Roast 'n Dumplings

So I made a pot roast the other day in the crock pot. Love crock pots - makes life easy. People bring you coffee, for free. Policemen decide not to give you speeding tickets and let you of with a warning. Y'know, makes life easier. Really!
Anyway I made a pot roast - a little of this, a little of that. I rubbed the roast real well with salt and pepper, seared it in a hot pan on all sides till browned nicely, then threw it in the crock pot (well, gently placed) with a bit of water, some beef and tomato bullion (tomato paste and beef broth work fine too of course). Chopped a few potatoes, half a large onion, threw in some baby carrots. Easy.
Problem is, sometimes you ACTUALLY have leftover food. So what to do with leftover pot roast?
Tastes delicious but nobody eats leftovers in my house, EVER. Well I've been known to reheat leftover pizza sometimes. But I digress. Turning leftovers into something entirely different so people will actually eat them is... kind of an art, I think.

 Roast 'n Dumplings
Don't tell them it's leftovers!

1 Pot Roast with Veggies and any Juices
(break up meat into little pieces)

1-2 bullion cubes (for flavor)
A large pot
1 batch of dumplings (see recipe)

Skim any residual fat off of the roast if necessary. Dump everything into a pot, add water to cover. Cook over medium/high until bubbling. Add bullion or other seasonings if it tastes bland. I think I also added some dried basil and oregano (since the roast already had those) for a little flavor boost.
Add dumplings to pot, boil for 10-15 mins until dumplings are big and poofy and bready in the middle.

Dumplings

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon margarine
• 1/2 cup milk

1. Stir together flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in medium size bowl. Cut in butter until crumbly. Stir in milk to make a soft dough. Roll into golf ball sized balls.

Brownies

Having successfully resuscitated my Nook from an untimely disconnection to life (power cord broke) and also having finally arrived back "home" to Virginia from a ridiculously long military deployment... Deep breath...
I decided to make brownies.

I've been drooling over Shirley Corriher's Bakewise for much of the deployment and missing my kitchen dearly. And my coffee pot, omg, but that is another issue altogether.
Bakewise is an informative guide for aspiring bakers because, in addition to detail and advise on baking, Corriher also gives you the plain ol' how and why of each recipe. It's not just recipes, this book is about technique. Anyone who knows or suspects they know anything about food understands that it is technique that distinguishes between a good cook and a phenomenal chef.
Unfortunately, this recipe is NOT from Bakwise. I didn't have all the ingredients in hand. So. This one is from Allrecipes.com, a great source for tested recipes with reviews.
This is but one of many brownie experiments.

This recipe makes a moist brownie with a crisp crust. My addition of alcohol (instead of vanilla extract) not only adds flavor, but moisture. This isn't a dry cakey brownie. It's very moist with a velvety texture.

The original recipe is here.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (I used chocolate liquor- around a tablespoon)
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease an 8x8 inch square pan.
2. In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, butter and water. Hear over medium until boiling, stir continuously to keep from sticking. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate chips until melted and smooth. In a mixing bowl, add the eggs and vanilla/liquor. Just break the yolks, don't mix thoroughly. Gently add chocolate mixture. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; stir into the remaining mixture. Spread evenly into the prepared pan.
3. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until brownies set up. Do not overbake! Cool in pan and cut into squares.