Slow Cooker Beef Pot Roast

We got a great deal on a beef roast at Safeway, so into the crock it goes ^^. I've made this on several other occasions, and it's great, because it could be a one-pot meal--meat, veggies and carbs in one! It's also really cheap because you can use the cheapest cuts of meat, the the slow cooker makes it tender.

Ingredients (serves 3-5):
3 lb beef chuck roast
5 russet potatoes, peeled and quartered
3 medium carrots, cut 1" thick
5 stalks celery, cut 1" thick
2 medium onions, cut into wedges
water
maggi seasoning
worcestershire sauce
dried parsley and oregano
flour for thickening


Method (for a 6qt crockpot):
Trim meat of excess fat.
Rub beef with maggi and worcestershire sauce.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Rub on dried parsley.
Place a layer of carrots on the bottom of the crock, followed by onions.
Place beef in the middle and top with celery.
Fill the area around the meat with potatoes and remaining veggies, keeping potatoes to the outside.
Fill the crock about 1/3 full with water (if you know your crock won't dry out, use less liquid).
Sprinkle on oregano.
Cook on low for 7 hours and check for doneness. If it is just a bit pinker than what you want, take out the meat, cover loosely and let rest 20-30 minutes. The residual heat will cook the meat the rest of the way.
Mix the remaining items in the pot and use the liquid for gravy, if desired.
Season gravy to taste.
Goes great with red wine. (We had Merlot)


Comments:
You can brown the meat first for more flavour. I only had 25 minutes before work, so I didn't bother.
The heating element is on the side and bottom of the crock, so carrots and potatoes are preferentially put there.
I had originally inserted a meat thermometer, and I'm not sure how well that turned out, because Will reported over the phone (I was in transit) that the temperature was 85C when he took it out. Yet, it was not cardboard-y. Weird.


Verdict:
So tender, and nothing beats roast potatoes ^^. It was a bit bland, but you can add salt to the gravy, or do as Will did, and have it with HP Sauce.

Turkey Stuffing

So apparently, stuffing that isn't stuffed into a bird is called dressing, but dressing, in my mind is for salad, so hence the title.

After looking at a couple of stovetop recipes, and most calling to cook for a while, I decided to save myself a bit of grief and make it in the crockpot, though truth be told, there's a lot of cooking happening out of the crock first. At least I wouldn't have to worry about burning.

Ingredients (serves 10-14)
3 cups turkey stock (simmer giblets for 1 hour with a bit of salt)
1 loaf day-old french bread, cut into 3/4" cubes
butter
2 cups chopped onion
2 cups chopped celery
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and chopped
1 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
dried sage, rosemary, parsley to taste
salt and pepper to taste


Method
Prepare the crockpot with a bit of non-stick spray.
In a large pan, melt some butter. Toss bread in and toast in the pan. Transfer to crock. Repeat as necessary.
Sautee the onions, celery, apples until onions are cooked.
Add walnuts and season to taste.
Transfer to crock and mix with bread.
Drizzle in turkey stock and mix.
Cook on low for 4-5 hours.


Comments:
I had started with one cup of stock, as that's what the recipe called for. Over the course of the day, I noticed that it was a bit dry, so I added stock a couple times (and I seasoned then, too). I think it was just shy of 3 cups in the end. Whether you should add the stock in increments or all right at the beginning is something I'm not sure of.

I recommend cooking in the crock, as it completely filled up my 6-quart pot and reduced down to about half of that. Making it on the stovetop would've been an hour of anxiety, as we don't have that large a heavy-bottomed pot. Plus, the slow cooker keeps it nice and hot up until serving.


Verdict:
My friends liked it, Eddie especially. I'm on the fence on whether or not it's worth all that work. I do like knowing what exactly goes into my food, so making stuffing from scratch has that merit. Hmm...

Pulled Pork

I'd been hearing lots of good things about pulled pork, especially how easy it was to make in the slow cooker, so I decided to try it. After looking at various recipes, my lightbulb moment came when I remembered the blog, A Year of Slow Cooking.

Here is her recipe

I made a few changes according to the finicky nature of my crockpot and what I had on hand.


Ingredients (serves 6-10):
4 lbs boneless pork
2 onions, sliced in rings
3 cups ketchup
1 cup warm water
0.5 cups apple vinegar
0.5 cups brown sugar
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp Tabasco sauce


Method:
In a 6-qt crockpot, mix together ketchup, water, vinegar, sugar, tabasco sauce, and Worcestershire in the crockpot. Taste and adjust. Mix in the onions.
Trim meat and place into the crock. Coat it in the sauce.
Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours, until meat shreds easily with a fork.


Comments:
I used the v-slicer to thinly slice the onions.
It turned out really watery, so I put it into the oven uncovered on 350F for about an hour, which was great, because it browned the top a bit, lending more flavour.

Verdict:
Yum! So says Eddie, Michelle and Cindy ^^

Beef Stew

We had some beef that was suffering from freezer burn, and we didn't want to waste it. Coincidentally, beef was on sale, as were potatoes, so we decided to make this super easy dish that would last for days ^^

Ingredients:
1.5 lbs beef (our was a sirloin tip roast), 1" cubes
1 lb carrots, cut into 1" pieces
1 lb celery, cut into 1" pieces
1.5 lbs potatos, cut into 1" cubes
1 onion, cut into wedges
2 tbs Maggi seasoning
1 small can tomato paste
flour to thicken


Method:
Put the tomato paste into a 6-quart slow cooker. Use hot water to rinse out the can and pour the tomato juice into the cooker. Mix  so the consistency of the paste thins.
Marinade the beef in Maggi (similar to soy sauce) briefly.
Coat the beef in flour.
Throw all ingredients into the cooker.
Add water to about 2/3 up the pot. Mix well.
Cook on high for 6 hours or low for 10.
If it is still too thin, add more flour and stir.
Serve alone, with bread or rice.


Comments:
You don't have to coat the meat in flour. It just helps to thicken the stew.

It helps to have the meat covered in water to prevent drying. Our pot's lid doesn't fit properly, so we've had problems with stuff drying out. Otherwise, most recipes call for the pot only being half-filled with water.

Roast typically comes in quantities much greater than 1.5 lbs. We cut some of the remainder into cubes for another day, and the rest of it is going to be a pot roast some time in the future. The meat is currently frozen; we hope to fish it out of the freezer before freezer burn sets in.

If you don't use tomato paste and instead use beef buillon for flavour, it's like Campbell's Chunky soup, only with fresh ingredients and some MSG.


Verdict:
EASY! LOVE the slow cooker. One of the best presents I have asked for thus far, and believe me, I've gotten many fabulous presents over the years, courtesy of my awesome friends ^^