What's the best recipe for stew cooked in a slow cooker? The oven's busted!?!
Answers: any help would be appreciated
BEEF STEW "
Here is my beef stew recipe for the slow cooker. You can always mess around with it a bit to suit your own tastes. To make this even easier I cut up all my veggies in the appropriate sizes the day before and put them all in cold water in a big old plastic container so all I have to do in the morning is drain the water off them and toss them in the slow cooker. I don't do my onions ahead though, those get done that morning but the carrots, potatoes and celery hold up perfectly fine overnight in a container covered with cold water. This also freezes wonderfully for any leftovers. This recipe will feed 6 - 8 people easily.
Ingredients.....
- 4 small - medium potatoes cubed (spoonsize)
- 4 carrots sliced then diced (spoonsize)
- 2 cans of beef broth (regular size soup cans)
- 1 cup of water
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 teaspoon of pepper plus a dash
- a shake of salt if you wish
- 1 tablespoon + a dash of paprika
- 2 stalks of celery, cut up and diced as well
- a few tablespoons of flour sprinked in.
- 3 small/medium onions diced (not too small)
- 1/4 cup of raw but well rinsed pearl barley/regular barley - (rinse your barley under water to get the 'dust' off it) This will thicken the stew a bit as well as flavour it.
- 1 & a 1/2 pounds of beef - I bought 2 nice sized beef outside round steaks and cut/cubed them and it was extremely tender after cooking. Either that or I buy a small roast and cube it. I never purchase 'stewing beef' as it's usually full of fat.
1/2 cup of frozen peas
Put all your ingredients up to the beef into a slow cooker/crock pot as they are listed or just throw them in. Give it a good stir so all the ingredients including the spices are mixed. Cover it and set on high for 4 & 1/2 hours - 5 hours or set it on low for about 10 hours.
When there is about 45 minutes or a 1/2 hour left to go put the frozen peas in as well as a bit more flour sprinkled on if needed (stew doesn't look quite as thick as you would prefer) and mixed well. That will thicken it to a not so soupy consistancy. If you want to put the peas in when you put the entire meal on to cook in the morning, I would personally only use fresh peas in that instance. It really takes no effort to put the frozen peas in when you get home since you are more than likely going to check on the stew anyway when you get in. By the time you get settled home, the table set, etc... the frozen peas will be done.
Here is the end result: Feeds 6 easily :-)
Stews are great just bung meat , veg and potatoes in and a stock cube and water to cover every thing and switch on ...mmmmm at the last 20 minutes add dumplings....mmmm.
Enjoy
Why don't you make it up? Think of what you would like in a stew and put them in. A little onion and/or garlic and a hint of pepper can only enhance the flavour. Bon appetit!
Fry off the meat first!
Then put into the pot topped with lots of chopped veg and half a pint of stock. Leave for at least 4-6 hours and thicken as required after cooking.
Curry's, chillies, stews, puddings, joints of meats and soups are all cooked to perfection in a slow cooker.
The only thing you will miss is cheese on toast.
You can add what you like - cover the meat in water, add veggies (any you fancy) - onions, carrotts and gravy granules for a stew, you can add tomato puree and some herbs for something Italianish. If you want something with a bit more kick then add curry powder or just get a jar of sauce and add.
I use a slow cooker on a canal boat, and the answer is anything which you would normally cook in an oven casserole.
So, a beef stew with small potatoes and mixed veges, chicken provencale, curry, lamb shanks, etc.
The trick is to mix and heat the ingredients on your cooker top in a saucepan, then tip them into a heated slow cooker and let them get on with cooking, for a few hours. You will use a lot less fuel than in the oven so it's a cheap way of cooking.
Everything will be very tender.
During the war we sometimes had to do haybox cooking when power supplies were disrupted due to bombing raids.
plenty of onion carrot celery and maybe parsnip chopped up roughly and a couple of potatoes chopped to round de same size. brown your stewing eef in a little oil in a pan with your onion add to your pressure pot along with your veg and potato pour in some water pretty much cover de contents don't forget to add beef stock cubes maybe 2 to the water hot water will melt them down cookin slowly bring to a boil and then simmer for about an hour until ur veg is cooked to your liking serve wit some boiled potatoe salt an pepper to taste and enjoy x
A casserole of some kind comes out lovely and is also very easy to do, just chuck in the veg and meat, add the liquid and off you go! Make sure you put the thicker veggies (carrots, potatoes etc.) at the bottom as they take longer to cook. I turn it on before I go to work and when you come home you are greeted with the smell of dinner, lovely!! I have also cooked curry in it the same way (wih microwaveable rice) Good Luck.
SEAL CUBED BEEF - that is most important.
Add to the warmed up slow cooker.
Make your stock, add to the pot.
Add chopped onions,leeks carrots turnip,snips.
Bring it to very hot temp then switch to low.
Leave it on all day or - I do overnight.
Ten minutes before serving add a cup of frozen peas. Enjoy.
There are lots of other ingredients you can use too, of course it's what you like yourself.I add half a cup of pearl barley to thicken.
Chop an onion, some carrot, and celery and put into slow cooker with some cubed stewing steak. Add a tin of chopped tomatoes, half a glass red wine and a teaspoon mixed dried herbs. Top up with water and cook for 5 hours on low. Thicken with a little cornflour paste and serve with mash.