Balsamic Shredded Beef

For this round of the recipe swap, it’s Blogger’s Choice! I was assigned Carrie’s blog Carrie’s Sweet Life and I got to choose any recipe I wanted. It’s always quite a choice to pick which recipe I make. Since I participate in the recipe swaps to expand my horizons, I usually try to pick a non-baking recipe to make. Thanks Sarah from A Taste of Home Cooking for organizing the Recipe Swaps!

The weather is turning cooler, and my husband had been talking about making Philly Cheesesteak type sandwiches at home. Plus all my friends on Facebook and Pinterest keep posting yummy looking beef roasts. So I came across this recipe for Balsamic Shredded Beef and thought it would be wonderful. I really like balsamic vinegar so I thought adding it to a roast was ingenious! Plus, I got the makings for Philly sandwiches so we could go that route too.

I cooked my roast for about 8 hours, and it probably could have cooked even longer. I think it depends on the roast you get. This was way more meat than my husband and I could eat, so we had leftovers, warmed with barbeque sauce, that was excellent as well. I really liked this and the balsamic cooking liquid is just divine! Thanks for such a great recipe Carrie!

Balsamic Shredded Beef

3-4 pound boneless beef roast

1 cup beef broth

½ cup balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon honey

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

4 cloves garlic, chopped

Place roast beef in your slow cooker. Combine the remaining ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk to combine. Pour the mixture over the beef roast. Cook for 4 hours on high or 6-8 hours on low.

Once the roast is cooked, remove it from the slow cooker and place on a cutting board. Shred the meat with two forks. Moisten the meat with some of the reserved cooking liquid. 

Serve the shredded beef on buns. Top with toppings of your choice: sliced cheese, grilled onions, grilled bell peppers.

Recipe from Carrie’s Sweet Life

Crock Pot Hungarian Goulash

For this round of the recipe swap, it’s Blogger’s Choice! I was assigned the blog Hezzi D’s Books and Cooks  by Heather Lynne. One of the first recipe swaps I ever participated in I got a recipe from her blog, Baked Garlic Cheddar Grits . At that time, I wasn’t sure at all about grits, but I have to say I have made that dish quite a few times and it’s a favorite. So I was very happy to get to make another recipe from Heather Lynne’s blog. There were so many recipes and I enlisted my husband to help pick.

We decided on making the Crock Pot Hungarian Goulash. I looked forward to being able to come home and have dinner ready! I also really love any goulash/stroganoff dish that is served over noodles. This didn’t call for anything too unusual, so it was very budget conscious. I love paprika, especially the smoked paprika that I bought from Penzey’s Spices, so I thought that would make this dish even better.

This is easy to put together, just put the meat in the crock pot, slice an onion, and stir together some spices. I made it before work and I think it took less than 5 minutes. Mine cooked longer than 8 hours (more like 10) and it was just perfect. I worry that my slow cooker never gets too hot, so I worry about cooking things on high. To thicken the sauce, it worked just fine. My husband and I really liked this, although I think I would add even more paprika next time. This made a fine dinner served over spaetzle. Thanks for the recipe Heather Lynne and thanks to Sarah at Taste of Home Cooking for hosting the recipe swaps!

Crock Pot Hungarian Goulash

2 pounds stew meat, cut into 1 inch cubes

1 onion, sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup ketchup

2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

2 teaspoons paprika

1 teaspoon dry mustard

1 1/2 cups water

1/4 cup flour

Noodles

Place the meat in the crock pot and cover with the sliced onion.

In a large bowl, combine the garlic, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, salt, pepper, paprika, and dry mustard.  Stir in the water, mix well, and pour over the meat in the crock-pot. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours (or longer).

About 20 minutes before serving, turn the heat to high.  Dissolve the flour in a small amount of cold water.  Stir into the meat mixture and cook on high for 15 minutes to thicken. Serve over noodles.

Recipe from Hezzi D’s Books and Cooks