Beef on Weck (not really) with corn chowder

So tonight's dinner was one of my many crockpot recipes: roast beef sandwiches, served with corn chowder on the side.  I wanted to serve Beef on Weck and when I searched the internet, I learned that it's a roast beef sandwich - what makes it "on Weck" is that it's served on a kaiser roll with toasted caraway seeds - known as a kummelweck roll.  It is also traditionally served medium-rare, but I cooked mine thoroughly.  (I, like many people, thought it was beef on wick, but the internet is never wrong.)  

Since these were Pepperidge Farm  seeded sandwich rolls, purchased crazy cheap ($1.00 for a bag of 8 rolls) at Best Buy Foods (across from CCMH) this was technically "roast beef sandwiches" rather than "beef on weck".  

Doesn't matter.  Had meat.

So, since the last few weeks I've made more than enough for two families, I invited some family to join us.  At the other end of the table tonight was my grandmother, uncle, and cousin, so tonight's meal was a dinner for seven, rather than four.

I started this afternoon with a beef roast, 1.74 pounds for $6.06, frozen, but thawed in my microwave using the "defrost" option.  I put it in my slow-cooker on high for 4 hours with nothing but salt, pepper, 3 bullion cubes and enough water to cover.  It actually came out a little too dry, and I would recommend using the low heat setting, or not doing it as long.  The kids used ketchup, and I used spicy mustard, to add some moisture to the sandwiches.  It was still delicious, don't get me wrong, just, as I said, a little too dry.



When we got about 45 minutes from dinner, I started the corn chowder.  I modified this recipe, cutting out the bacon (as my relatives don't eat pork) and using vegetable oil to cook the onions instead of bacon grease.  So here's the recipe, repeated: In a pot (not a pan) cook 1 small diced onion in 2 Tbsp of vegetable oil.  Dice 2 large potatoes and add to the pot with 1/2 cup water.  Cover and cook on low heat for 15 minutes.  Then, add 1 cup of milk (original recipe called for 2 but I found that I prefer a "thicker" chowder), 2 cans of creamed corn, and 1 can of "regular" corn.  Heat through and serve.

For dessert I made pumpkin muffins (not cupcakes - muffins) using the pumpkin meat from our jack-o-lanterns, which most people would just throw out.  Truth be told, you can't use carving pumpkins for pies, (well, you can, but I wouldn't recommend it) but you can use them for muffins or bread.  

What I do is, when carving the pumpkins, I separate the seeds, put them directly on a cookie sheet and roast them, and the "goop", I put in a glass bowl, and microwave it for 5 minutes, then stir (and smush) with a fork, then another five, and so on, until it's the consistency of "stringy applesauce".  Do not add water.  It may not seem like it, but there's "pumpkin juice" in there...

We get about 2-3 cups of goop per pumpkin, and we carved four this year.  I freeze the extra in Ziploc baggies for easy access.  To make pumpkin bread (or muffins) in the fastest, easiest way ever, mix one spice cake mix (no eggs, water, or oil, just the powdered mix) with 2 cups of fresh pumpkin puree.  (You can also use 1 can of pumpkin puree, or thaw frozen in a glass dish in the microwave) .  Cook the bread or muffins in the oven at 350F for 20 to 25 minutes, until a fork poked in comes out clean.  I got 17 muffins out of this mix.  We ate 7 for dessert tonight, leaving 10 for breakfast the next few days...

So despite the fact that 1.74 pounds of meat divided among 7 people is only 4 ounces each, the sandwiches were still filling.  

Which was good, because none of my kids wanted the chowder (although we somehow managed to polish off the entire pot)





Before I calculate the total, I'd like to reiterate that we fed 7 people tonight instead of 4, so my budget becomes $17.50.  Totals for tonight were: $6.06 beef roast, $1 for 8 rolls, 1 small diced onion (14 cents) 2 large potatoes (10 cents) 1 cup of milk (23 cents), 2 cans of creamed corn (on sale a few weeks ago for 39 cents each), 1 can of "regular" corn (not part of the sale, 89 cents), 1 cake mix ($1.33) and 2 cups pumpkin (calling it "free" but if you want to get picky you could say $2 since that's the price of one "pie pumpkin" at Jones' produce stand) making our total either $10.53 or $12.53, depending on how picky you're being.

And there's leftover muffins.  Yay!