in Dinner

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp quick rise yeast
• 2 cups warm water, divided
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 4 1/2 cups flour
• 3 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 small white potato, sliced paper thin
• coarse salt
• fresh ground black pepper

Method:

1. Combine the honey, yeast and one cup of the warm water in a bowl. Mix together gently and let stand 5 minutes until the mixture is frothy. Add the olive oil and the remaining cup of warm water. Add the flour and mix together until dough comes together. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead the dough together lightly until it comes together into a smooth ball. Cover with the mixing bowl and let rise for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 350F. Pat the dough out into a rectangle or whatever shape you like. Drizzle generously with additional olive oil and poke holes with your fingers at regular intervals in the dough - this will give the oil somewhere to settle while the dough proofs. Let the loaf proof for 15 minutes.
3. Arrange the potato slices and then sprinkle with rosemary, salt and pepper (use lots of pepper). Bake in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes. Enjoy!

 Thanks Jane for such a delicious and easy recipe. It looks really impressive and would be great to serve to friends and family when they come to visit. It is a light, chewy bread with nice crispy edges. :) Do head over to Jane's blog and check it out when you have a minute - you're sure to find lots of inspiration on what to make for dinner and lots of interesting posts to read.

 If you're interested in joining the Secret Recipe Club, or just want more information, head on over to the great new SRC website and check it out. SRC is a great group of people who are passionate about cooking and baking and connecting with other bloggers. Thanks to Angie - Group C's fearless leader and organizer - I know its lots of work to get everything together and remind all of us delinquents who like to prepare and schedule their posts the night before they're due... Thanks for putting up with people like me Angie!!

Happy Baking my Friends! Hope to see you back soon. :)