Food + Me = Life

 

 

As winter looms closer and the weather out side isn’t the nicest, its great too come home to a dish already cooked and the house smelling amazing. On a cold and busy day last week I pulled out the slow cooker and created this tender slow cooked meal. Rich beef alongside naturally sweet kumara and carrots with a flavorful gravy. This is an affordable recipe and I hope you try it out, its one that’s worth having in your recipe collection.

Kumara and Beef Slow Cooker

Ingredients:

1 cup carrot, rinse leave skin on and 2cm dice
2 cup kumara, rinse leave skin on and 3cm dice
2 small red onions, diced
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. butter
1 orange zest and juice
1 tbsp. fresh thyme
1 tbsp. fresh rosemary
850gm beef blade steak, remove fat and cut 3cm dice
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. pepper
4 tbsp. Worchester sauce
1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 cup vegetable stock
1 1/2 tbsp. cornflour

 

Method:

1. Turn on slow cooker to either low or high, check the bottom of the recipe for cooking times and temp.
2. Heat a heavy based fry pan over a medium heat at 1 tbsp. of oil followed by onions, garlic, thyme and rosemary. plus a good pinch of salt and pepper.
3. Once the onion mix has started to brown add zest and juice of the orange and tip into the base of your slow cooker.
4. Add stock to the hot fry pan, this will deglaze it and remove all the tasty flavour stuck to it. Add this to the slow cooker.
5. Remove fat from beef and cut into 3cm chunks.
6. In a snap lock bag combine the flour, salt and pepper mix well. Add diced beef and coat with the flour mix. (give it a good shake)
7. Dust of excess flour this will burn when browning.
8. Heat fry pan to a medium heat add 1/2 tbsp. oil and 1/2 tbsp. butter, add beef and brown both sides add to the slow cooker. ( I did this in 2 batches so the beef didn’t stew.)
9. Add Worchester sauce and balsamic vinegar to the slow cooker give it a light stir, place the lid on and cook.
10. Combine corn flour with 2 tbsp. cold water stir and make a slurry, add this to your slow cooker in the last 30 minutes to thicken up the sauce into a glistening gravy.
11. Turn slow cooker onto warm while you cook either some rice, mashed potatoes or serve with dumplings and your fave green veges.

Ive served mine with a side of brown rice, red quinoa and homemade walnut parsley pesto.

Serves: 4-5

Cooking times and Temps.

Low – Cook for 8 hours

High – Cook for 4 hours

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you all enjoy this recipe!