Menu Makeovers: Roast, Mashed Potatoes, Homemade rolls, Blueberry Pie, Shepherd's Pie

Last night I finished off my grocery shopping with 14 pounds of roast, 64 oz. Plain yogurt, 16oz sour cream, 2 packages of hotdogs (for camping), and 1 lb yeast (grocery total: $46) so we could have a tasty Sunday Roast today. Here’s how it went:

Easy Slow-Cooker Roast

3-5 lb beef roast (rump, chuck, etc)
2 Tbsp Montreal Steak Seasoning (I also really like Mrs. Dash for grilling)
1 large onion, sliced

¼ cup brown gravy mix

1 cup water

This morning before I got ready for church I seasoned the roast with some Montreal Steak Seasoning on both sides. I prepared about 5 pounds roast so I’d have enough leftover for a couple other meals and some for hubby’s sandwiches. I placed it in the slow-cooker with one large sliced onion on top and ¼ cup brown gravy mix stirred into 1 cup water poured over it. Cook on Low at least 8 hours.

When I got home from church, I decided to bake some rolls to go with dinner. While I was at it, I figured I’d make some hotdog buns for camping this weekend and sandwich rolls for hubby’s lunch this week. While not the quickest bread recipe, this is one of my favorites. From start to finish it takes about 2 hours which really isn’t too bad. Here is the recipe that I used.

Best Dinner Rolls Ever

7 cups Bread Flour
2 tsp salt
¼ cup sugar
2 Tbsp Instant Yeast
½ cup butter
2 cups milk
½ cup water
2 Tbsp vinegar

Combine 3 cups flour with salt, sugar and yeast. Melt butter with milk and water in small saucepan. Allow to cool until lukewarm. Pour butter mixture into flour mixture and stir until combined. Add an additional 3 cups flour. Dough will be sticky. Gradually add remaining cup of flour until dough pulls from sides of bowl. This should be about ½ cup flour. Take the remaining flour and sprinkle it onto a clean surface where you’ll be able to knead the dough for about 5 minutes. Dough should be smooth. Return dough to bowl, cover with a cotton dish towel and let rise about 45 minutes or until double in size. Shape into rolls and let rise (covered, of course) another 30 minutes or until doubled. Bake at 400 F for 20 minutes for rolls- 30 minutes if making bread. Makes 3 dozen rolls.

About 1 hour before serving time I started to peel the potatoes for mashed potatoes. I think the potatoes taste better if I add about 1 Tbsp salt to water that I’m cooking them in.

While the potatoes were cooking I decided I’d make a blueberry pie for dessert. I actually cheated a little here and used some oats (which supposedly I won’t have until tomorrow when I go to the Family Home Storage Center to buy some..) but it was for a good cause. Leave a comment if you want to yell at me for cheating, but to be fair I’ll bake another pie tomorrow and give it away to a lucky neighbor!

Pie Crust

1 ½ cup flour

½ tsp salt

1 ½ tsp sugar

½ cup oil

2 Tbsp cold milk

Combine dry ingredients. Add oil and milk and mix until crumbly. Press into pie tin (don’t roll out or it will be chewy instead of flaky). Use half dough for the bottom of the crust and the other half for the sides. Flute edges if desired. At this point you can freeze the crust for later use or Bake 10 minutes at 400. Allow to cool and add pie filling.

Blueberry Pie

1 prepared pie crust

Filling:

3 ½ cups blueberries (fresh or frozen)
¼ cup flour
¼ cup sugar
¼ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp cinnamon
Topping:
¾ cup rolled oats
½ cup flour
½ cup soft butter
½ cup sugar

Combine filling ingredients, pour into prepared pie crust. Combine dry ingredients for topping. With a fork, cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over filling. Bake at 350 F for 50 minutes. Remove and allow to cool 15-20 minutes before serving. Serve with vanilla ice-cream.

(By the way, most fruit pies can be made with the same recipe, subbing out the type of fruit and keeping the rest the same)I set the pie aside at this point so I could bake it while we were eating dinner.

15 minutes before serving time I started a pot of water to boil for the corn on the cob ($.19/ea at Wal-Mart).

While the water was coming to a boil, I finished off the potatoes, put the rolls into the already heated oven (remember, 400F), and took the roast out of the crock pot. Make SURE you save the drippings from the roast for gravy. Even if you aren’t planning on making gravy for your meal tonight, it’s still worth saving for easy gravy down the road. You can also use it to flavor beef soups and more! Also, when removing the potatoes from the pot they’ve been boiled in, save the water if you’ll be making gravy.

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

5 pounds potatoes, peeled and boiled
¼ cup butter
½ cup sour cream
½ cup milk
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp black pepper
1 Tbsp dried parsley

Combine ingredients while potatoes are still hot. Mix with Beaters on medium until smooth. Add more milk depending on desired consistency. Serve with warm brown gravy.

Brown Gravy
2-4 cups potato-cooking water (if water was unsalted, add 1-2 tsp salt)
2 cups roast drippings (or 2 cups beef broth + 1-2 Tbsp Montreal Seasoning)
¼ cup cornstarch or ½ cup flour
½ cup water

Heat potato water and drippings to a gentle boil. Combine cornstarch and water to achieve a smooth paste. Slowly pour, while stirring, cornstarch mixture into boiling liquid until desired consistency. Don’t pour too much all at once or you’ll get lumps! Also, if gravy is satisfactorily thickened before you’ve poured all your cornstarch into it, then stop!

Time to eat! Don't forget to put your pie in at 350F. Set the timer so you don't forget about it...
Oh! And leftovers.. If you're putting them away anyway, you may as well make them into a meal as you do it. Leftover Sunday dinner makes a yummy Shepherd's Pie!

Shepherd's Pie

1/2-1 lb roast - cut into chunks
1 cup brown gravy
1 cup corn
1 cup green beans
2 cups mashed potatoes
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Combine roast, vegetables and gravy. Spread mashed potatoes over meat mixture and top with cheese. Bake for 30 minutes at 350F or cook in your Slow-cooker on low 4 hours.

I actually just "put away" the leftovers right back into my slow-cooker and then put the dish into the refrigerator. We'll have Shepherd's Pie one day this week. I still have enough roast leftover for another meal as well. Maybe I will turn it into taco meat tomorrow and make some fresh tortillas to go with it.