Saturday, October 15, 2016

Crock Pot French Dip and Bonus meal: "French Onion" Soup

ONE CROCKPOT, TWO MEALS
I have been utilizing my crock pot very frequently for the last 22 months. Mostly, I use it on Sundays so I don't have to think about dinner.  Whether we have 9 am church or 1 pm church I find that I just can't think about dinner on Sundays.

Crock Pot French Dip is one of our favorites.

I buy a 1-2 lb chuck roast.  There are only 5 of us and we are not heavy eaters.  This gives us enough meat for 6-7 sandwiches and plenty of leftovers.  No one at my house will eat leftovers though so I use the rest of the meat in the "French Onion" Soup

I put the roast in the crock pot remembering to remove the string that holds it together.  Then I add 1 cup of grape juice, 1 box of Pacific French Onion Soup, about a 1/4 cup of dried onions, salt and pepper.  Then I cook it on low for 8 hours or high for 4-ish.

(When I was making this for my sister in Georgia I couldn't find the Pacific brand soup so  I just bought a packet of onion soup and added the water that the packet calls for.  She said that it tasted great.)

When it is all done I add some Johnny's Au Jus sauce to the broth.  (When I was in Georgia I bought a packet of powdered Au Jus sauce and added it into the crock pot at the beginning.)

Then I pull out the meat without the juice.  Hopefully it has fallen apart by now but if not I shred the meat and put it on the table in a bowl.  Then everyone puts the amount of meat that they want on a hoagie or french roll and top with a slice of provolone and them puts their sandwich under the broiler for 1 minute or less until the cheese is melty and bubbly.  Then we serve it with a little ramekin of the broth in the crock pot.

Now I am left with a giant crock pot full of juice and a bunch of shredded beef.  I pour it all into a large bowl or 1/2 gallon mason jar and put it into the fridge.  Once the fat has cooled it forms a hard layer on top of the soup that I can just pull off and throw away.  Then I divide the soup up into individual portions and put them into the freezer for yummy soup lunches another day.

When serving the soup I heat a bowl of soup in an oven safe bowl, add croutons or crusty bread chunks with a slice of provolone on top and put it under the broiler until the cheeses is melty and bubbly.

Two Meals Crock Pot French Dip and Soup

1-2 lb Chuck Roast
1 cup concord grape juice
1 box Pacific French Onion soup (or onion soup packet if not available)
1/4 cup dried Onions
Salt
Pepper
Au Jus Sauce

Hoagie or French Rolls (for French Dip)
Sliced provolone cheese (For French Dip and Soup)
Croutons or Crusty bread chunks (For soup)