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)

No comments: