Flat Apple Pie

There are some recipes that I really wish I had never made. This one was one of those recipes.  It was so easy...and soooo good. 

The rustic look and feel added to the glorious flavor - well I think any how.

I topped the pie with caramel sauce once it came out the oven. 

Here's a few things I "discovered":
1. don't make it early and then bake it. The apples release moisture and it becomes soupy.  When I put it in the oven the liquid cooked down and became caramelized. Delicious, but a pain to clean.

2. I used store bough pie crust.  I'm a horrible baker when it comes to bready type things, so I cheated. And you know what, it was just fine.

If you do nothing else for yourself and the one's you love, make this recipe.   Its a Pioneer Woman recipe and as with most of her recipes, it's fool proof.

Tangy Beef Brisket and Perfect Potatoes Gratin

Hi everyone.  Its been three months since my last entry.  Sadly, but in a good way, I started a healthier eating lifestyle which means I'm eating already created frozen food.  That means, no cooking really.  I mean a cooking blog about Jenny Craig food would be boring.

Directions:
1. Take frozen entre out of the freezer
2. Open it
3. Stick it in a microwave
4. Hit time
5. Eat

I have lost 15 lbs which I'm happy about. I have also worked in "free" days. I mean let's not be stupid here, I still need to eat good, unhealthy food.  Just in moderation.

This last week Pioneer Woman came out with her second cookbook.  It was delivered to my doorstep on Tuesday. I sat and drooled over the entire book. Then promptly decided I needed to make something from it this weekend.  So Blueberry and the Pantry Goat came over.

I wanted to do the Tangy Tomato Brisket (she calls it Passover Brisket on her site) and her gratin potato recipe.  It took a lot of strength to not make every recipe in the book. 

I used a pot roast instead of brisket and I used a crock pot instead of the oven. At the end of cooking time, I suspect they both taste just as delicious.  It's a great, and easy recipe.  I highly recommend it.

Tangy Tomato Brisket

Photo by The Pioneer Woman

Recipe from The Pioneer Woman

1 whole Beef Brisket, Trimmed Of All Fat (5 To 8 Pounds)
1 bottle (24 Ounce) Ketchup Or Chili Sauce (make Sure It's Kosher)
1 package Onion Soup Mix (make Sure It's Kosher)

Place trimmed brisket into a large baking pan.

Mix ketchup with onion soup mix. Add 1 cup of water or more to make it slightly thin.

Pour sauce over the meat, cover pan with foil, and marinate 12 to 24 hours in the fridge.

Place covered pan into a 275-degree oven and walk away for 6 to 8 hours, depending on how large the brisket is. Check tenderness when brisket has been cooking several hours: stick in two forks and pull in opposite directions. Meat should come apart easily.

When meat is done, remove from oven and place on a cutting board. Slice against the grain; don't be disturbed if meat totally falls apart! That means it's good.

Either return the sliced meat to the sauce until serving, or place meat on a platter and spoon sauce over the top.

The Perfect Potatoes Gratin were also good.  Another super easy recipe that I didn't actually modify at all. Weird.  Next time I make this I'll put bacon in it.  It was decided at the table last night that they'd be 100 times better with bacon...because "everything's better with bacon."

I'm still doing Sunday dinners, and will try to use new recipes there too so I can keep posting to this blog.  I miss cooking every day, but for now, I'm focused on my health.  Soon, very soon, I can consider cooking again. Okay, maybe not that soon.