This Cake is Not a Lie!

Black Midnight Cake

2 ¼ cups cake flour*
1  cups sugar
2/3 cup cocoa
3/4 cup shortening
1 ¼ cups water
1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs

Heat oven to 350ºF (325ºF for dark or glass pan)

Grease and flour pans. (13x9 rectangle, or two 9 inch rounds, or three 8 inch rounds.)

Beat all ingredients on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly. Beat on high speed for 3 minutes, scraping occasionally. Pour into pans.

Bake:
Rectangle 40-45 minutes, or rounds for 30-35 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Cool on wire rack. Round layers should be removed from pans after 10 minutes, finish cooling on rack.

*You can use all purpose flour if you sift it. Don't use self-rising flour.

Buttercream Frosting

1 pound box powdered sugar
2/3 stick (1/3 cup ) butter, softened
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup milk or half & half*

In large bowl combine sugar, butter, milk, salt, and vanilla. Beat at medium speed 1 to 2 minutes until creamy. If desired, add more milk until frosting is spreading consistency.

*Skim milk isn't really good for this, and that's usually all I have on hand... so I use mostly half & half.

This is probably not enough frosting for a three layer cake, but it will do a two layer, the 9x13 rectangle, or 24 cupcakes.

Pot Roast in the Instant Pot (for two)

It's true, I could eat this every day.  I even eat leftover pot roast, and I'm not much of one for leftovers.

Sometime in the future I'll take some better photos... but go ahead and make and eat the pot roast, life is short.

POT ROAST in the INSTANT POT

Beef Chuck Roast
Salt & Pepper
Olive Oil
Beef Broth
Flour and Water

Set the Instant Pot to SAUTE, on high, and wait for it to get hot.

Add a little oil, just enough to coat the bottom.  Any kind of cooking oil will do, I just use olive oil because it has a nice, subtle flavor.

Season the meat with salt and pepper.  At least.  I use a mixture of equal parts salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder.  Rub it on both sides.  Add to the pot and brown for five (5) minutes.  This makes a lot of noise!

Turn it over and give the other side five minutes.  Remove the meat from the pot and add two cups of beef broth.  You could use water here if you want.  I use two cups of water and spoon full of Better than Bouillon Beef.

Last time I used Click List (shopper service) they gave me organic, roasted beef as a substitute for beef flavor.  It is OK, but it is pasty and not as good as the plain ole' regular beef variety.

Stir the pot some to de-glaze. If you don't, you might get the dreaded "burn" warning.  Add the meat back in.  Seal up the pot and cook at HIGH PRESSURE for forty (40) minutes.  When done, leave it alone for at least 25 minutes.  I've left it as long as 45 minutes and it's been fine, maybe even better than fine.

Here you have two choices...

1.  If it's not too greasy, you can make gravy from the cooking liquid.  But chuck roast usually has a bit of fat on it, it needs to have fat to be juicy and flavorful.  But you shouldn't eat it.  Don't fee it to Fat Dogs, either LOL  But if you want to throw caution to the wind on the aroma of the roast, remove the meat to a dish and cover.  Set the IP back to SAUTE and when the liquid boils, stir in a slurry of flour and water.  (1/2 cup water mixed with 2 tablespoons flour for two cups of broth).  Cook at least one minute to lose the flour taste.

2.  To be less fatty, make fresh gravy.  Remove the meat from the pot and cover.  Dump out the cooking liquid and rinse the inner pot.  With the IP on SAUTE, add in 2 cups of beef broth.  When the broth boils, stir in the flour and water slurry. (1/2 cup water mixed with 2 tablespoons flour).  Cook at least one minute to lose the flour taste.  (a slurry for one cup broth should be 1 Tablespoon flour, but your mileage may vary.)

3.  Jarred gravy can be awesome.

Better yet, cook some noodles.  Two (2) ounces uncooked, dry weight per person.  Add to the pot, and cover with beef broth.  (In the IP mini, for two people, I use 4 ounces noodles and 2 cups of broth.)  Cook on HIGH PRESSURE for half the time called for on the pasta package.  When done, quick release the pressure, turn the pot to SAUTE and bring to a boil.  Stir in the slurry and cook for one minute.  This is a good way to use leftover pot roast, if you ever have any.  Toss the cooked meat into the gravy and heat it up.

NOTES

Chuck Roast makes the best pot roast.  It should be marbled with some fat, like this:

I cut this in half.  Freeze the second half for later.

Remember, I am making two servings in an Instant Pot Mini (3 quart).  If I had a bigger IP I'd probably cook the whole thing and have leftovers.  I can't believe I'm saying that, I hate leftovers... but leftover pot roast is as a good as fresh made, just don't microwave it dry.  Heat it up in liquid or gravy. 

Ah, my pretties... chuck roast was on sale so I bought one in spite of having a piece of one already in the freezer.

This piece was way too fatty, I would never have picked this out, but I was using the shopper service.  It's really better to pick your own.

UPDATE:
A bit of a rethink on the pot roast...

It seems one half of the roast always has more fat and less meat than the other, so you get mixed results.  The last couple of times I made this, I cut it in half, but cooked both halves stacked up in the pot.  Same cooking time, etc. I put the fattier piece on top.

Take it out and cut the meat up, removing the fat, and store some in the refrigerator.
Don't put in the fridge not cut up, it solidifies when cold and you will need a chain saw to cut it up.  When it's hot you can almost cut it with a fork.

Pot roast is one of the few things I'll eat leftover, so it's a win-win. (An open-faced pot roast sandwich is the bomb)

I still (sometimes) brown it on all sides, which takes 20 minutes instead of 10, but browning isn't totally necessary.  I've thought about browning it in a big skillet, but that means I'd have to wash the skillet, and clean the stovetop, too...😏

Pork Tenderloin

Nothing could be easier... well, sure, a drive through is easier, but if you want some real food, this is pretty darn easy.

Makes TWO servings.  Double for four.

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup very dry bread crumbs*
1 tsp parsley flakes
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon salt, optional
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 pound pork tenderloin**
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon butter

Directions

Slice tenderloin into 1/2 thick rounds.  Squish them flat with your hand, just a little bit.

Stir  bread crumbs, salt, parsley flakes, garlic powder, onion powder, and black pepper together in a bowl.

Dip tenderloin slices in the crumb mixture to coat both sides.

Heat butter and oil over medium-high heat in a skillet.  Add the the pork and cook until the crumb coating is browned and the pork is no longer pink inside, 2 to 3 minutes per side.

NOTES:

* One slice of bread whirled up in the food chopper or processor and left out to dry for 24 hours, or you can use Panko.

** They don't come this small, I usually get a 1 pounder and put half in the freezer for later.