Posted in Beef, Dinner, Food, Main Dish, One Pot Meal, slow cooking

Slow Cooker Corned Beef

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While St. Patrick’s Day is long past and Easter is just around the corner, I recently searched the freezer to see what kind of inventory I had available in the way of meat products for the coming holiday. (I often have a supply of ground beef, ham, pork, or prime rib roast left from thrifty bulk purchases when I find a great deal at the supermarket.) To my surprise, I had several corned beef roasts set on the top shelf. I quickly remembered that I had bought a boat load of corned beef around St. Patrick’s Day because the price was too good to pass up. Five roasted were neatly stacked in the freezer so I put one in the fridge to thaw for Monday’s dinner.
Before I headed to work on Monday morning, I lined the bottom of my crockpot with potatoes, carrots, and onions, then laid the roast among the vegetables.

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I sprinkled the seasoning packet over the corned beef and poured in some water and a half can of beer before shutting the lid and setting the dial to low.

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I arrived home to the delicious aroma of the complete dinner. There is nothing quite so wonderful as having dinner ready when walking in the door after a long day at work. I have quite a few recipes to successfully cook corned beef. I often bake it or boil it, but this is one of my favorites…very little time or effort produce a magnificent meal. If you like Reuben sandwiches, add thousand island dressing and sour kraut to some toasted rye bread and you have quite a sandwich.

Slow Cooker Corned Beef

2 1/2 cups baby carrots
3 potatoes, diced
1 onion, peeled and rough cut
4 cups water
1 (4-5 pound) corned beef brisket with spice packet
6 ounces beer

Place the carrots, potatoes, and onion into the bottom of a slow cooker. Place the brisket on top of the vegetables. Pour the water and beer over the brisket. Sprinkle on the spices packet, cover, and set the cooker on High.
Cook the brisket for about 8 hours. Cool slightly before cutting into thin slices.

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Posted in Food, Main Dish, slow cooking

Crock Pot Italian Grinder

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I saw this recipe as I was searching for an interesting sub recipe last week. This one caught my eye because it looked so unique. On Saturday, I loaded up the crock pot with a variety of similar ingredients to make a mighty tasty sandwich.
There were a few things that I might rethink next time, though. First off, I have to figure out a way to add more ingredients to each of the sandwich sections. While I packed in as much as would fit, the sandwiches seemed a bit skimpy when I separated them from the loaf. Other than that, this thing was great! I am going to try it again today now that I have finished my trial run.
Below, I have printed my recipe for the ingredients to be used for the crock pot grinder.

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Crock Pot Italian Grinder

1 loaf of Italian Bread, unsliced
1/2 lb. sliced provolone cheese
1/2 lb. hard salami, thinly sliced
1/2 lb. Virginia ham, thinly sliced
1/2 lb. turkey pastrami, thinly sliced
Sliced onions
Sliced tomatoes
Sliced pepper rings, patted dry
1/2 tsp. oregano
Partially slice Italian loaf to resemble sandwich slices. (Do not cut through the bottom of the loaf). Layer sandwich meat, cheese, onions, tomatoes and peppers in individual piles.Sprinkle with oregano. On a cutting board, carefully pack each pile of ingredients into the sliced loaf making sure to fill only every other opening.
Double wrap the loaf in aluminum foil; making sure to fold and close edges firmly. Pour 1/2 cup water in the bottom of the crockpot. Place a heat proof bowl in the bottom of the pot to keep the sandwich above the waterline. The water will steam the sandwich as it cooks. Place the sandwich into the crockpot. Cover and cook on LOW temperature for 4 hours.

UPDATE:
Here’s another great combination

1/2 lb. provolone cheese, thinly sliced
1/2 lb. hard salami, thinly sliced
1/2 lb. Virginia Ham, thinly sliced
1/2 lb. pepperoni, thinly sliced
6 tablespoons Chicago style mild giardiniera, to spread over bread

I just finished making the grinder a second time and boy it turned out great! I added pepperoni to the sandwich meat slices and used mild, Chicago style giardiniera to spread on the bread instead of the onions and peppers…ooey, gooey, melted cheese and lots of Italian flavor.

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