Making food from scratch is one of those things that I take pride in. Pancakes? We have ‘em at least once a week, always from scratch. Biscuits? When I get the hankering I turn to a great recipe that I found on The Perfect Pantry. Cookies? Always from scratch. Macaroni and cheese? Usually from scratch.

But that said, I have a strong aversion to any recipe that strikes me as being fussy. Making puff pastry from scratch? Too fussy – I am happy to purchase the Artisan Puff Pastry from Trader Joe’s instead. Croissants? I would love to know how to make them, but I’ve read recipes for them dozens of times and it’s just too time consuming.

So, when it comes to the rare occasion when I pull out the trusty Crock-Pot, I expect that whatever I make will be easy and fast to pull together. Isn’t that the whole point of using it? I thought so.

This is all a very long lead in to saying that I really find the recipes in Not Your Mother’s Slow Cooker Cookbook to be way too fussy. I’ve tried several recipes from this book over the years. Every time, I find that they have too many steps. Brown in a frying pan, cook this, mix that … it’s stealing the ‘quick and easy’ from the whole Crock-Pot idea.

So, it was with great reluctance that I decided to make the Tangy Tomato Brisket recipe from this book (worst name ever — it’s more like a BBQ joint brisket). As usual, I prepped my mise en place and reread the recipe to find that there were way more steps than I wanted. That meant the brisket got into the pan later than I wanted and I had to adjust the heat and time to accommodate it …

But I wouldn’t be telling you about this recipe if it wasn’t good. And good it was. I loved it. The sauce was rich and spicy-sweet, like my favorite BBQ joint’s brisket. It was fork tender and tasted delightful with the onions …

It’s not for a busy mom on a work day – it cooks too fast (5-7 hours on low) and takes too much to pull together (prep time is roughly 30 minutes, maybe 40). But for a lazy Sunday? Perfect. And if you cook it just a little longer than you can shred it with two forks and serve it up on rolls … I bet a little cheddar would be good too.

Slow-Cooker BBQ Joint Beef Brisket
Adapted slightly from Not Your Mother’s Slow Cooker Cookbook
Serves 6

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 3- to 4-pound beef brisket
2 large onions, cut in half and sliced thin
1 6 oz. can tomato paste
1/2 cup light brown sugar
4 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp dry mustard
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp paprika
salt, pepper, to taste

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Brown the brisket for three minutes on each side then remove from skillet and set aside. Add the onions and cook until browned, stirring constantly. Beware smokiness — you might need to keep a window open to keep the smoke detectors happy. Once the onions are done, remove from pan and set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together the tomato paste, sugar, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, dry mustard, garlic, salt, pepper and paprika. Coat both sides of the brisket with the sauce then set on a plate.

Add half of the onions to the slow-cooker. Then add the brisket. Top with the other half of the onions, and then the remainder of the sauce.

The book says to cook on low for 5-7 hours. However, if you need to speed it up, cook on low for 4 hours and on high for 1 hour.

Slice against the grain and serve with the sauce and onions …

It was a steamy, hot day today. It was one of those days where you just don’t know what to do with yourself. The kids and I ran errands, took a walk (what was I thinking?!?) and ran through the sprinkler. Because I wanted to. Finally, we gave in and collapsed onto the couch with the air conditioner on (remember how I was boycotting the a/c this year? I still am … but we did install one unit in an unused window).

When it came to dinnertime, I didn’t want to cook. Who would? But that’s exactly why I plan our meals for the week. When the plan is laid out for you, it makes it way easier to just give in and go for it … so I did. And really, when I realized what I had planned for tonight, I couldn’t say no.

That delicious burger above was worth every bit of heat and torment to create it. It’s just that good.

Inside this juicy burger is an oozing center of juicy, savory deliciousness. You bite into it and it spills warm juices down your chin, leaving you to lap them up wipe it away with your napkin. I first made these about two weeks ago and feel instantly in love. Since then, we’ve had them several times … they are rather addicting.

I have to give the credit for this one to Shawn, who wanted “something, some cheese to stuff the burgers with,” one day when I was heading to the store.

Coincidentally, the hamburger is a total New England food. The hamburger – a ground beef patty stuck between two slices of bread- was created right here in a little restaurant in Connecticut. The first burger was created by Louis Lassen, who ran a small lunch cart in New Haven that he called (so creatively) Louis’ Lunch.

Today, Louis’ is still run by the Lassen family and is now located in a small building on Crown Street. It’s a favorite for Michael and Jane Stern, who have written about it on their website Roadfood as well as naming it one of their picks for “20 Burgers to Eat Before It’s Too Late,” in the June issue of Gourmet. I daresay, I will be trying that little hamburger joint quite soon …

Back to my delectable burger, it’s worth every single second and bite. Try it.

Blue Cheese Stuffed Burgers
serves 4

1 lb ground beef
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 oz blue cheese, cut into four 1/2 oz slices

In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, salt and pepper. Divide the mixture into four equal-sized balls (they should be 4 oz each). One at a time flatten the ball to 1/4 inch thickness. Place one 1/2 oz slice of blue cheese in the center and fold the ground beef in around it, like a package. Seal the edges, shape into a patty and press your thumb into the center. Repeat for the remaining three patties.

Cook the burgers on a hot grill, flipping once, to desired doneness.

Serve immediately on a soft bun.

Mmm. That is a locally grown and butchered Delmonico steak, hot off the grill. The cow is from a farm run by a family with a young child and I buy it directly from the mom at the farmers market. I. Love. That.

Frankly, I don’t write about eating locally raised and grown food nearly as often as I should. It’s something that I am pretty passionate about and really take to heart. Each week, I shop at at least one, often two, farmers markets. In the summertime, I rarely buy anything at the grocery store.

There are so many reasons I support eating locally. For one, the food just tastes better. Produce in the grocery store is often grown thousands of miles away, picked before it’s peak and flown in. That’s why you will see rows of green bananas and piles of hard plums. You aren’t supposed to pick these things before they naturally ripen, but that is what happens. As a result, we pay for it in taste.

By eating locally, I am also buying from growers who drive mere miles to sell their meats, vegetables, fruits and herbs. It’s less impact on the environment. Furthermore, instead of handing over my dollars to a mega-market with headquarters in parts far away, the people who receive my money are literally right in front of me. My local economy can’t avoid being helped by that.

But I have to admit, it’s a hard road to eating locally for most meals. You need to know where to buy staples, where to locate specific needs and more. My progress as a local eater — and I am far from perfect at it — has been years in the making.

A few years ago, I really wanted to transform my family’s eating habits and attempt an all-local diet. I searched and made notes about where to find certain foods, restaurants that cooked with local ingredients and markets that were family owned and run locally. The one problem I had was locating local, small producers of meat.

To be fair, I found a local bacon, that is manufactured in nearby Torrington, Connecticut. It’s called Nodine’s Apple Smoke Flavored Bacon and is sold in some local markets like Caraluzzi’s. It’s among my very favorite varieties ever — a thick cut, hearty and meaty bacon that is packed with flavor. It’s crispy bliss.

But in terms of beef, chicken, pork and other meats, I came up short.

Then, earlier this summer, I happened upon a fellow Connecticut food blogger’s site, Late Bloomers Farm. It was one of those life changing finds where you are both awestuck and excited to have found exactly what you were searching for. It was like an answer to my local-eating prayers. On the site is a list of local purveyors, farms, farmers markets and more. It made up where my searching via Google and Local Harvest failed.

Since then, I have found several other Connecticut food and life bloggers like Living in a Local Zone and Local Food Rocks. (Psst! I have a list in progress on my Examiner page — did I mention that I am the Danbury Food Examiner too? I started about a month ago.)

After learning about Ox Hollow Farm on the aforementioned Late Bloomers Farm, I tracked down their booth at the Bethel Farmers Market. After one dinner of beef kabobs with their meat, I was hooked. And anyone who eats kabobs knows that the meat is notoriously tough. But it wasn’t true of this meat. Grilled up with a little barbecue sauce (which I brushed on at the very end of cooking), it was tender and juicy. Totally craveworthy.

I’ve since been making my way through their other cuts. The sweet Italian sausage, which I had a bite of at the market, was enough to make you swoon — and I rarely eat sausage. And their Delmonico steak was probably the best steak I have ever eaten. Anywhere. Bar none. The heavily marbling and thick cut grilled up to perfection, and the resulting meat was so smooth, tender, juicy and flavorful. I could be ultra-cliche and say that it was like budda … and I wouldn’t be just saying it.

Do you eat local? Why do you do it?

Sometimes I fear that my posts are starting to be too much of the same. I certainly hope that isn’t the case, but each time I sit down to write, I come from the same happy, joyous place that is grounded in the onset of spring and hopeful for the start of summer.

It was a dark winter here, too long and closed off. Between locked up windows, early nightfalls and the frigid cold that scolded our skin whenever we attempted to venture beyond the confines of our house, it was just hard. But ever since spring struck not long ago (has it been two months already?), everything has felt more open and inviting. As I write this, I can hear the laughter of my children drifting in from our little playground area and everything just seems peaceful. They are happily playing outside while Shawn grills the burgers I made. I am just so happy these days.

Let me tell you a bit about these burgers. They are juicy, with an unexpected pop of flavor. And they grill up to a perfect, round patty. Topped with a little Swiss cheese, they scream “Summer is here!” And it almost is.

So what’s the secret to a good hamburger? (Sorry, no recipe here folks, just a few good tips.)

1. Use ground beef with some fat content. I prefer 88 percent lean. Any leaner, and they tend to be a little dry. Any less lean and they can be a little greasy.
2. Before forming the patties, combine 2 tsp of Good Seasons Italian Dressing Mix with the meat. Work together until well combined … yes, with your hands.
3. When you form the patties, spread them out to the diameter you want from the center, pressing the edges in to form a clean, fat edge. When you are done, press your thumb into the center to form an indentation about 1/4 inch deep. Then grill to the desired doneness.

What’s your hamburger tip?

For more on grilling,  be sure to check out my feature story, Grilling With Fire, on SheKnows.

Finally, after reading about it again and again and again, I gave in and tried it. As it turned out, when cooked just right, this lean meat is quite tasty. I’ve since marinated and stuffed my way through many flank steaks.

Earlier this week I pulled a flank steak from our freezer, intent on making my Guiltless Beef with Broccoli. As fate (and a bit of sickness-fueled disorganization) would have it, we’d already eaten the broccoli so that idea was nixed. Instead, I went with a nuanced rub that gave a burst of zing and a hint of sweetness. Just a tiny hint. It was tender, juicy and packed with flavor. Ooh, just so good.

The kids devoured it. Shawn loved it and commented on how close it is to a skewered beef dish that he likes at a local restaurant. And me? Well, we will be having this again very soon. Loved. It.

Honey Garlic Chipotle Flank Steak
serves 6-8

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp ground pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 tsp chipotle powder
1 tbsp honey
2 lb flank steak

Stir together the olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, chipotle and honey in a bowl. Lay the flank steak out on a large plate and rub half of the mixture into one side of the meat. Flip and rub the remainder into the other side. Place the plate in the fridge and let sit for at least three hours.

Remove the steak from the fridge and place on a broiler pan. Boil on high heat in the oven for 8-12 minutes per side, flipping once, to desired doneness. I aim for well done on the ends and medium in the middle so 10 minutes on the first side and 9 minutes on the second does that for me.

Let sit for about 10 minutes before carving against the grain into thin slices.

Serve over rice.

LEFTOVERS: Leftovers from this are a total hit. You can chop up the beef and serve atop a salad. Or slide the meat and make fajitas or burrittos. Diced meat can dress up quasadillas or even homemade nachos.

I love – LOVE – the ease of food that can do double duty. For instance, a roasted chicken like the one mentioned on the Everyday Food blog today can be Sunday dinner, Monday chicken tacos, Tuesday chicken and rice and Wednesday chicken salad. Talk about a blessing for a busy, harried mom — or any uber busy person.

That’s why I love this beef recipe. It doesn’t take long to throw together and it can feed a family of four for three meals. It’s adapted from a cookbook that I’ve had for several years, but rarely used, called Better Food for Kids. My version makes it a bit fresher and more to my style/taste.

Since you use it in different dishes, we didn’t get bored eating ground beef three times in a week. Will and Paige gobbled up the shepherd’s pie and devoured the beefy calzone that I made with this (see below for directions). And the bolognese was a huge hit too.

The recipe makes three cups of beef — three dinners worth. Now, I know, you are wondering how you can stretch three one-cup portions into three full meals for a family. Right? Actually, it’s pretty simple. Just forget the notion that protein needs to be the biggest thing on your plate. Toss that idea completely out.

Done? Okay.

Now, get used to the idea of using more vegetables and some good carbs too. It’s all about keeping meals well-rounded. A trip around the food pyramid, if you will.

So what can you do with this beef?

• Shepherd’s Pie: Mix one cup basic beef with two cups al dente vegetables in a casserole dish. Top with mashed potatoes (garlic mashed, preferably). Cook in a preheated 375 degree oven for 15-20 minutes, until potatoes begin to brown very lightly.
• Beefy Calzone for Four: Stretch one prepared pizza dough into a large rectangle. Spread one cup of cheese along the center length of the rectangle. Top with a single layer of sliced tomatoes (down the center only) and one cup of beef, then a second layer of 1 cup of beef. Cook in a preheated 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes, until golden brown.
• Bolognese Sauce: In a medium saucepan, combine one can of tomato paste with 1/2 cup of water and two large tomatoes, diced. Season with salt, pepper, basil and oregano. Add one cup of basic beef. Heat through. Serve over pasta with a salad.

Beyond these ideas, you could make beef quesadillas or burritos, serve it with rice and lots of peppers and onions, make sloppy joes . . . the possibilities are only limited with your imagination.

Enjoy!

Basic Beef
yields 3 cups
adapted from Better Food for Kids

1 lb lean ground beef
2 cloves garlic
1 medium onion
1 large tomato, diced
2 tsp dried Italian seasoning
salt and pepper, to taste

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the ground beef. At the same time, combine the garlic and onion in a food processor and process until chopped to a fine and uniform chop. Add to the beef and cook until the beef is browned. Pour off any excess fat.

Add tomatoes, Italian seasonings, salt and pepper to the beef mixture. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes.

All of my cooking, photographing, and posting about our food has really caught on . . . with Will. The boy doesn’t miss a thing, I tell you.

I whipped out the camera to quickly catch a shot of the beef brisket before sitting down to eat. His little eyes lit up when he saw the camera.

“My plate next, Mommy! My plate!” Will chirped.

Of course, I indulged his interest and snapped a few photos of his cut-up food.

“Now Daddy’s, Mommy. Daddy’s plate!” He chirped.

I quickly snapped a photo.

“Now, yours mommy. Yours.”

I think I’ve created a monster . . .

As for the brisket, it was a fly by the seat of my pants recipe that worked so well. We’ll definitely be adding this one to the repertoire. Prep time was about 15 minutes and it was ready to serve when I got home. As you can see in the picture, I conceded and served it with SpongeBob Square Pants mac n cheese . . . hey, the boy deserves a treat now and again.

Easy Slow Cooker Beef Brisket
serves 6

1 tbsp olive oil
1 large vidalia onion, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 lb beef brisket
1/2 cup water
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup tarragon vinegar
1/2 cup chili sauce (I used Heinz)
1 tbsp honey

Heat the olive oil in a large pan. Stir in onion and garlic and cook for 4-5 minutes, until garlic is translucent, but not browned. Scrape into the slow cooker.

Add the brisket to the pan and cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute on each side — until just browned. Transfer to the slow cooker.

Add the water to the hot pan and stir vigorously to deglaze. Pour over the meat.

In a small bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, tarragon vinegar, chili sauce, and honey. Pour over the meat.

Set the slow cooker to low and cook for 8 hours. Use two forks to pull the meat apart.

To serve: This is good on the plate or on a roll . . .

Here in the Cucina Bella household, we are pretty big fans of Chinese food. It only takes a passing mention of Chinese food to get us debating about ordering it — take Chinese New Year. Cate mentioned that she had to order her Chinese food dinner and I couldn’t get to the takeout menu fast enough. Good timing too, since I wasn’t sure what to make for dinner that night.One of the few main dishes that we can all agree on is Beef with Broccoli. Shawn tolerates the broccoli, Will savors it and we all like the meat. But face it, Chinese food isn’t too good for you. At all. Okay, yes, that was the understatement of the year.

The funny thing is that when I made this, I wasn’t expecting Beef with Broccoli. In fact, I didn’t know what to expect at all. This recipe comes from One-Armed Cook, a great cookbook for the busy mom. This took all of 10 minutes to cook, but did need to be marinated for several hours. Still, it was easy peasy.

Oh, and I was able to make this “one-armed.”

Beef with Broccoli without the Guilt
serves 4
Adapted from One-Armed Cook

1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp pepper
1 large or 2 small cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp sesame oil
1/4 cup extra light olive oil
1 slab of flank steak
steamed broccoli

Whisk together soy sauce, ginger, pepper, garlic, sesame oil and olive oil. Pour into a large resealable plastic bag and add the flank steak. Refrigerate over night to marinate, or do as I did and leave it on the counter to marinate for 2-3 hours.

When it’s time to cook, turn your broiler on high.

Place the flank steak on a broiler pan, reserving the marinade. Pour the marinade into a small saucepan and set aside.

Cook the flank steak under the broiler on the highest rack for 4 minutes on each side. Remove from oven and let sit a few minutes before slicing against the grain.

Meanwhile, place the saucepan with the marinade over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and let simmer for 5 minutes. Serve over the steak with a side of steamed broccoli.

My husband loves a good steak. I think if he had his way, we’d be eating steak every single night. In fact, we did eat steak every night for a bit early on in our courtship.

But, let’s face it, good steaks are a little pricey to have often. And when you have kids to diaper, a house to maintain and two dogs who demand their daily doses of kibble … well, steak falls pretty low on the totem pole. That’s why I immediately bookmarked this post at Jaden’s Steamy Kitchen. I had to try the technique she suggests.

So, I started out with a decent cut of beef (it was a sirloin) and my handy dandy container of kosher salt. (Lord, I think I’ve been watching too much Blue’s Clues …)

I slathered the salt on both sides of the meat — really thick. And then I walked away for an hour. What happened?

Just like Jaden said, the meat began to sweat. So, I washed away the salt and patted the meat as dry as I could get it. Then I lightly seasoned it with pepper and threw it on the grill. The George Foreman Grill, that is. It is winter here in Connecticut after all. What? You think I should be using my propane grill? Are you nuts? Too cold to cook outside. ‘Nuff said.

Anyway, onto the grill it went.

When it was done, I served it and tasted it and . . .

Absolutely delicious. The salt imparts a great flavor into the meat. However, neither Shawn nor I are certain that it made the meat any more tender. We’ll be using this in conjunction with an idea we have for how to break down the meat a little more and make it butter soft . . . But regardless it’s still a technique we’ll be doing again for the flavor.

It’s funny how things change as you get older . . . As a child and a teen, I used to jump with joy at the prospect of snow. There was so much fun from the falling flakes – snow days, sledding, snowball fights … But when I got up this morning and saw my trees white with a thick coat of snow, my first reaction wasn’t so positive. In fact, it came in the form of a disappointed groan. Not only did I have a day of shoveling to look forward to, but it also canceled my lunch plans. A good friend was coming to visit today . . . alas, that will have to wait a few weeks.

The positive? Shoveling didn’t take as long as I thought it would.

Anyway, what better day than a snow day to share an easy recipe for a low-fat and tasty stew. Now, this one does take a while to simmer, but it’s well worth the wait. The potatoes break down a lot in the slow simmer, releasing their starches to create a thick and comforting base. And the barbecue flavor is awesome. I used Sweet Baby Ray’s Honey Barbecue sauce and it was fantastic. But any bottled sauce (or homemade, if you do that sort of thing) would work . . .

Eat this with a slice of thick, warm, fresh bread and a simple salad.

Barbecue Beef and Potato Stew
serves 4

1 tbsp olive oil
3/4 – 1 lb stew beef, in one inch chunks
1 clove garlic, minced
3 small red potatoes (about 2-2 1/2 in diameter), diced into 1/2 inch chunks
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 cup water
1/3 cup barbecue sauce

In a small dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the beef and brown on all sides. Stir in garlic, potatoes, salt and pepper and mix well. Add water and barbecue sauce and mix well.

Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer for 2 hours. (Hint: use a small burner so if condensation drips from your lid, like it did from mine, it won’t land on a hot burner and make an annoying racket — and a more annoying mess to clean off the stove).