Beef Roast with Dark Rum Sauce

I am amazing!!  Even after a rough weekend and an early morning doctors appt for Hess, I made our Monday Crockpot meal.  This beef roast is not the one to make while you are at work.  The roast needs to be basted several times while it is being cooked.

Hess had 104.5 degree temp on Saturday, very fussy and very tired.  Last night he barely slept with complaints that anything touching him hurt.  So this morning we rushed to the pediatrician to find out he has a virus and will most likely have it for several more days.  Oh joy.  The good news is that so far Diane is still feeling fine.  Fingers crossed that she stays well especially since she is still under 3 months!

When we got back from the doctors I had to start cooking.  Prep work was pretty easy.  Combine 1 tsp ground allspice,  1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper and 1/4 tsp ground cloves in a small bowl.  Rub spices all over 3 lbs of lean beef bottom round roast.

Heat 2 Tbsp of extra virgin olive oil in large skillet over medium heat.  Add the beef to the skillet and cook it for around 8 minutes, browning it on all sides.  

Remove the roast and place it in the crockpot.  Add 1/2 cup of dark rum, 1/2 cup of beef broth, 2 minced garlic cloves and 2 whole bay leaves that were broken in half.  I used spiced Captain Morgan because that was what we had in the cupboard.  It worked just fine.  Cover and cook it on low for 1 hour.

Combine 1/2 cup of rum,  1/2 cup of packed dark brown sugar and 1/4 cup of lime juice.  Stir it until well blended and pour over roast.  Cover and cook on low 4-6 hours.  You should baste with sauce occasionally.  I did it once an hour.

Remove the roast.  Throw away the bay leaves.  Let stand 10-15 minutes before serving.  To serve, spoon the sauce over the beef.

Don't forget the sauce, otherwise the roast is a little dry.  But the sauce is very flavorful.

Because we were dealing with a very sick boy I only had time to heat up some Green Giant frozen vegetables.  But I did make some mashed sweet potatoes.  I thought the sweetness would offset the bite of the allspice and cloves on the roast.  I cooked and mashed the sweet potatoes.  Then I mixed 1/3 cup of brown sugar, 2 Tbsp water, 1/4 tsp of cinnamon and 1/4 cup of butter in a small pot.  When the butter was melted, I stirred the mixture into the already mashed sweet potatoes.  I think the key to good mashed potatoes is to find a good masher.  I had been using a cheap one that I had for years and years.  The other day I noticed it was chipping, so I tossed it and bought a new one on Amazon.  I bought a Calphalon Nylon Utensils Potato Masher.  Oh my goodness, such a difference.  They were so smooth!

Overall I would say the roast was really good.  Hess even ate a couple bites despite feeling awful.  But it is not my favorite.  A little dry for my taste. The hubby really liked if.

Smiles from Hess despite the virus!!

We have success!

The braised Chipolte beef was so tender. If you don't like spices, this recipe is not for you.  Very flavorful with some kick.  Hess was in a typical two year old mood and I had to literally feed him but he said he liked it and opened his mouth for every bite!  And hubby went back for seconds!  We have success!  

Next week we have a roast in a rum sauce.  Stay tuned!

Braised Chipolte Beef

Thank goodness today is a holiday, today's crockpot meal is a little time intensive.  I'd say it takes about an hour of prep/cook time before you put it in the crockpot.  The hubby read to Hess while I cooked.

The downside is I had to listen to Little Critter for the five thousandth time in the past week.  A little obsessed.

The upside is that today's meal is Diane approved.  She slept attached to me in the moby wrap the entire time I was cooking.

Today's meal is Braised Chipolte Beef.  It has 306 calories and serves 8.

The part that takes the most time is browning the 3 lbs of lean chuck roast cut into 2 inch pieces.  Brown it in 1 Tbsp of vegetable oil over medium high heat. You should cook it in batches, so it browns the meat more thoroughly. I did mine in 4 batches.  Took about 8 minutes per batch.  I used beef tips to cut down on prep time.  Remove it from the pan and place it in the crockpot.

Add 1 Tbsp of vegetable oil to the pan and reduce the heat to medium.  You want to cook 1 yellow onion, cut into pieces, until it is soft.  I cooked it about 4 minutes.  Then you want to add 2 red peppers also cut into pieces.  Cook it for 2 minutes.  Stir in 3 Tbsp of tomato paste, 1 Tbsp Chipolte chili powder, 1 Tbsp paprika, 1 Tbsp ground cumin, 1 Tbsp minced garlic, 1 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp dried oregano and 1/2 tsp black pepper. I use the squeezable tomato paste so we don't waste the can.  I used 2 tsp of fresh oregano because we actually had it in the house for once.

Cook the spices and vegetables one minute, stirring frequently.  Pour on top of the beef in the crockpot.

Add 1 cup of beef broth to skillet, stirring to scrape up brown bits from the bottom of the pan.  Pour the broth over the beef in the crockpot.  Stir in 14 oz of diced tomatoes.  I prefer the fire roasted ones, they seem to have a little more flavor.  Cover and cook on low for 7 hours.  Let stand 5 minutes.  Serve over rice.  We like Basmati rice cooked in chicken broth.  So much flavor.  Leaves me plenty of cuddle time with my overly affectionate kids.  Hess fell asleep at naptime face to face with me.  Forehead to forehead.  Nose to nose.  And Miss Diane fell asleep on the swing, only after holding my finger. Man, my arm is sore!!!  More tomorrow on the results of our cooking!

Asian Ginger Beef Review

The Asian Ginger Beef was a success.  Both the hubby and I loved it and probably ate a little too much.  The beef was so tender and the flavor was not too spicy.  Little Hess loved the beef and of course the noodles.  The Bok Choy made him gag a lot but hey, he's two, what do you expect?  Little boy is full of drama if nothing else.  Definitely would make this again and honestly would not change a thing!

The Monday Crazies!

Evenings are crazy with a toddler and an infant, so dinners are just impossible.  I have started designating Mondays as my crockpot days. Both hubby and I are trying to lose baby weight, so the recipes need to be healthy. I have lost the  weight from baby Diane but still have another 25 to go from toddler Hess!   So far we have had some success with the recipes.  Last week was some hearty short ribs that I served with polenta.  So delicious!  The week before was Alfredo chicken that was very bland.

This week we are trying Asian Ginger Beef over Bok Choy.  The day has already been an adventure.  While I started typing up this blog, I fed Diane her bottle. As she started to fuss I realized she was sitting in probably her biggest blowout poop yet. Meanwhile, my crazy Hess was insisting I change him right there and then into his monster pajamas at 9:30 in the morning!

Never mind that when I got out of the shower this morning, Hess had the breast pump on and the bra wrapped around his waist with the breast pump phalange over his peepee.  Thank god it wasn't attached!  

I did manage to get the food in the pot nice and early.  Easy enough to do while Hess was eating breakfast and Diane was making poo.  Just brown 1 1/2 lbs of beef chuck  in 2 Tbsp of peanut oil, 3 green onions cut into 1/2 inch slices, and 6 garlic cloves.  Add it to the crockpot with 1 cup of chicken broth, 1/2 cup of water, 1/4 cup of soy sauce, 2 tsp of ground ginger and 1 tsp of Asian chili paste.  Then put it on low for 7-8 hours, which leaves me plenty of time for lots of craziness.  Then stir in 9 oz of cooked vermicelli noodles and 9 oz of Bok Choy cut into 1 inch pieces.  Cook on high for 15 minutes.  Garnish with 1/2 cup of minced cilantro.  Sounds delicious and it has only 295 calories and 8 servings!  

More tomorrow on how it turned out and maybe some more kid craziness!