I Love You Chuck! Never Fail Roast Beef Sandwiches

I love Chuck.

He's always so tender.

Forgiving.

He never disappoints.

He never fails me.

He's so versatile

Oh, and he's oh-so juicy.

My husband knows all about Chuck so don't worry.

I'm talking about my lover, Chuck Roast.

To me, Chuck Roast is the best all-round cut of beef.

So many uses.  My gosh this dude is so versatile.

Today I made Roast Beef sandwiches, or Beef Dip Sandwiches.

Call it what you like, top it with what you like, Chuck will never fail you.

3 to 4 pound Boneless Chuck Roast
3/4 stick butter
1/2 large yellow onion, cut into chunks (you can use the whole onion if desired)
32 ounce container Beef Broth
3 Tbsp. Worcestershire Sauce
Kosher Salt

Sandwich Stuff:
(This of course will be to your liking)
Deli Buns, toasted (see below)
I like Horseradish or A-1
Hubby likes regular ole Yellow Mustard
Some like the juice of the broth to dip with
Sliced Provolone or Monterrey Jack cheese (to your liking of course)
Pickle Spear

Click Here For A PRINTABLE RECIPE!

I kind of think the simpler the better, cause Chuck is so tender and juicy, you really don't too much to cover up all his goodness.

Ok, back to Chuck. Get yourself a nice cut of Chuck Roast, with a medium amount of fat.  Not too lean, and not to fatty.
Most grocery stores will have them already cut into 3 to 4 pound roasts, which is perfect for about 6 very hearty sandwiches.

Just in case you have never seen Chuck before, this is what the label should say.  He's very popular and so well liked, so you should not have a hard time finding him.

Get out your big pot.  I have one of those Le Creuset "type" cast iron pots.  It's basically a "mock" version of Le Creuset.  Those darn things are expensive with a capital E, so I just bought one that's a pretend version.  Works perfectly, but without the designer name on the lid.

Turn your heat up to medium high and throw in your butter and your chopped up onion.  Feel free to use the whole onion.  I just use half because if my hubby's home at this step in the recipe, he walks in and says "It sure smells alliaceous in here!"  He thinks he's such a smarty pants using big words. So I cut it back to just 1/2 an onion cause I'm nice that way, but a whole one is wonderful

No need to make the onion pretty, and be sure to leave it in somewhat bigger chunks.

Get the butter all melty and swirl around your onions in the melted butter and cook on medium high for about 3 minutes.

Now gently lay Chuck right on top of the melted butter and onion mixture. 



Pour in the entire box of Beef Broth.

Now pour in the Worcestershire sauce, and pop the lid on your pot, and turn down your stove to the number #2.

Now just walk away...... and, as they say in Brooklyn and New Jersey.......Forget about it.

This will take about 4 to 5 hours.  So go ahead and putter around the house, answer your emails, do some laundry.

But I'm warning you, if you leave the house to run some errands.  Be prepared!

When you walk back in your house, now is the time you will fall totally, utterly and completely in love with Chuck.

Your house will smell like..... like.....well, like.......LOVE.

And if your boyfriend or husband is home, watch out, cause your man will want to marry you or re-marry you, all because of the smell of Chuck.

After about 4 to 5  hours on the number 2 low setting on your stove, you can feel free to lift the lid and check on chuck, he should pretty much be done.

When you take your tongs and try to pull him out, he will just start to fall apart.  If it seems a bit "together" still, then let him cook another 30 minutes.  I have found that 4 1/2 hours is perfect, but then again, it depends on the size roast you bought and how well your pot keeps its heat.

Once Chuck is ready, grab a nice casserole dish and slowly take chuck out and place in the dish.  You will probably have to keep going back to pull out hunks, cause Chuck is so tender, he's liable to fall into pieces.

He's going to look something like this:

Oh Chuck, I love you.  Look at how handsome you are.

Let Chuck sit in the casserole dish and rest for a bit, he's liable to be pretty hot.  After about 3 to 5 minutes, take two forks and gently pull the roast apart.

This is the time you might want to discard any of the fatty pieces.  Totally up to you though.

Once all the roast has been pulled apart with your fork, take some Kosher salt and gently sprinkle, then toss, and then sprinkle and toss.  Just brings out the flavor and makes Chuck even more appealing.

Once it's all pulled apart, and the salt has been added.  Take your ladle and pour some of the juice from the pan on top.  Get some of those onion pieces too that are floating around.

I like to get about three good ladles full and pour it all over Chuck. 

You can save the rest of the juice to heat up and serve on the side for dipping if you wish.

Now is the time where my mind starts to wander.

Chuck, you are so diverse.  Just think of all the things I could do with you right now.

I could just serve you as is, with a big pile of Garlic Mashed Potatoes.

Or I could cover you in BBQ sauce and pile you high on a bun and serve you with BBQ beans

I could put you into a warm tortilla and have beef tacos.

But today, I'm going to put you on a toasted deli roll.

Turn your oven up to 350.

Now butter the tops of your buns.

Place your buns on a cookie sheet (how ever many sandwiches you are making) and place in the oven for about 4 minutes.  You just want them to start to get toasty.

Once you see the corners of the buns starting to toast, turn on your broiler.

Watch them really careful, cause toasting can happen pretty quickly.

They should be nice and toasty like this when ready to come out.  Turn your oven off at this point.

Now is the time you can get creative.

I just put a bit of horseradish on my bread, and then sprinkled a bit of provolone on top, and popped it back in the oven for just enough time to get the cheese all melty.

However you serve Chuck, it will be love at first bite.

Why Chuck, I bet you say that to all the girls.

Company's Coming CREAM CHEESE JALAPENO CRESCENT POPPERS

When we have people over to our house to watch a sports event on the telly, I start thinking days and days ahead of what to make.

Besides cleaning my house like a mad-woman, the second thing that's on my mind is what sort of snack can I make.  I dwell on it literally for days.   I mean DAYS.

I know, I know.  Too late to fix me now, I'm too far gone.

So in times like this when I'm having issues, these little guys are like my double dose of Advil for a "company's-comin- over-stressed-out" headache.

So easy.

Super good pop-in-your-mouth-I-want-more kind of appetizer.

Great with an Ice Cold Beer or Margaritas (a must actually).

Sweet, Hot, Creamy, Flaky Yum-a-licious.

And last but not least, pretty darn cute.

1 tube regular Crescent Rolls
1 (4 ounce) can Diced Jalapenos (you will actually only use half of this can)
3/4 (8 ounce) cube cream cheese, room temperature
1 Tbsp. sugar

Note:  The ingredients above make 32 little Crescent Poppers.  It's easy for a grown man to shovel about 8 of these in his mouth without thinking about it.  So depending on who you're having over, you might want to get another tube of Crescent Rolls and one more cube of cream cheese.  Don't worry about the Jalapenos, you will have enough for a second batch with this one can.  Unless you want over the top spicy poppers.

Preheat oven 375 degrees.

Cut your cube of cream cheese and throw about 3/4 of it into a bowl.  Now take almost half of your Jalapenos from the can and throw in with your cream cheese.

This is the type of jalapenos I can get at my local grocery store.  They are diced up really fine and work perfectly.  But if you prefer to use fresh Jalapenos, then go for it.  I just didn't want to get my fingers all spicy in case I need to rub my eyes anytime soon.

To your bowl with your cream cheese and Jalapenos, add your Tablespoon of sugar. 

To me, this sugar addition is important.  I like the sweet, spicy taste. The sugar is not overwhelming, it's just the perfect accent.  I mean really, anyone can add cream cheese and jalapenos to a crescent roll, but not everyone adds sugar.  It's our little secret.

Take your fork and mash it all up really well.  Be sure to incorporate all that sugar in really well.

This is where I like to do a little taste test.  I prefer a bit more spicy poppers, so I added just a bit more jalapenos.

These are not really as hot as they might appear, but then maybe that's just me.  So ya better test it first.

Set your bowl of cream cheese jalapenos aside for now.

Open up your tube of crescent rolls and place on your cutting board.

Separate them into two rectangles, it should look like this, with all the little perforations.

Now pinch together the perforations to create two nice rectangles.  Sometimes I like to use my little mini rolling pin afterwards, to make it a nice and smooth rectangle.



With the back of your spoon, spread half of the cream cheese mixture, onto one of the rectangles. Save the other half of the mixture for the other rectangle.  (You will have TWO rectangles per tube of crescent rolls.)

Get to spreading.

Once you've spread your half portion of cream cheese on one of your rectangles, start with the LONG end of the roll, and get to rolling.

Once it's all rolled up, you will need to cut your log into 16 pinwheels.

Don't be nervous, I'm not very good at math, but I've found a really easy way to do this so it all comes out evenly.

Get a sharp knife. Really sharp if you have one.

Cut your log right in half. Now you should have two logs.  Then cut those two logs in half, and now you should have four logs. 

Get the idea?  I'm so smart, I amaze myself sometimes.

So now you should have four logs.

Now, cut these dolls in half and now you have eight smaller logs.

I bet you didn't think you were gonna get a math lesson did ya?

Now of course, last but not least, cut these little sweet-ums in half.

You now have 16 pinwheel poppers.

Note:  This is where you could refrigerate these little guys if you wanted to make them ahead of time.  Then just bake them right when the Gang is getting antsy.

Place your 16 poppers, standing up, on a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with Pam.  Don't forget this step cause you sure don't want to be prying off your stuck-on poppers in front of your guests now do ya?

Make sure you stand them up, with the cream cheese facing upward.

Aren't they so cute?

Pop these into the oven for about 13 minutes until they are golden brown.  Keep an eye on them, as each oven varies.

Once your first batch is in the oven, get to spreading and rollin and cutting the other rectangle. Man I'm bossy.

Once they are done, immediately slide them off the cookie sheet, onto a plate, walk that plate into your crowd of hungry guests, and hear the Ohhs and Ahhs.

Then watch these poppers, pop, one by one, into the mouths of your ever thankful house guests.

Thank you my little "company's-coming-headache-free" appetizers.

Now where did I put my icey cold Margarita?