Balsamic Roast Beef

I made this a couple days ago and we, very unfortunately, finished off the leftovers today. Hubby is insisting that I make it again this week because it was so insanely, ridiculously delicious. We fought over the leftovers, which I enjoyed on homemade bread and Hubby ate straight out of the container. He's a purist, I suppose. The point is, this is our new favorite beef recipe. It's amazing on a sandwich, by itself, or next to fluffy mashed potatoes. I have a feeling we'll be having this quite often in the future.

Oh, and it's SO easy! Throw it in the CrockPot in the morning and, by dinnertime, you have the most amazing and yummy meal. Okay-ready, set, GO make this!

**Update: We've made it twice now and felt like it needed more of the gravy, so I've edited the ingredients to reflect that change. The original recipe can be found here.

Balsamic Roast Beef
*Adapted from Add A Pinch

1 3-4 pound boneless roast beef (chuck or round roast)
Kosher salt and black pepper
1 1/4 cup beef broth
2/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons honey
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
5 cloves garlic, minced

Place the roast in the CrockPot and sprinkle with kosher salt and black pepper. Mix all the other ingredients together and pour over the roast. Cover and cook on high for 4-5 hours or low for 7-8 hours.

Once the roast is cooked, remove and shred. Pour the gravy into a large saucepan (I just use my dutch oven) and boil on high heat until reduced by half. At this point, you can add the roast to the gravy and serve on sandwiches or you can ladle the the gravy over the meat and some mashed potatoes. Either way, YUM!

Easy, right? Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Root Beer Pulled Pork

We have big news: We are having a little girl! Hubby is terrified and we're both excited. We have a couple of names picked out, but we won't be naming her until she is here. Now we're just preparing the nursery and making lists of all the baby stuff we need to buy-and there is a lot of it!

On to the recipe! I'm no longer meat-averse, but I am HATING all things chicken. Give me a steak or a roast any day, and I even ate a cheeseburger! I haven't had a cheeseburger in many, many years. This recipe, while not beef, was absolutely delicious. And it couldn't be easier. We started with a thawed roast, but next time I'll use a frozen one and cook it for longer. I really believe that low and slow theory is right on.

Slow Cooker Root Beer Pulled Pork

2+ pound pork roast (you can use tenderloin, butt, shoulder, etc.)
1 can or bottle of root beer (we used A&W, but you could also use Dr. Pepper or another brand)
1/2 teaspoon onion powder (or half an onion, thinly sliced)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (or 2 cloves garlic, finely minced)
Freshly cracked pepper, to taste
1 bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce

Place your roast, frozen or thawed, into your slow cooker. Rub onion powder, garlic powder, and pepper into the roast.

Pour your root beer all over the roast.

Cook on low 5-6 hours, or until the meat shreds easily with a fork. Remove the roast to shred it and pour the root beer mixture into a separate bowl. Return the dry shredded pork to the slow cooker.

Pour on your BBQ sauce and mix. We used a Memphis style, because that's what we had on hand, but we prefer Carolina style (more vinegary), so we added a little apple cider vinegar.

Test your pulled pork and add a little bit of the root beer mixture to taste. This will sweeten it up and thin it out a little bit. Serve it up on toasted hamburger buns with corn on the cob and enjoy!

Pulled Braised Beef and Onions

Let me start by saying wow! This was so delicious! And that means a lot coming from me, because I don't like onions. I know, that's weird. Blame it on my dad, who ate an entire jar of pearl onions as a child and then promptly threw them back up, effectively beginning his hatred of onions. We didn't have them in our house and my mom worked very hard to adapt recipes that included the pungent little things. So I think I'm biased. However, I would eat these sandwiches anytime. The cooking beef and onions made our house smell wonderful. It was such an inviting aroma that one of the trick-or-treaters asked if he could come eat dinner with us! Kids are so cute! Anyway, if you have a beefeater (and not the British kind) in your house, make these now! The recipe is beyond easy and so flavorful.

Pulled Braised Beef and Onions
*From Dinner with Julie

Olive oil for cooking
1 eye of round or top round beef roast
2 onions, halved and thinly sliced (I only used one-plenty for me!)
1 1/2 cups beef stock
1 1/2 cups barbecue sauce (we used a vinegary Carolina style, but any one will do)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons grainy mustard (we used dijon)
a few cloves of garlic, crushed

In a large skillet, heat a drizzle of olive oil over medium-high heat and brown the roast on all sides. (Use a splatter screen to prevent a huge oily mess in your kitchen-lesson learned!) Meanwhile, combine all other ingredients except the onions in a slow cooker or ovenproof casserole dish.

Add in the onions.

Top with the browned meat. (Mine isn't too browned because of the oil mess-I gave up!)

Cover and cook on low (if using a slow cooker) for 6-8 hours, or cover and bake at 275-300 degrees for about 6 hours.

Using 2 forks, pull the meat apart in the sauce. Continue cooking, uncovered, for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally to thicken the sauce. Serve on soft buns. Enjoy!