Family Chow Hall

Once again, my crock pot hits a home run! Oh-my-goodness, supper was so delicious when I served Reubens made with corned beef that I had cooked myself in my crockpot.

Now, don’t get too nervous, friends, I did not go the whole nine yards and do the actual “corning” of the beef myself. I just cooked the thing. By the way, corning is the old-old-fashioned word for salting. Corn used to mean kernels, or small pellets, which is how salt was back then. (Picture rock salt) So, corned beef is just beef cured with salt. Who knows what they do to it know, I’m not brave enough to research it.

You see, for the last several months I have been on a stricter-than-I-like grocery budget and buying deli counter corned beef just did not fit in my budget. (In case you are unaware, deli cut beef is running $8 or more per pound, corned or roasted.) Lately, I have been avoiding any meat that runs me over $3 per pound, and usually sticking to $2 when I can.

So, my daughter was craving Reuben sandwiches and I just told her flat out no, but then I remembered that I could buy a corned beef shrink wrapped at Sam’s club. I’d done this once before, cooked it with sauerkraut, and it was delicious, but it got so tender that it fell apart and we ate it as if it were pot roast instead of sliced on bread.

Well, I decided to experiment and I bought another one (after checking the price, which was $2.83 per pound), pondering how I could cook it and get it tender but sliceable. Early this morning, I put it in the crockpot and added enough water to almost cover it. Set it to low and let it cook for about 8 hours. At that time, I gently lifted it out (OH IT SMELLED SO GOOD!) and wrapped it in foil. I let it cool like that, all wrapped up. About an hour later, I unwrapped it and cut it ACROSS THE GRAIN OF THE MEAT with an electric knife, as thinly as possible.

Talk about melt-in-your-mouth tender. Mmm… Mmmm… Let me tell you, folks, this was so much better than the corned beef I used to buy in the deli. More tender, no white swirls of gristle and fat throughout.

To read my post about Reubens, click here.

Other things you can do with corned beef:

Add cabbage and potatoes for an easy dinner.
Add sauerkraut and serve with noodles or pierogies.
Chop and use in dips.
Shred and add white sauce and pour over toast.

It might be better to spell this with an “s” — Sin-a-bon rolls. I will warn all of my readers that these things can be addicting and are most definitely not beneficial to your health or your waistline.

I wish I could tell you where I got this recipe and give the right person credit, but I don’t remember. It has been in the back of my recipe card box for quite a while, I have only made them once or twice before, due to their high calorie and fat content. Something made me think of them and I baked some on Sunday afternoon as a treat for my kids and hubby.

This recipe is far and wide my favorite for cinnamon rolls. Sorry, Mom — your cinnamon pecan rolls are pretty great, but these are just a notch above them. These measurements have been adjusted from the original recipe so that I could fit a batch into my bread machine.

Here we go, friends, you can now make your own CinnaBon Rolls at home instead of paying top dollar for them at the food court in the mall:

CinnaBon Rolls
makes 18 large rolls

3/8 c. water
1 3/4 c. prepared vanilla pudding (make a small box according to the package directions - you will have a little bit leftover)
2 T. sugar
6 T. melted butter
2 eggs
3/4 t. salt
5 c. flour
4 t. yeast

The water, pudding, sugar, butter, eggs, and salt go into your bread machine. Add the flour and the yeast and set the machine to “dough.” Before it’s finished, get the filling ingredients ready:

1/2 c. butter, softened (1 stick)
1 3/4 c. brown sugar
3 1/2 t. cinnamon

Let the butter come to room temperature in a bowl or on a plate. You don’t want it melted, just softened. In a medium-sized bowl, combine the brown sugar and cinnamon.

When the dough is finished, punch it down, knead it for a few minutes on a floured board, then roll into a large rectangle, approximately the size of a cookie sheet. It’s likely you don’t have a cutting board that large - just use your counter top. Smear the butter over the whole thing and then sprinkle the cinnamon mixture on top.

Next comes the tricky part. First, grease two baking dishes - 9 x 13 or whatever you have that will hold these rolls. Next, carefully roll up this large piece of dough and pinch the edges together. Roll the long edge, so you have the longest possible tube of gooey, buttery, roll dough that you can possibly have. Next, slice about 1 - 1 1/2 inches thick. Place each slice onto the greased pans, leaving about 2 inches of space between them.

Cover loosely with a clean towel and let rise until double. This will take about 45 minutes. Bake at 350 for 15 - 20 minutes, until lightly browned.

I am happy with a simple powdered sugar glaze as a topping, but if you’re dying for the classic cream cheese, below is the original recipe for the frosting:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 c. butter, softened
1 t. vanilla
3 c. powdered sugar
1 T. milk

Beat all vigorously.

Hint: You can also make a cream cheese glaze with just 1/2 c. soft cream cheese, water, and powdered sugar.

These are a bit too much work to plan on baking them fresh for a Saturday morning breakfast. But, I promise you, no one is going to care much what time of the day you serve them!

ENJOY!

P.S. Never be afraid to experiment; add nuts, orange peel, cherries, or anything that suits your fancy!

A quick soup I made last night after intentionally holding back some grilled pork chops on Monday. Really, with 6 kids at the table (one is not my own but eats here regularly) it’s not been easy lately to serve meals made with leftovers. One of said children just got an expander put in her mouth — an expander does just what you think - expands the jaw to make room for teeth. Anyway, her poor little mouth is sore and she is getting by on lots of smoothies and soup right now.

She asked for White Bean Chicken Chili, but of course, I had no chicken and didn’t find a sale on it either, so I decided to use pork. Turned out pretty well, I must say - I served it with corn bread. I made this with white beans, but as I write this, I’m thinking that black beans would taste better, be better for you, and maybe even look better.

Black Bean Pork Chili
serves 4-6

2-3 leftover pork chops, cut into small pieces
1/2 c. chopped onion
1 t. minced garlic
1 T. butter or olive oil
1/2 c. chopped roasted red or green pepper
1 can of chicken broth
2 cans black beans, drained
1 can petite diced tomatoes
1 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
1/2 t. cumin
1/4 t. chili powder

First off, please don’t use pork chops that were breaded the first time around. Shake and bake or other methods of breading are not meant for soup. That probably goes without saying, but I don’t want to be blamed for any kitchen catastrophes.

Get out your crockpot or large soup pot. Also, heat up a skillet on medium and start to saute the onions and garlic in oil. Into the soup pot, put the pork, all of the canned items, and the seasonings. When the onions are almost done, add the chopped roasted peppers to them and saute just a little longer. You can also use canned diced green chilis here instead of the roasted peppers, but a couple of my family members are violently opposed to green chilis, so I rarely use them. Most normal people think they add a really nice flavor. So, if your onions, garlic, and pepper are finally done, you can add them to the soup pot, stir, take a good long sniff, and your soup will be done once it has been heated all of the way through.

If you like it spicy, add some red pepper - carefully, taco seasoning, or a finely minced jalapeno, poblano, or serrano pepper.