Hot Beef Sandwiches Au Jus

Wow, it's been awhile since I've posted! But I promise, I have a legitimate excuse! Firstly, I was sick for about 4 and a half days. I didn't even want to attempt cooking anything. I won't go into any details. Saturday night I was hanging out with my mom. Sunday, we were supposed to have friends over but it didn't happen. So, leftovers. Monday was the day I was going to go shopping and prepare for the upcoming week. But a small emergency arose and Fiance had to take a whirlwind trip to Brooklyn, which left me solo for the night. 

On Tuesday, we went to go see one of our favorite bands, Panic at the Disco, perform in NYC. It was amazing; their first performance in the United States in roughly two years. It was a very small venue, 500 people tops. I was among the first people on line waiting to get inside, so I was pushed right up against the stage for the whole show. It was...transcendent. It made me 10x more excited for their new album.

BONUS: Here's a video of lead singer Brendon Urie performing "Science Fiction/Double Feature" from Rocky Horror Picture Show, and my Fiance and I making him laugh so hard he had to stop playing piano.

Thanks to my sister-friend Stephanie for the video!

Anyway...we were so exhausted from the concert and traveling back from Manhattan that we didn't even make it back to our apartment, and instead slept on my mom's couch. The weather had taken a turn for the worse and by morning, everything was iced over. We slept til way past noon and just couldn't muster up the energy to drive home. By the time we did, all I could do was whip up a meatloaf before friends came over to watch "Face Off."

One of the best new shows on TV right now, kid you not!

But -- I'm back on the cooking horse now!

A few weeks ago, Fiance brought home a present for me. One of the best ever. The complete Crock-Pot Recipe Collection.

Over 500 pages of nothing but crock-pot recipes. I nearly had an aneurysm from the excitement. I immediately sat down with a stack of Post-Its and began my ritual that I perform with every new cookbook - marking recipes that I want to try. By the end of this process, there was a Post-It on nearly every single page. When it came time to choose my first recipe from this book, I couldn't even begin to decide. So, I brought the book to my fiance and asked him to open up to a random page and pick a recipe. And he did. That's how he landed on:

HOT BEEF SANDWICHES AU JUS, courtesy of the Crock Pot Recipe Collection
YOU WILL NEED:
4 pounds of beef rump roast
2 envelopes (1 oz each) onion-flavor dry soup mix
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 cans (10.5 oz each) beef broth
1 bottle (12 oz) beer
Crusty rolls, sliced in half (I used Portuguese rolls!)

You will also need, other than a slow-cooker, a medium or large mixing bowl.

Please be advised, this recipe takes 6 to 8 HOURS! So if you're planning on whipping this up for Superbowl Sunday, prepare well in advance!

1. Trim excess fat from beef and discard (the butcher at my supermarket was very nice and trimmed the excess fat off the beef for me, yay!). Place beef in the slow cooker.

2. Combine soup mix, sugar, oregano, garlic, broth, and beer in a mixing bowl. Pour mixture over the beef.

3. Cook on HIGH 6 TO 8 HOURS, or until the beef is fork-tender. 

 

4. Remove the beef from the crock pot. Shred beef with two forks. Return beef to cooking liquid; mix well. Serve on crusty rolls with extra cooking liquid ("au jus") on the side!

Luckily we had friends over last night or else ALL OF THIS BEEF would go to waste (not really). But I'm glad - it was so much food and I had three other people to feed, and everyone was happy. The beef was perfectly tender and the au jus was flavored well. We all had a hell of a time trying to keep the sandwiches from falling apart because the au jus seeped so fast through the bread! It was worth the minimal struggle. As you can see, I served it with onion rings on the side. I thought it was a good combo, and so did everyone else!

Remember when I talked about marking up all my cookbooks with Post-Its? I'm not kidding. While I was sick in bed (okay, "on couch"), I gathered my cookbooks and wrote down every single recipe I'd earmarked with a Post-It, along with what book it came from and the corresponding page number. Then, I transferred them from my notebook to a giant Excel spreadsheet. After minor crisis as to how to organize this giant clusterf*ck of recipes, I arranged them by what type of recipe they were (Appetizer, Bread, Breakfast, Entree, Desserts, Sauces, and Side Dishes), and then alphabetically within that category. It took me four hours. 

The result? Beauty. Six pages - four of which are entrees alone - of meals I have never tried before, meals I will make and eventually feature on this blog. I have enough entrees to make 2 new dinners a week for an entire meal and ever have the same thing twice. Of course, I'm going to feature more side dishes and desserts (the first dessert entry will be on Superbowl Sunday!), and this week I'm preparing two side dishes to make one meal - Roasted Stuffed Tomatoes with Asparagus Risotto! Also planned is a healthy version of Shrimp Scampi. I promise, as always, these recipes are way easier than they sound!

Also, look out for tags/labels coming soon. I think I have enough entries that I can tag them for search functions. I have so many recipes coming up soon that I think the tags might be necessary in the future!

Now if you'll excuse me, I have some cleaning to do! 

Until next time....eat, drink and be merry!