Tasty Roast Beef with Garlic Mashed Potatoes

I try to use my crockpot at least once a week. Yesterday I decided to make a classic dinner: Roast Beef and Mashed Potatoes. The roast beef is cooked slowly in the crockpot with a balsamic-flavored sauce that transforms into a wonderful au jus. I also had to add roast garlic to our mashed potatoes because... well roast garlic speaks for itself. The beef is well flavored but not too strong that you couldn't use it for other recipes, such as: Beef Dip, Beef Tacos, Burritos, etc. All I can say about this recipe is YUM!

Tasty Roast Beef with Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Yields: 4 servings

Ingredients:

1 1lb boneless Beef Roast

1/2 C low sodium beef broth
1/2 C balsamic vinegar
1/2 T Worcestershire (pronounced: WOO-ster-Sheer) sauce
1/2 T soy sauce
1/2 T honey
Pinch red pepper flakes
4 cloves garlic (I forgot to add this yesterday, but it didn't make much of a difference)

2lb baby potatoes
1/2 C milk
4oz shredded cheddar cheese
1 head roasted garlic
2-4 T butter or margarine

Directions:

For the Beef: Place roast in crock pot. In a medium bowl, mix together: beef broth, balsamic vinegar, worcestershire, soy sauce, honey, pepper flakes and garlic. Pour over roast. Cook low 6-8 hours (or on high 4-6 hours). Shred beef with two forks and keep warm until you are ready to serve.

For the Potatoes: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Chop the top of 1 head of garlic so that the tops of the cloves are exposed. Drizzle with 1 t olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Wrap in tin foil and bake in preheated oven for 40-60 minutes. Allow garlic to cool, then squeeze garlic out of the skin.

In large stock pot, cover potatoes with at least 2" water. Bring to a boil. Let boil 20-30 minutes until potatoes are fork-tender. Drain and return potatoes to pot.

Add milk, roasted garlic (all of it), and butter. Mash potatoes until smooth. Add cheddar cheese and mix.

Serve with Roast Beef and your favorite vegetable side dish.


*When garlic is roasted it brings out a beautifully fragrant, sweet flavor to it. Add roasted garlic to pasta, salad, vegetable dish, or spread plain onto French bread for a wonderful treat
*The garlic flavor will improve the longer you let the potatoes sit. The garlic flavor will be more pronounced in leftovers (if you have any!)
*Try adding the Beef au jus to a small sauce pot. Bring to a boil and simmer 20 minutes, or until mixture is reduced by half. This would be an excellent gravy for the beef and potatoes!
*This recipe can easily be doubled: Use a 3-4lb roast and double the rest of the ingredients

Enjoy and Bon Appetit!