Conjuring Havana

Last night was a stay at home cold weather night. Usually we have something like soup or chili, but I really was not in the mood for either. My mouth was craving something with a little heat and intense flavors.

Last week I ran to The Pig to grab a couple of heads of cauliflower while they were on sale, and just perused the butcher shop. They had a big sale on sirloin tip roasts, which I had missed when reading their flyer. I have so much in the freezer that I have not been looking at any chicken or meat sales. I kind of did a double take then one leapt into my cart so I was forced to buy it. (That's my story and I'm sticking to it.)

Now I had this beautiful piece of beef in the fridge and visions of deliciousness while I was meal planning for the week. I needed to cook it today and thought I was going to have to take Mom to the dentist (that's what she told me). I knew I could throw everything in the crock pot and it would cook while I was carting Mom around.

I woke and dressed for the day, put the roast in the slow cooker, called Mom to confirm her appointment time and see where else we needed to go today. Oops, she forgot to call and tell me it would be tomorrow. Oh, and the funeral of a friend I was planning on going to? Forget that because her appointment is at the same time. ( I missed another friends funeral a couple of weeks ago because she had an appointment for a hair cut, but if you ask her she will adamantly tell you she does not need help)

The roast was cooking so we were bound to eat it tonight. I guess I need to find something different to throw in the crock pot tomorrow.

This is the roast sitting on cauliflower mashed "potatoes. TheHub had his on real potatoes and it                                                                      looked much better.



Cuban Pot Roast
1 2(ish) pound roast. I used a sirloin tip so it was not a true pot roast, but still worked. It just had to         be carved instead of pulled.
1 jar salsa. I used a hot salsa because we like heat, but you do what works for you.
1 small can  chopped chilis
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 medium onion, diced
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ground plack pepper
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
salt to taste (I leave it out and let everyone salt at the table cause I am not a salt fan)

Brown the roast on both sides in a small pan. Remove the browned roast and ut into the slow cooker. Pour the salsa into the pan to deglaze it, then pour straight from the pan into the crockpot. Add the rest of the ingredients to the crock pot and cook on low for about 6 hours. At the halfway point, turn the roast over and continue cooking.  When it is done depending of what cut you use, you can either shred it or slice it. If you shred it in the crock pot all the delicious juices will naturally mix with the beef. Just stir it around a bit to mix it all together. If you care it like I did ladle the juices out into a gravy boat and pour it on top of the sliced beef. Either way something good is about to happen in your mouth.