Crock Pot Beef and Broccoli

 We wanted to go to a matinee movie so I popped 

this dinner into the crock pot after lunch. 

Coming home to a ready dinner is better than take-out.

 Slice the beef and chop the garlic.

  In the pot, combine the consomme, brown sugar,

 soy sauce, garlic, sesame oil, ginger and red pepper

 flakes. Add the beef and toss to coat.

Cover and cook on hi for 5-6 hours. 

 Remove about 3T sauce from the pot and combine

 with 2T cornstarch. Stir back into the pot along

with the broccoli. Cover and cook on Hi for 

about 15 minutes until broccoli is just tender.

Serve over rice.

Crock Pot Beef and Broccoli

1 C beef consomme or broth

1/3 C brown sugar

1/3 C soy sauce

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 T sesame oil

1/2 t ground ginger (opt.)

1/2 t crushed red pepper flakes (opt.)

1-1/2 to 2 lbs beef chuck roast,

2 T cornstarch

broccoli florets about 3 C

Trim excess fat from the beef and slice into strips.

Combine the first 7 ingredients in the crock pot.

Add the beef slices and toss to coat. 

Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours.

Remove about 3 T sauce from the pot and

 combine with the 2T cornstarch to make a slurry. 

Stir into the pot. Add as much broccoli as you 

like. You can also use a bag of frozen florets,

 no need to defrost. Stir to combine, cover

and cook on hi for 15-20 minutes to 

thicken the sauce and cook the broccoli to

your desired tenderness. 

During this time you can cook the rice.

How To Cook Rice

1-1/2C rice

3 C water

1 t salt

Combine ingredients in a medium pot, cover and to a boil then reduce the heat to low and cook until the water is absorbed, about 20 minutes. Fluff with a fork add a pat of butter if desired. It's always a 1 part rice ratio - 2 parts water .  Easy to remember. 1 C rice to 2 C water.

tip: I like using my crock pot timer to start this recipe so that it will be ready when I get home. It will also stop the cooking and keep it warm until you are ready to eat.

tip: For Crock Pot Steak and Peppers,omit the broccoli and toss in 2 sliced green
       peppers.
    

Enjoy!

Links: Stone Gable,
Under The Table & Dreaming

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Savory Crock Pot Roast

Pot Roast is always a favorite Sunday dinner at our

 house. I have several crock pot roast recipes.

This one is so easy and delicious.

Just 3 ingredients along with the pot roast.

It  makes a well seasoned, tender roast.

 It makes lots of flavorful brown gravy.

It makes everybody happy!

Rub the mixes on each side of the meat. Add 

 water to about halfway around roast. 

Cover and cook on low about 8 hours.

That's it! 

Now wait for your house to smell wonderful!

 We like it with mashed potatoes and a vegetable. 

It's a lick your plate clean dinner!

You could also add cut-up potatoes, carrots and

 onions to the pot at the beginning of cooking.

Savory Crock Pot Beef Pot Roast

3-5 pounds chuck pot roast

1 pkg. brown gravy mix

1/2 pkg. Italian dressing mix

1/2 pkg. Ranch dressing mix

1/2-1C water

Place the beef in the crock pot and sprinkle with

the gravy mix and about 1/2 of each package

of the Italian and Ranch dressing mixes. 

No need to measure. Turn meat and rub 

on both sides. Add water around the 

meat to submerge it about halfway, 

(1/2C - 1C). Cover and cook on

low for 8 hours until fork tender. 

Enjoy!

Links: Stone Gable,
Coastal Charm, Designs By Gollum,
Savvy Southern Style

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Crock Pot Sauerbraten

This is a mock-sauerbraten. 

The real sauerbraten takes a lot of work. 

This crock pot version will give you that taste with

 5 minutes of prep, and it cooks all day while you
are doing something else.

 Ingredients.

Cut up the onion and put in the bottom of the
crock pot. Add the beef and season as desired
 with salt and pepper.

 Coat both sided with flour.

Add the remaining ingredients, cover and cook 

on low for about 8 hours. Thicken with the

cornstarch mixture. Cook 5' longer.

Serve with mashed potatoes, or better yet.....

Serve with my easy homemade spaetzle!

 Crock Pot Sauerbraten

3-5 lbs pot roast

1 C beef broth

(1 C water+2 beef bullion cubes)

2 T flour

2 bay leaves

1 onion, cut-up

1/2 C brown sugar

1/2 C cider vinegar

1/2 t allspice

1/2 t ginger

1/2 t salt

1/2 t pepper

Add the cut up onion to the crock pot.

Place the meat on top. Sprinkle with
flour and rub in, season as desired with 

salt & pepper. Turn the meat and repeat
on the other side. In a 2 C measure combine
the beef broth, vinegar, brown sugar, allspice,
 and ginger. Pour over and around the roast.
Add the bay leaves. Cover and cook on low

for about 8 hours until tender.

Thicken Gravy

Combine 2T cornstarch with

about 1/4 C water until blended.

Add to the crock pot. Stir and

raise the heat to high for

about 5 minutes until thickened.

Serve with my homemade spaetzle,

or mashed potatoes

Enjoy!

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Mustard-Parsley Sauce for Corned Beef & Cabbage

I wanted to get this posted in time for you to try.

This is a great little sauce to serve with your 

St. Patrick's Day corned beef and cabbage dinner.

You just need to scoop out a cup of broth

that the corned beef has been cooking in.

It gives it great flavor.

Mustard-Parsley Sauce

2T butter

2T flour

1 C milk

1 C reserved cooking broth

from the corned beef

1/2 t salt

1/2 t pepper

2 T Dijon mustard

1 T cider vinegar

1/4 C chopped fresh parsley

In a saucepan melt the butter over medium heat. 

Whisk in the flour. Cook, stirring until smooth and 

bubbly. Whisk in the milk and broth. 

Bring to a boil, stirring, reduce heat to low

and whisk until thickened (about 3 minutes). 

Remove from heat and whisk in the

 salt, pepper, mustard, vinegar and fresh parsley. 

Put into a gravy boat to pass.

Serve with the corned beef and cabbage

Enjoy!

Links: Between Naps On The Porch,
Designs By Gollum

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Go-To Steak Marinade

When I haven't had time to find the new recipe for

marinade that I wanted to try I  rely on this one.

It's a quick and easy marinade that doesn't require

 a lot of complicated measuring.
(I'm using a Tupperware bacon keeper here)

Go-To Steak Marinade

It's just equal parts:

 olive oil, 

balsamic vinegar, 

soy sauce, 

 Worcestershire sauce.

About 1 T each is enough. 

Sometimes I add a squirt of 

Dijon mustard 

and a little garlic powder.

Mix the ingredients and pour over the steak
in a food bag or covered container .

 Seal the container and marinade in the fridge

 for 2 to 24 hours.

This works well on less expensive cuts, like this sirloin.

Before grilling I season it with a little 

pepper, garlic salt or steak seasoning.
Use your favorite here.

Easy-Peasy!

Enjoy!

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Beef Rib Roast au jus

This is called prime rib when you order it in a restaurant. It's a favorite Sunday dinner for us and it's so easy to make at home. Only four steps; 1-open the oven. 2-put the meat in. 3-close the oven. 4-take the meat out. Another nice thing is that you'll have 1-1/2 hours to do whatever else you need to do for dinner and still have plenty of time to relax with a glass of wine (HERE).

 This is a small 3-1/2 lb rib roast.  It will serve 4.
It's enough for us with leftovers.

 Season it as you like. I used garlic salt, seasoned salt, pepper and thyme.

 Rub the seasonings into the meat and pop it into a preheated 450 oven and immediately reduce the heat to 350. Roast for about 1-1/2 hours, or 20-25 minutes a pound for a small roast like this. 

 The outside will be crusty brown.

Let it rest for 10 minutes while you make the au jus. 

Remove most of the fat from the roasting pan and add 

2 C water to the drippings along with the contents of a package of au jus mix. 

Stir over heat until it comes to a boil. 

The inside of the roast will be a perfect medium rare. Slice the roast into thick slices.

Serve the au jus ladled over the the beef slices.  Pour remaining au jus into a sauce boat, 

because you'll want more.

 Serve with your favorite potato side and a fresh vegetable. We had garlic mashed potatoes, but the Cheesy Potato Casserole is very good with this.

Enjoy!

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Beef with Snow Peas

We just had this for dinner tonight and it's so good! It's a favorite recipe I've had for years and I don't make it often enough. I added chopped green onions and a few red pepper flakes this time. Good additions.

Start the rice and popovers first. Those will take about 25 minutes.

 Gather the ingredients.

 Whisk the soy sauce, cornstarch, sherry, brown sugar, and ginger in a large bowl.

 Slice the flank steak against the grain into 2" long strips. 

 Season with garlic salt and pepper.

 Toss in the bowl. Rinse and trim the ends (pulling the string off) the pea pods. Lay on paper towels to dry. Diagonally slice or chop the green onions. 

 Heat 1 T oil in a large iron skillet until very hot. Add pea pods and saute for 1 minute. 

 Remove to a plate and set aside.

 Add 2-3 T oil to the pan and allow to heat again until very hot. Add the beef and let sear for 1 minute.

 Then stir the beef until browned and almost cooked, about 1-2 minutes.

 Add the green onions and pea pods and stir to cook for 1  minute.

Remove from heat.

Sprinkle on some red pepper flakes for added spice. 

 We like this with popovers because......well you don't need a reason to have popovers!

 Serve with perfect rice.

Beef with Snow Peas

1 lb flank steak

3 T soy sauce

1 T cornstarch

1 T sherry

1 t light brown sugar 

1/4 t ginger

4 T oil

garlic salt & pepper
red pepper flakes

6-8 oz fresh pea pods

Cut beef into 2" long strips against the grain.

Combine the next 5 ingredients in a bowl; add the beef and toss well. 

Rinse pea pods and trim the ends pulling off the strings.  Set aside on a paper towel to dry.

 Heat about 1 T oil in a large pan until hot and saute pea pods for about 1 minute and remove to a plate. Add more oil to the pan, about 2-3T, and allow to get very hot. Add the beef and let sear for 1 minute. 

Then stir unti browned, about 1-2 minutes. Add the pea pods and chopped green onions. Stir and cook another minute. Remove from heat and sprinkle with a little red pepper flakes to taste. 

Serve with rice.  Serves 4

note: If you have 1-1/2 lbs of beef add more ingredients by (about 50% more.

Make sure the pan is very hot so that the beef sears.

Perfect Rice

1 C rice

2 C water

1/4 t salt

Combine in a covered pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer 15 minutes until water is absorbed.

Fluff with a fork and remove from heat and let sit up to 10 minutes.

Popover recipe  HERE
I cut the recipe in half and made 4 popovers in custard cups.

Enjoy!

Links: My Romantic Home

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Crock Pot Beef Stroganoff

We planned on seeing a movie in the afternoon, so I set up the crock pot earlier in the day. That way dinner would be ready when we got home. Something easy.

I used my small crock pot for this. It's the original orange Rival Crock Pot that was first introduced in the late 70's.  It has a stone interior that is not removable. It still works great...after all these years. Now it's considered "vintage" and sells for about $35 on ebay. So, I've kept it, along with my newer, larger stainless steel slow cookers.  It's the right size for smaller meals.

 The fact that it looks nice with my fall decor is a bonus.

Put the beef cubes, soup, water, Worcestershire sauce, mushrooms and onions in the pot.
Give it a stir to combine. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

Add the cream cheese the last 10 minutes, cover and cook until it blends in. Stir.

Serve over rice or noodles.

Crock Pot Beef Stroganoff

1 to 1-1/2 lbs beef cubes (stew)

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1/3 C water

1 T Worcestershire sauce

8 oz sliced fresh mushrooms

1/2 medium onion, chopped

salt & pepper

1/2 brick cream cheese, (4 oz)

Add the beef, mushrooms, and onions to the pot. Sprinkle lightly with salt & pepper.

Combine the soup, water and Worcestershire sauce. Add to the pot and stir to combine.

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or on high for 5 hours. 

Add the cream cheese the last 10 minutes, cover and cook until it melts in. Stir to combine.

Serve over rice or noodles.

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