In the Frig – Awesome Slow Cooker Pot Roast (Recipe)

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Awesome Slow Cooker Pot Roast
(Modified from the original recipe found on allrecipes.com)

Awesome Slow Cooker Pot Roast

 Whenever my husband says “I think we will have pot roast tonite” I get so excited. I love how the house smells all day. It starts out as just a fragrance, but by the end of the day, it’s a full-on assault of the senses. The process starts with my hubby rolling out of the bed on Sunday morning announcing, “it’s time to make the roast.” On this particular morning, he had leftover bacon grease from breakfast from the day before (Nueske’s bacon and homemade blueberry pancakes!), so he flours, salts and peppers the beef (5 1/2 lbs of pot roast) then sears the roast in the bacon fat in a skillet (don’t use  a non-stick skillet – if you do, you won’t get a good sear).

Once the meat is seared, he puts the meat into the crock pot, then deglazes the skillet with beef broth to get that delicious meat fond and bacon fat.  He adds this to the crock pot as well. A helpful hint: use a crock pot bag.  Clean-up is much easier if you use a crock pot bag. Next he adds two cans of mushroom soup. Now, the recipe on allrecipes.com uses two cans of cream of mushroom. The hubby has modified the recipe and added a can of cream of mushroom and a can of golden mushroom. It’s really good and has a gorgeous color and flavor. However, if you prefer cream of mushroom or cannot find golden mushroom, never fear. Two cans of cream of mushroom soup will still delicious.

The other ingredients include:

• a one ounce package of dry onion soup mix,
• 1 1/4 cup of beef broth,
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1 medium-sized onion.

 What’s next? Cook on a low setting for about 10 hours. Yes, I know, sounds like a long time, right? It is, especially as the aroma starts really developing and permeating the house. You can cook on the high setting for about 3 to 5 hours, depending on your crock pot.  If you go for the low and slow option, then make this recipe on a Sunday morning or a day where you can let it cook all day. Of course, if you cook it on a weekend or a day off, then you can go into and dip your spoon into the toffee-colored creamy goodness. My hubby ran off quickly to the store to pick up rolls to sop up the gravy. The roast had been cooking about 9 hours at this point. As soon as he left, I ran in, grabbed a tablespoon and slurped three healthy spoonfuls of gravy! It was so good! And I think the “sneaking in” part made it taste even better!

Serve this lovely goodness with mashed potatoes. If you are really into homemade mashed potatoes, then have at it. If not, I highly recommend Bob Evan’s Mashed Potatoes. They taste really good, like your Mom’s mashed potatoes (or not if your mom was not such a great cook), and they are quick. You can heat them up in a pan if you like or throw them in the microwave.

 If you want to get your veggies in, serve with some green beans. My favorite way to eat green beans is to snap the ends of the beans, throw into a skillet and toss with olive oil, two cloves of garlic, salt and pepper. You don’t have to cook them for long, just enough time for them to get a little soft. You want the crunch to still be in the bean. If you are not a bean person, perhaps some steamed broccoli or roasted carrots (a little garlic, a little olive oil, roast in a pan in the oven).

This Awesome Slow Cooker Pot Roast is so good and makes for great leftovers (depending on the number of folks you are feeding). The gravy is out-of-sight and you will find that you cannot help but take a few spoonfuls of gravy for yourself right before you toss out the crock pot liners! You can find the original recipe for Awesome Slow Cooker Pot Roast at http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Awesome-Slow-Cooker-Pot-Roast/Detail.aspx. Enjoy and Bon Appetit!

In the Frig – On Time Seafood

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 Dinner at On Time Seafood

With so many Chinese restaurants in Indianapolis, it’s hard to get excited about going out for Chinese.  Most have the same dishes which are too greasy and the same large and intimidating menu. Not that there aren’t many good ones, but there are so many that it’s more like deciding on which McDonald’s to go to (usually you settle on the one closest to you or with the quickest drive thru service). When my husband suggested we check out On Time Seafood, I was indifferent, but hungry enough to go.  It was a great decision as it was awesome!

From the tank to the plate!

From the outside, the restaurant looks fairly unassuming. However, upon entering, it’s a very large restaurant. It has that very “new tenant” look – everything polished and fresh. Flat screen TVs on the wall, contemporary lighting above the tables, but what stood out most was the fish tanks in the back of the restaurant by the kitchen.  Should you so choose,  your dinner will be plucked from the tank and prepared fresh! For those of you who feel slightly bad about the taking of a life of a fish, avert your eyes and focus on the menu. While you can find several of the Chinese dinner standards, there are some very interesting dishes, like whole cooked fish and sea squirts. I began to feel excited about dinner.  As always, my husband and I – growing hungrier by the minute – over-ordered. The waitress seemed genuinely surprised at our order: Hot and Sour soup, crispy duck and Whole Fish in Black Bean Sauce. I wasn’t sure why this sounded like a lot – until the first course arrived: Hot and Sour Soup.

Giant Bowl of Hot and Sour Soup
First, let me say that this hot and sour soup is HUGE! Don’t let the photo fool you, this is a big ole bowl! I think four people could easily share this bowl of hot and sour.  No wonder the waitress looked at us like we were crazy.  However, if there are only two of you are feeling stingy and want left-overs, this hot and sour will feed you and dim sum (Ha..and then some I mean!). The soup is amazing. The flavors of the mushroom, soy, broth – it’s exquisite. Dip in your spoon and the soup will cling to the spoon. It has a gorgeous viscosity. And that wonderful hot bite at the end. It’s not too spicy, it’s just that right heat. This to me is a must have after a long cold day fighting holiday traffic.  Drop in, throw off your coat and order some of this soup. It’s the remedy for your soul!

Crispy Duck - A Feast for the Eyes and Stomach

Crispy Duck is Crazy Good!

I think the photo of the crispy duck above is absolutely gorgeous, but I will tell you, it doesn’t do the crispy duck justice! OMG, it’s crazy good. It is indeed crispy and it was cooked to absolute perfection. The duck was tender and sweet, the coating was awesome.  If you have not had duck, there’s no real way for me to explain the flavor. It doesn’t taste like chicken, or turkey or lamb (someone told me once they thought duck tasted like lamb – quite odd). It’s a dark meat with a rich flavor. It’s phenomenal. If you go to On Time Seafood,  order this dish! I did have a bit of a challenge eating the crispy duck with the chopsticks. I am used to just grabbing little knuckles of sushi or rolls – and the crispy duck, because it’s in larger slices – really did confound me for a while.  But don’t let your chopstick skills, or lack thereof, stop you from ordering this dish. It’s incredible!

I Can’t Believe We Ate the Whole Thing

Delicious Whole Fish

One moment our fish was swimming in the tank, the next moment it was swimming in black bean sauce!  When the waitress brought out the fish, it was like “ooooooo…” I swear, I had to look around to see if there was a studio audience nearby. It was a beautiful thing to behold. The smell was absolutely divine. Now, I apologize to my readers up front – I don’t remember what fish it was. Although it’s only been a couple of weeks ago since we dined at On Time, I have forgotten the fish and cannot locate the paper where I wrote it down. Suffice it is to say though, the fish was excellent. Even though the fish was slathered in black bean sauce, the skin was still crispy. And the flesh was tender and moist. A fantastic flavor. Now, the challenge with eating whole fish is the bones. You will need to take your time when eating this fish. This is where you will need to have fairly decent chopstick skills or no shame in using a fork!  The only critique I have regarding the fish is that there was a little too much black bean sauce. You could still taste the fish, don’t get me wrong. But there was so much sauce that when you grabbed bites of the fish, sauce would slosh out onto the table. It was still quite delicious though and I am glad we ordered the whole fish. We had never had a whole fish before and it was quite tasty.

The Eyes Have It – and So Did We!
I apologize for not having a photo of this culinary adventure, but it was a last minute decision.  I have seen Anthony Bourdain (Travel Channel, No Reservations) and Andrew Zimmern (Travel Channel, Bizarre Foods) eat eyeballs and I can honestly say I have been quite grossed out. Years ago I saw an episode of Lonely Planet where a traveller ate an eyeball and I thought I did that whole gagging thing you did as a kid when your mom tried to feed you that asparagus cooked in a Green Giant bag. AACCK!! But I decided that if I was really going to call myself a Foodie or a culinary adventurer, I had to eat the eye. I picked it out with my chopsticks – which was quite a task. They are a little wobbly and gelantinous so it was hard for me to keep it firmly between the chopsticks. My husband was watching me intently and did do a bit of that retch/gagging thing. Then I took a deep breath and popped it in my mouth. It melted away quite easy. It did have a bit of a squish, but you know what ? It was not bad…really. Now I don’t plan to eat eyeballs on a daily basis, and I won’t say they are absolutely delicious, but they are not bad. If you have an adventurous spirit, go ahead and try an eyeball. It’s a great way to conquer food fears and makes for a great story to tell at parties! And on blogs!

We also tried the fish cheeks, something else the Zimmerns of the world have added to their digestive lists. Honestly, it is just fish meat- the cheek has a little more texture than the rest of the fish flesh, but it has a good fish flavor. So if you can’t bring yourself to eat the eyeball, try the cheeks! Everyone likes a little cheek!

What was the Damage?
With the three dishes we selected – plus our non-alcoholic beverages – the bill was between $40-$50. Not bad for a whole fish and duck. The service was good. The waitresses were a little aloof, but once they saw our enthusiasm for our meals, they warmed up and encouraged us to return for dim sum.

How do you get there?
Well, there’s a map feature at the top of this page that will give you easy directions. But to give you an idea, it’s at the bottom of the ramp of 65 North when you take the 38th street exit, before you get to Lafayette Road.  No matter where you live, be adventurous and get off your beaten path and get to On Time Seafood!