Beef Pot Roast in a Slow Cooker

My bf's father gave us a slow cooker for Xmas and I couldn't wait to give it a spin. Tonight I made a Beef Pot roast with a side of brocollini, roast potatoes and carrots. Actually I started the roast at 7am before I left for work and left it running until 7pm. The roast was SO tender. A little dry though, maybe next round I'll leave a bit more fat on. I think I'd also better omit the dry onion powder mix coz the gravy was a tad too salty. Here's the revised recipe...

1kg Beef roast (topside)
6 button mushrooms
1 can Campbells Cream of Mushroom soup
1 to 1.5 cup of water

Brown the beef roast on all sides using olive oil on a frying pan. Slice up enough mushrooms to line the bottom of the pot. Ease the roast onto the mushrooms and chuck in the can of soup and cup of water. Cook for 7-8 hours on low or 3-4 hours on high. In the end you have a lean, tender roast that is so tender it falls apart. The soup turns into a lovely mushroom gravy to have on top.

Adventures might shift to the backyard...

The brickpaving in the backyard is finally finished and we now have ample weed-free space to plan an outdoor entertainment area. We still have to fix the reticulation and lay some of that lovely roll on lawn but the hard stuff is done. I guess we should also find time to plant some stuff. I'm quite keen on a herb garden.. so I have fresh herbs :) We are also pondering ripping down the Hills Hoist rotary clothesline that frankly never gets used. W has also started shopping for a BBQ and outdoor furniture which has me rather excited coz it means I can start cooking outdoors soon! Yay! Just in time for summer.

Ikea Ginger Cookies

Ikea ginger cookie dough is pretty fricking awesome! I had to buy some to road test the $5 cookie cutter shapes I bought from .. guess where.. Ikea. I reckon they turned out ok coz my co-workers didn't complain.

Oh and the bottom left one is meant to look like that... pure coincidence it resembles a deformed gingerbread man.

Chocolate Fondant

I got inspired by Celebrity Masterchef to try a chocolate fondant. The mixture itself was no big deal, but unmoulding them was a bugger!

Lamb Shanks with Red Wine, Rosemary and Thyme

I love lamb shank. There is just something about this cut of meat that is so delicious when cooked properly. This is a highly rated recipe from Allrecipes.com... braised for 2 hours in red wine and herbs. SO TENDER!

Toad in the Hole

Seeing as it's not a dish you can order at a restaurant I thought I'd give this famous British dish a go in order to have a taste. It's a savory dish consisting of pork sausages in a doughy batter (Yorkshire pudding). The black stuff is actually caramelised onion. Not bad!

My Grandma's Recipe

I had a craving the other night and after much debate about placement of salted duck egg and century egg on the pork mince's meridiens my cousin Fyn and I decided on a version of my grandma's 3 egg omelette dish. Not as good as the original but better than nothing!

Failed Apple pie.....

It was so pretty going into the oven.. I glazed it and even carved out a pastry apple to put on top!

Unfortunately I suffered a blonde moment and forgot to turn the heat down a bit and my Thermoseal Smeg burnt the crust a bit. Sorry Mum and Dad!

Pork Belly Roast with Crackling

Before....

After!

Low Fat Chocolate Cakes....

Low fat chocolate cakes aren't worth the effort. It just doesn't taste the same! I reckon if you're gonna be bad, just be bad but work it off later with exercise! Looks great though hey?

So next project is roast pork.... with crackling! But what to serve on the side?

Tada!

So worth the 250 calories :)

Vanilla Cupcakes

Ok, in spite of votes for more chips, bacon, biscuits, bacon biscuits and Chocanna muffins; I've decided to cook the premeasured store-bought Vanilla Cupcake mix that's been sitting in my cupboard for the better part of 3 months. Gee I wonder why? :P

It's not yet frosted but W says they're delicious.
WHEEE ... What to cook next?!

New Oven!

Hurray! My new Smeg oven is finally installed and working! After a frustrating 4 weeks and 3 visits from the Smeg technician we have regained ability to cook chips. Anyone that knows us well knows this is Rather Important.

So in case you didn't know, brand-spanking new ovens need to be primed. Apparently to burn off oils and other nasties that will be in the oven during the manufacturing process. Word of warning, the oven will start smoking and STINK out your house.

So can anyone guess the first thing we cooked in the oven? That's right.. chips. Not just any chips... Crispy Beer Battered Steak Fries. DROOL. Absense really does make the heart grow fonder. I would have snapped a pic to commemorate the first use of the oven but Sue was too hungry after a vigorous Body Pump class.

So far, I'm quite happy with my new toy. Compared to it's predecessor (the 20 year old budget non-convection oven) this baby is HEAVEN. Firstly, it preheats to 200 Celsius in like 5 minutes. I dont' think I've never had an oven that can do that in less than 20 minutes! Technological progress is wonderful! Secondly, the thermostat works and will beep at you when it's reached the preset temperature. Trust me, its accurate. I checked with the oven thermometer. Thirdly, how cool is quadruple layered glass doors?! I don't think even I can manage to burn myself and you get such a lovely view of your food :) Oh Fourthly, the oven light switches on when the oven is working so I get to see the food cook hehehe. Very cool! No bad points so far ! Wheeee