Common Cuisine |

• 2 ½ to 4 lb chuck roast, cut into 1″ squares
• 1 pkt dry brown gravy mix
• 4 potatoes, cut into chunks
• 6 carrots, cut into chunks
• 1 onion, cut into thick slivers
• 1 cup red wine
• 1/2 cup water

Place meat pieces in slow cooker. Sprinkle gravy powder over meat and stir.

Add vegetables to pot. Stir gently.

Mix water and wine. Pour over contents of pot.

Cover and cook on low for 6 hours.

Serves 4 to 6.

Perfect to start on a chilly morning, along with the bread machine, for a hearty late lunch or supper.

• 1 2½ to 3 pound beef roast (round, shoulder or brisket)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp coarsely cracked pepper
• 3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 envelope dried onion soup mix
• ¼ cup water
• 4 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
• 2 cups cubed fresh zucchini
• 1 whole onion, cut into wedges
• 1 cup baby carrots (optional)

Season roast with salt, pepper, and garlic. Pour oil into large saucepan, and brown roast on all sides. Place browned roast in crock-pot.

In a small bowl, combine soup mix with water. Pour mixture over the roast and cook on low for 4 to 4½ hours. During last ½ hour of cooking, place vegetables in crock-pot.

At end of cooking time, remove roast to cutting board and let stand for 15 minutes before slicing. Use sauce in crock-pot to make gravy, if desired.

Serves 4 to 6.

Here is about the easiest way I’ve ever seen to make French Dip. It’s very tasty, too! You can also thicken the sauce with cornstarch and call it Roast Beef with Gravy. Serve with the kind of refrigerator biscuits that peel into thin layers.

• 2.5 to 4 pound chuck roast
• 1 can beef broth
• 1 can beef consomme
• 1 can french onion soup

Simply put the roast into your slow cooker, pour the three cans of soup over, cover and cook for 8 hours on low. The longer you cook it the more tender it becomes.

Oven roasting brings out the full flavor of vegetables. You can use a variety of winter vegetables, including sweet potatoes, parsnips, or whole peeled garlic cloves.

• 2 large potatoes
• 2 large carrots
• 1 red pepper
• 1 large zucchini
• ½ head cauliflower
• 8 oz package fresh mushrooms
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tsp Italian Seasoning or Oregano
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp pepper

Preheat oven to 425. Scrub potatoes and carrots. Wash all vegetables. Cut potatoes into 1″ chunks. Cut carrots into 2″ chunks. Cut red pepper and zucchini into ½” x 2″ chunks. Cut cauliflower into small flowerets. Cut mushrooms in half.

Place vegetables into large mixing bowl and toss with oil and garlic bits. Sprinkle with Italian Seasoning, salt and pepper.

Spread vegetables in 1″ deep cookie sheet. Bake 45 minutes, stirring twice, until golden brown and a little crispy.

Serves 8.

Start this baby very early in the day, or let it cook all night while you sleep (although it makes me wake up super hungry in the morning). Put it in the fridge while you are at work all day, then shred it and put it back in the pot to heat up for an hour before dinner.

• 2 ½ to 4 pound beef chuck roast
• 1 envelope dry onion soup mix
• 1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1 small onion, sliced (optional)
• 8 oz sliced mushrooms (optional)
• ¼ cup water
• 1 cup sour cream (optional)
• 1 lb broad egg noodles

Place roast in slow cooker. Sprinkle onion soup mix all over roast, and pat it into the meat. Spoon mushroom soup over roast, and seal it down to the bottom of the pot.

If desired, sprinkle onions and mushrooms over all. Pour water into bottom. Cover and cook on low for 10 hours, or on high for 5 to 6 hours, until meat shreds easily with a fork. Drain off gravy, shred meat, and stir sour cream into gravy, if using. Then stir gravy back into meat, and serve over noodles.

Serves about 6.