Recently, we had some friends over for dinner, and knowing I wouldn't have time to cook after work AND get Mitchell fed/bathed/down for bed before they came over, I turned to my crock pot. I got one for a wedding gift but hardly ever use it. Like, once a year, maybe? But I'm definitely going to depend on it more in the future. Because, this? Was glorious. And easy.
Southwestern Pulled Brisket
I prepped everything the night before, including browning the meat and combining everything in the insert. I then refrigerated it overnight, took it out the next morning to warm up a bit, and then popped it in the cooker and turned it on before I left for work. When I got home it was done, and the house smelled amazing (poor Dixie probably drooled all day long), and I had to do virtually no work before dinner was served!
Deb's arguably got better pics on her site, but here are mine:
See the meat poking out there on the left? I have a small, circular shaped crock pot (don't know the capacity). If you had a larger oval one this probably wouldn't happen. I used an even smaller piece of brisket than her recipe calls for, because my choices at the store were either slightly less than 2.5 pounds or 4+ pounds. Clearly I opted for smaller and there was more than enough for 4 hungry adults to make several soft tacos each. If I had used a bigger cut I probably would have cut the beef in half so it would all be submerged.
Post shred - just pull it out (mine was literally falling apart after close to 10 hours) and shred with 2 forks. I shredded mine in a stoneware dish because I was going to keep it warm in a very low oven (200) until our friends arrived.
I strongly recommend her suggestion of straining and reducing the cooking liquid. You get a wonderful, rich, flavorful sauce if you do this. I cooked mine on medium heat for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. When it was reduced by about 1/2 (or more, if you have time and want it to be really thick, almost like barbecue sauce), I poured about half of the sauce over the meat and covered it with foil while it stayed warm in the oven, and put the rest in a bowl for topping our tacos. It was so worth that little bit of extra work!
The only thing I'd say about the recipe is that ours was barely even mildly spicy and I used 1 chipotle pepper. I would probably use 2 next time, but that's totally a matter of personal taste. I don't like things super duper spicy, but I think the additional heat would be a nice balance to the sweetness that you get from the molasses in this sauce.
We made soft tacos, but it would be great as the filling for enchiladas or even used on nachos. Yum!
****************************************************
Ok, so I'm not a total food snob but John made a request for a recipe recently that kind of made me cringe. He found it online and e-mailed it to me and it was not in any way appealing to me, but I made it for him one night last week when I had a meeting and he loved it. So I'm sharing it, despite my initial reaction. I'm sure he'd be happy I cooked like this more often.
Here are the ingredients: chili, shredded hashbrowns, cilantro and cheddar cheese
Basically you pour some chili in a shallow baking dish, chop up some cilantro and mix the potatoes & cheese together, top and bake (425 for 20-25 minutes).
John likes things almost burnt on top, so he reports that he turned on the broiler at the end so his cheese and hashbrowns would get nice and crunchy. Admittedly, the ingredients for this dish cost me less than $10, and only because I was out of shredded cheese. And I have most of the bag of hashbrowns left. If you have some leftover chili on hand (we usually have some in the freezer), it would be even cheaper, so from a budget meals standpoint this one would definitely qualify. You could easily make 4 portions of this if you had another can or container of chili, so $2.50/serving (or less, depending on what you already have in your fridge) isn't bad.
It just smacks of Semi-Homemade to me, which is I guess is my hang-up. But I need to get over myself. It was an easy, fast and satisfying meal for my husband and I'll probably make it for him again sometime. So, there's your ringing endorsement.
For some reason I cannot link to the recipe. It came from http://www.delish.com/ and was called Cheesy Hash Brown Bake if you want to search it.
**************************************************
Last but not least, no pictures, but I made The Pioneer Woman's Beef Stew with Mushrooms last week as well, and it will definitely be added to my rotation. We both loved it. I served it over whole wheat egg noodles, but I'd say something a bit more substantial is better for it. She suggests mashed potatoes; I'd probably just use a thicker cut of pasta. I'd add some other vegetables if I was making it for other people, but since John doesn't like most cooked vegetables I stuck with the straight beef/mushroom combo that the recipe calls for. Next time I make it I might try to be sneaky and mix in some homemade vegetable puree (AKA Mitchell's baby food) ala Deceptively Delicious.
This recipe was warm, hearty, easy and very tasty. The only thing I'd add is to season the meat before you toss it in flour, but I admittedly am an aggressive "salter" when it comes to seasoning, so you might not feel the same way as me. The dish was plenty flavorful; I just found the meat a bit lacking in taste without some salt & pepper. Because I had them, I used two portabellas that I chunked up instead of the whole smaller creminis; otherwise I followed the recipe as it was written.
Make this very soon - it's impressive enough for company but is also perfect for a quick weeknight dinner (especially since we reportedly have 6 more weeks of winter to go). Most of the cooking time is passive, so you can put it on and do whatever it is you need to do for 30-45 minutes. And while you're at it, go visit The Pioneer Woman if you haven't already. She's hilarious!
That's all for now. Bon Appetit!
I'll have to try that crock pot brisket recipe. I used my crock pot for the first time (other than to heat up dip for work parties) last week, and like you said, I don't know why I haven't done it sooner. I prepped the night before and it was so easy. I just did a simple pot roast, but it was nice not having to worry about much when I got home from work that night.
ReplyDelete