French Dip Sandwiches in a Crockpot

From Confections of a Foodie Bride

If you are craving a big, meaty, warm sandwich this is a great recipe and it's so easy, especially since its in the crockpot all day. Perfect for a cold day and perfect for a get together. We made this Monday and had a bunch of friends over. I doubled the recipe and it easily served 8 adults and a few kids with a tiny bit of left overs (granted some of the man adults ate more than one). Everyone raved about it!


Ingredients: (I doubled this recipe - this is the original)

• 1 medium yellow onion (I used a sweet onion - no prob)

• 3/4 cup beef broth/stock (Make sure to get  low sodium. If you can't find that, don't salt your meat, or at least go easy on the salt. I used regular sodium and salted my meat and it was a bit salty.)

• 1/4 cup soy sauce (go low sodium on this too)

• 1/2 cup water

• 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

• 1 Tbsp creole mustard (I just used some dijon with a bit of ketchup)

• 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

• ~3lb chuck roast

• salt

• pepper

• 6-8 sandwich rolls, split (I used the french sandwich rolls you get in a bag - they look like subs)

• 6-8 slices of provolone or swiss cheese

Instructions

1. Slice the onion into 1/4-inch rounds. Place them in the bottom of the crockpot.
2. Add beef broth, water, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, mustard/ketchup, and garlic to the crockpot. Just drop a dollup of mustard and ketchup in the liquid between a few onion rounds.
3. Salt and pepper both sides of the roast and place on top of the onions. (remember my salty warning)
4. Cook on low 6-8 hours until beef is fall-apart tender
5. Transfer the roast to a cutting board or bowl and shred. While the meat is out you can skim the fat off the top of the liquid - I didn't - too much work. 
6. Return the roast to the crockpot - switch the crockpot to warm. 
7. Before you eat heat the broiler. Make your sandwich by spooning some meat onto the bread, add some cheese, and broil open faced for a few minutes until cheese is melty and bread is slightly toasted.
8. Serve with small bowls of the au jus.

Creole Meatloaves

1 tbsp. EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)

1/4 large red or yellow onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 lbs. ground pork (sometimes this is hard for me to find at our grocery store, so any kind of ground meat is probably okay)

1 tbsp. paprika

2 tbsp. fresh thyme leaves, chopped (note: DO NOT put the stems in it... learned that the hard way, only the leaves)

black pepper and salt

1/4 c. grainy mustard

1/2 c. bread crumbs

1 egg

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Heat EVOO in medium skillet over medium heat, add onion and garlic to the skillet and cook to soften (about 5-6 minutes). Transfer mixture to bowl and let it cool. Add (to cooled mixture) pork, paprika, thyme, salt and pepper, mustard, bread crumbs, and egg. Mix to combine and form four 2 inch thick loaves. Arrange on parchment lined rimmed baking sheet and drizzle liberally with EVOO. Then roast 35-40 minutes until firm and golden. 

This comes from Rachael Ray's recipe for Creole Meatloaves with Trinity Gravy--she made it with mashed sweet potates (which she added buttermilk too) and a gravy that she poured over it all. I didn't like the gravy very much, but I did like the potatoes. The best part was definitely the meatloaf though, so I will do that again. Kyle loved it and so did I--it's not too terribly time consuming and it is one of the only meatloaves I've had that I actually ended up liking.