Жаркое (Zharkoye)

While scrolling through Facebook the other day I saw this recipe on a friend's page and it looked so good, I just had to try it! The recipe comes from Tatyana's Everyday Food blog where it is listed as "Ukrainian Stewed Beef & Potatoes" with the name Жаркое in the body of the recipe page. I looked up a pronunciation and Zharkoye was an Anglicized version of the word. A few sources of what Жаркое translates to listed "roast" or just "hot" as possibilities. Whatever you decide to call this it is delicious!

THE INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 pounds cubed beef, I used a chuck roast that I cut up myself
olive oil
5 cloves of garlic, minced
1 large onion, diced
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp ground cumin
2 cups beef broth
2 cups water
1 cup tomato sauce
4 or 5 potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1/4 cup heavy cream
3 Tbsp fresh chopped dill


In a large saute pan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat, allow a drizzle of olive oil to get hot. Add in the beef and season with kosher salt while browning on all sides.

Add in the garlic and onion, sauteing until translucent.

Mix the salt, pepper, paprika (SMOKED) and cumin in a small bowl.

Add to the pot!

Allow the spices to cook in the dish for a few minutes and then add the tomato sauce, beef broth and water.

When the liquids begin to simmer, put on the lid, reduce heat to low and set a timer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Check the beef for tenderness during this window to determine when it is ready for the next step! That step is to remove the beef to another dish with a slotted spoon.

Add the potatoes into the pot to cook in the stew liquid. They need to be completely covered so add more broth/water if necessary. Cover and cook the potatoes until tender, about 25 minutes. While you are waiting, mix the cornstarch and heavy cream to make a "slurry" (which is the word the original recipe had and it made me giggle). I used my little Ikea milk frother for this and it worked great!

Once the potatoes are fork tender, add the slurry and return the beef to the pot.

Stir and continue to cook until the stew thickens to your desired consistency. Season with fresh dill and serve like a stew or soup. I was not sure how the family would feel about the dill so I had it on the side to add to individual servings. The recipe also recommended serving along with small, Kosher pickles and topping with a dollop of sour cream!

This was so good! I served it with some crusty bread and since I had some naan on hand I tried it with that and was blown away! So good!! Comfort food at it's finest. This was my first time using smoked paprika and it smells AMAZING!

DIY All Purpose Cleaning Spray

A couple years ago now I started following a YouTube channel about cleaning and cleaning products. My husband, Jayme, got REALLY excited, thinking that it meant I was going to start cleaning more or better but mostly I just liked the idea of cleaning made easy. I hate cleaning. It sucks. I hate the nasty smelling cleaners and the vacuuming and unloading the dishwasher so you can load it and run it and then start all over again. In any case, when the lady that runs the channel, Melissa Maker, came out with a book, I put it on my wishlist and when I got it I read it cover to cover! Poor Jayme, he just keeps thinking I am going to step up my cleaning game. One thing I did start doing after reading the book is using her recipes for DIY cleaning products! This one is my absolute favorite and I keep one in each bathroom and one in the kitchen.

The recipe calls for 10 drops of essential oil (optional) and I have tried a few and settled on peppermint. I like the way it makes the cleaner smell.
All you do is mix together 1 1/2 cups of water, 1/2 cup rubbing alcohol (I use 91%), 1 teaspoon of gentle dish soap (I use Dawn) and the 10 drops of essential oil. Put into a spray bottle and get to cleaning!

Copycat ChikFilA Souce

If your family is like mine, when we go to ChikFilA we always ask for a lot of ChikFilA sauce! I heard recently that Target was going to sell it in bottles but our closest Target is kinda crappy and not a Super Target so we have not seen it yet. I was talking about it with a neighbor the other day and she said she found a really close one on Pinterest that only had two ingredients! I immediately googled and found it. All the CFA Sauce addicts in Chaosville approve, so we keep the ingredients on hand for our microwave chicken nuggets and chicken pattie sandwich days.

THE INGREDIENTS

Ready for the hard part? 3 tablespoons of Ken's Steakhouse Honey Mustard dressing plus 1 teaspoon of KC Masterpiece BBQ sauce. Mix them together. THAT'S IT!!! You can also make a big recipe by mixing 2 cups of Ken's with 1/4 cup of BBQ sauce. Pinterest posts said that it doesn't keep too well as a mix though so we tend to make the smaller amount for each person that needs their fix.

By all accounts, these brands must be the ones used for the best facsimile of CFA sauce. Now, let me be perfectly clear, I DO NOT THINK CFA USES THESE TWO THINGS TO MAKE THEIR SAUCE!! They clearly use magic and angel tears and other mysterious things. If you just want to recreate some magic at home for the dino nuggets you are still buying every week even though your youngest is almost 13, this will see you through.

Slow Cooker Cuban Style Pork Roast

How about another delicious crock pot meal that takes hardly any time to put together? Okay!! I came across this one on Facebook a while back and finally got around to making it. It was wonderful! I will definitely add this into the rotation here. The original recipe comes from this site called Belly Full.

THE INGREDIENTS:
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup lime juice
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/8 tsp black pepper
7 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
1 small sweet onion, thinly sliced
1 bay leaf
3 pound pork shoulder roast

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the oil, juices, spices and garlic.

Make slits in the surface of the roast all over. Pour the oil mixture over the roast and rub it in with your hands. Make sure you coat all the surfaces of the roast.

Place the roast into your crock pot and add the onion and bay leaf. Pour in the rest of the oil mix.

Cook the roast on low for 8 hours. Take the roast out of the crock pot (mine fell into big chunks away from the bone so easily!) and let it cool slightly. At this point you can shred it up for sandwiches/tacos/wraps or leave it in the bigger chunks and serve with rice (cilantro lime perhaps) and black beans! You really can't go wrong!