weekend gameplan

The weather, for the second week in a row, is going to be very cold just for the two day weekend. Back to warm weather afterwards. As a result I'm thinking of working over the stove and oven during those cold days and nights.

Bottom round is on sale this week at Food Lion for $1.99/lb so I'm going to buy a roast. I don't usually work with beef since I like chicken and pork a lot more but what the Hell. Bottom round is a fairly hardy muscle since it's one of the major movement muscles in the cow's butt so it's going to be on the tough side. I'll either braise it or more likely use my slow cooker to make sure all the connective tissue gets nice and tender. If I go with the slow cooker, it'll probably take around 10 hours to cook.

The gameplan on the meat is to buy it after work today. Toss it in a marinade (probably just lemon juice and a dash of wine vinegar for acidity, and some teriyaki sauce for flavor) Friday morning and then around 1am I'll sear the meat and then add it to the crockpot on top of some aromatic veggies (celery, carrots and onions) and a couple of potatoes. It'll be ready to eat for brunch on Saturday around 11am then it'll be time to go hiking!

I also want to play around a bit with cookies this weekend. I've been reading about how to vary the fat content versus the binding qualities of egg yolks and I'm curious how well it works. I have everything on hand for cookies already at home so I don't need to do any planning for those. The beef needs carrots and an onion--I only have celery on hand at the moment. I'm not much for veggies. I should also get a bell pepper to add near the end.

I need to start working on emptying out my freezer. This year when turkey goes on sale, I want to pick up 4 and store 3 of them for later in the year. Having a turkey every two or three months is great especially when you only pay 20 cents or so a pound. But they do take up a lot of room in the freezer so I need to start working on that very soon! My freezer is a side-by-side and while it's roomy--it's not like a REAL freezer.

Comments

tiff said…
So, did you go to that lecture?

Also, you're REALLY going to sear meat at 1 in the morning? Amazing.
3:34 PM
Anonymous said…
I love turkey, especially with a bit of cranberry sauce :D
6:17 PM
rennratt said…
I make roast in my slow cooker all of the time.

A variation on your recipe:

Spray bottom of slow cooker with non stick spray. Throw in a sliced onion.

Poke holes through roast, insert approx. 5-10 cloves of garlic randomly.

Cover in salt and pepper - all over, patting into roast.

Put roast into slow cooker, covering with beef broth, and consumme (sp?) OR with Beef/mushroom soup.

I don't generally add carrots, etc.(I use this recipe for sandwiches)

I bet that the extra veggies would be good in it, though.
8:41 PM
Just a trumpet player said…
Cooking at 1 am ? Wow, that's devotion !!

The recipe sounds good ; I think I'll try it over the weekend !

Michele sent me ; have a great weekend !
10:34 AM
sage said…
You're making me hungry! It's snowing here and promises to be cold and ucky for the weekend. But the snow always makes me happy.
Here from Michele's.
10:37 AM
Anonymous said…
I'm craving turkey now! Craving it!

Michele sent me today.
1:21 PM
Tracie Nall said…
Now I am hungry! I hardly ever cook, but yesterday I randomly baked a cake....it turned out pretty good if I do say so myself.

Michele sent me!
1:30 PM
aprilbapryll said…
I have a roast in my freezer but I haven't had a chance to cook it yet. You should cook it with the fat up so it melts through the meat -- makes it more tender.

I adore cooking, but I haven't done a whole lot of it lately. I baked some cookies -- does that count? Of course, I did it at 8pm and not 1am, so I'm not nearly as hardcore as you. :)

Here via Michele's!
4:10 PM
MaR said…
for some reason I am very hungry now...Michele sent me this time :)
4:15 PM
Prego said…
Yeah... the weather's taken a turn for the cold around here, too. Our game plan is to have enough beer on hand for the hockey game... if the cable tv gets restored.

Thanks for the visit and the concern. I just posted some pictures of the neighborhood today. Stop by again to check them out.
4:51 PM
Shephard said…
Ok, I'm just impressed you know so much about a cow's butt and how to cook it. lol (seriously tho... I didn't know that).

Cookies... it's that time of year, time to dig out the recipe for Cranberry Macadamia Nut Cookies. Thanks for the reminder. :)

Michele says hello!
~S
4:52 PM
Carli N. Wendell said…
it all sounds yummy. I'm a little paranoid about slow cookers but I would like to come home to dinner on a cold fall night. Michele sent me.
5:02 PM
Linda said…
Oh, YUM! Love that celery shot! Michele sent me today!
6:07 PM
Anonymous said…
yummy! i'm hungry now, haha
6:12 PM
The Mistress of the Dark said…
oh I just ate my din din and you've made me hungry. Turkey! Yum!
6:52 PM
Moogie said…
Oh yum! I love using my crockpot! Roasts turn out so yummy! Um, when do you want me over? :)
4:48 PM
Jean-Luc Picard said…
Very tasty!

Michele sent me this way.
8:12 AM
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