Black Pepper London Broil

I was at Bottom Dollar (a local grocery store) the other day and they had a special on London broil. $2.78 a pound! The only catch was the packages all contained at least 5 lbs. So of course I bought two. when I got home I cut them into manageable pieces (1-2 lb roasts, and stewing beef) while I was doing that I also trimmed the fat of and kept that separate for making soup. I individually bagged and labeled each roast and put them in my freezer. This is the first of many meals I will make from them.

Black pepper London Broil

serves 3-4
Ingredients

Brine:
1 c. boiling water
1 c. boiling beef broth
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. salt
1 tbsp. fresh ground black pepper or 2 tbsp. ground black pepper
2 c. ice

3 pieces of lean beef 2" x 2" x 4"

1/4 c. vegetable oil
2 yellow or white onions sliced fine
1 c. beef broth
1 c. water
1 tbsp cracked black pepper
1 tsp dried thyme

1 apple, any kind

To make the brine dissolve sugar and salt in boiling liquids, add black pepper and ice. Place the meat in a Ziploc bag and add the brine. Let it sit in your fridge overnight. I like to put the whole bag in a plastic bowl so I don't get any spills.

The next day remove the meat and let it drip dry on a rack while you heat most of the oil in a cast iron dutch oven (you can use another pan but this is my favourite). Brown the meat for several minutes on each side.

Place the cored and sectioned apple in the bottom of your crock pot. When the meat is brown put it on top of the apple.

Add the onions and the rest of the oil to the hot oil in the dutch oven. Cook until soft and browned. De glaze with the broth and water, add the pepper and thyme and pour onto the meat. There should be enough liquid to cover the meat, if not add a little more water.

Cook on high until it has boiled for one hour, then turn the crock pot to low and let it simmer for another 3-4 hours.



I served chopped baked potatoes with broccoli and cheese on the side

Chopped baked potatoes with broccoli and cheese.

serves 3-4

ingredients:
3-4 (approximately 2 c.) waxy (Yukon gold, red etc.) potatoes
1 stalk broccoli
1/3 c Velveeta cheese
salt

Wash the broccoli and peel the stem and cut up the florets. Add salt to taste and boil/steam in 1" water.

Scrub the potatoes and cut them into bite size pieces. Put the potatoes in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high stirring every 3 minutes until tender.



To serve put the potatoes on a plate with the broccoli on top, put one or two tbsp. Velveeta on top and microwave until melted, about 30 seconds.

my first blog post

I have been thinking for some time about starting a blog and I have finally decided to go ahead and try. This blog will be about my daily life and the food I create for my husband and myself. For this first post I thought that I would introduce myself and my family. I describe myself as a 21st century housewife. My husband and I live in a house we recently bought and are in the process of remodleing. I will occasionally post pictures of our work in progress. My husband Michael is a carpenter who works managing a construcion warehouse.

The love of my life (the man not the dog :D)

We live on nearly 2 acres in NC with our outdoor border collie Lucy and our spoiled indoor cat Isabelle.

I will be useing this blog to share recipes and my daily life with my friends and family.

To give credit where credit is due I will say that watching Martha Stewart today is what inspired me to give blogging a try. Here is a link to her blog "The Martha Blog" http://www.themarthablog.com

I have to get to the bank before it closes so I guess I better say goodbye for now.