comfort food

We all crave it, every now and then. A big bowl of really good mac and cheese (homemade, not Kraft), mashed potatoes, or in our case, pot roast. With the kitchen in disarray, the crockpot is once again my friend. I pulled it out the other day and made Mike and Charlie's all time favorite beef dish. It is from one of those old church cookbooks, that would get put together by all of the church ladies to raise money for new altar cloths or hymnals. I love those cookbooks, and pick them up when I am at yard sales to browse through and find some recipe keepers.

This is a classic recipe from years gone by, when "housewives" discovered the wonder of canned cream of mushroom soup, and slow cooking an inexpensive piece of beef into something mouth watering.

1 hunk of meat-chuck roast works great
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 envelope dry onion soup mix
a few splashes of worcestershire sauce

I have added some of my own touches-first I rub Montreal Steak Seasoning into it ( the original recipe just called for salt and pepper) and sear it in a really hot, oiled pan, to form a nice little crust all over it and hold in the juices. Then you throw it in the crockpot, and spread the mushroom soup over it. Splash on the worcestershire sauce, then pour the dry soup mix all over that. Take the empty soup can and fill it with water. Pour the water back in the hot pan and scrape up any leftover bits from the pot, and pour it around the meat in the crockpot. Over the day, all of this will combine to make your very own gravy. I also saute up some mushrooms with a little garlic and throw in there too, as we are nuts about mushrooms at our house. Throw on the cover and let it cook on Low for about 8 hours. Mash up some potatoes (or buy the ones already made, what the heck, this is supposed to be an EASY dinner! and once the gravy hits them you won't even notice they aren't homemade). The meat will just be melting, you won't even be able to cut it into slices. Serve it up with a nice veg, and you are set.

Now if you can control yourself, this should make enough for two meals. Or not.