Roasted to Perfection

The weather is turning and there is a chill in the air.  This is my favorite time of year.  The season of comfort food! I tried two new recipes this past week; French Dip Sandwiches and Root Vegetable Gratin.

French Dip Sandwiches
What you will need:  rump roast (4-5lbs), a packet of french onion soup, a packet of roast beef seasoning (I think McCormick was the brand I used), 1 can beef broth, hoagie buns, mozzarella slices, onion, green pepper

Place the roast in your slow cooker.  In a bowl mix the broth and seasonings.  Pour over the roast and cook on low for 8 hours.  After the 8 hours, shred the beef and place it back into the slow cooker for another hour.  Before serving sandwiches, saute onion and green pepper slices in olive oil.  Heat your broiler.  Line the hoagie bun with a slice of cheese on one side and the pile of meat and peppers on the other.  Place under the broiler until the cheese is melted.  Serve with a side of juice from the crock pot.

Root Vegetable Gratin
This recipe came from Sandra Lee's Semi Homemade.  I like to watch the Food Network when I'm working out.  It seems to be the only time I get to watch TV and learn new recipes.  I have never tried parsnips so I thought I would try this recipe.  Here is the link for the recipe.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sandra-lee/root-vegetable-au-gratin-recipe/index.html
I changed a few things.  I didn't have thyme so I used a bay leaf in the milk.  I did not use the canola oil, but instead used 3 tbsp of butter.  Otherwise I followed the recipe closely.  I wasn't a big fan of the parsnips.  They have an interesting flavor. The great thing about this recipe is the base you start with. If you read the mac and cheese recipe I posted, the base is exactly the same.  You can use this base for gratin potatoes as well.

Baked Mac and Cheese with Apple Pie Squares

I have to start by apologizing for not being very creative with my blog.  I've viewed dozens of fabulous cooking blogs that have step by step pictures.  They are really fun to look at.  I can't seem to remember to take photos of my food.  When I am cooking, I am cooking.  I am fully immersed in what I'm doing and I just can't seem to remember to stop and take pictures.  Maybe others have a photographer standing over their should?  I don't know.  I will try to take more pictures, after all we do eat with our eyes first and I myself prefer a cookbook that provides pictures of the food over one that has no pictures.

Baked Macaroni and Cheese is simple to make and you can play with the kinds of cheeses you use and the add ins.  I decided to make this a pizza mac and cheese.

What you will need:  3 Anaheim peppers, 1lb pasta, 2 1/2 cups milk, 3 tbsp butter, 3 tbsp flour, 1 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, grated, 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated, 1/2 cup pepperoni, diced, fresh basil leaves, chopped, Italian bread crumbs.

First roast your peppers.  A simple way to do this is to turn on the broiler.  Place the peppers on a cookie sheets and broil for 5-8 minutes, turning once.  Remove them from the oven and place in a boil covered tightly with plastic wrap.  Let sit for 20 minutes.  Rinsed under cold water and peel the skin off.  Remove ribs and seeds and slice thinly.

Next, heat 2 1/2 cups of milk in a small sauce pan.  Just keep it on low heat so it warms.  Boil your pasta until it's a little undercooked.  I used whole wheat penne and cooked for 8 minutes.  Meanwhile, heat 3 tbsp of butter in a medium sauce pan until it gets foamy. I added a few onion flakes for flavor.  Whisk in 3 tablespoons of flour, one at the time making sure that the mixture become smooth in between tablespoon additions.  Then add 1/4 cup milk and whisk until smooth. Slowly add all the milk, constantly whisking to make sure it's smooth. Add the cheddar cheese and stir until melted.

Drain your pasta and place in a large bowl.  Pour the cheese sauce over top and add in the Parmesan, peppers, basil, and pepperoni.  Stir together; add salt and pepper to taste.  Transfer to a casserole dish. Top with Italian bread crumbs.  You can buy them seasoned or if you make your own, just add Italian seasoning.

Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until bubbly hot and bread crumbs are browned.  You can also make this ahead and refrigerate it until you are ready to eat.  I did this and had to bake it a little longer to make sure it was warmed through.

Apple Pie Squares

What you will need: 2 cups sugar, 4 cups diced apples, 1/2 cup oil, 1 tsp salt, 2 eggs, 2 cup flour, 2 tsp cinnamon, 2 tsp baking powder





Apples resting with sugar and oil



I start with a good baking apple, something a little tart.  Peel and core the apples and dice them.  Mix the apples, sugar and oil together and let stand for 15 minutes. 



Meanwhile mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. 

 In a separate bowl beat the eggs and vanilla together.

After the apples have sat, stir them and the eggs into the dry mixture. 

It will be very thick and lumpy. Spread the cake batter into a 9x13 pan

or a 9 inch spring form pan.  Bake for 30 minutes if using the 9x13 pan



and 40-50 if using a spring form pan.





Serve with whipped topping





Oatmeal Brownies

I've been making this one for a long time and claim that it's healthy than most brownies because of the oatmeal;)

What you will need: 2 sticks melted margarine, 3/4 cup brown sugar, 3/4 cup white sugar, 1 tsp soda, 1 1/4 cup flour, 3 cups oatmeal.

Mix all together and spread in a greased 9x13 pan.  Sprinkle the top with chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, m&ms, nuts,  whatever you like!  Bake for 20 minutes at 350.

Not a great picture.  It never occurs to me to take
a picture until after things have been eaten!