Hello my friends, long time no see… I hope all is well in your part of the world <3
Since my last post, I’ve been pretty busy with work and it's kept me away from the camera and the keyboard. Today, I thought I’d check-in with everyone and while I’m here, share a recipe that I made recently using my slow-cooker which is fast becoming my favourite way to cook.
Really, what’s not to like? You chop up your favourite veges, add herbs, spices and meat then set and forget until it’s time to eat. I leave it to cook while I’m at work and come home to a piping hot, home-cooked meal every night; and the meat is so tender, it just melts in your mouth.
My slow cooker is quite small, just big enough for one. (holds around 5 cups)
Like most people when cooking, I only follow recipes very loosely and they're always adapted accordingly, either to taste or the pantry. After altering this one, I wanted to make sure I didn't lose it and decided to share it here so I can always find it again later.
(Also, I wanted to save the photos after losing many photos on an(other) external hard drive that became corrupted... I've had so much bad luck with hard drives and have lost way too many photos with the only surviving copy remaining as part of a previous post.)
Anyhoo! Busy or not, we’ve all got to eat.
Ingredients & Method, all at once.
Chuck steak or any beef - dice and brown in fry-pan with olive oil and a little butter.
4 carrots - peel and roughly chop, place in bottom of pot
1 large brown onion - slice length-ways, place in bottom of pot.
Season with;
Himalayan Pink Rock Salt
Ground black peppercorns - add both to taste
2 bay leaves – chuck ‘em in the pot
Place browned meat on top of vegetable layer.
Add herbs and allow to 'marinate' with meat while it cools before adding the sauce – I used thyme and oregano.
Make a sauce from:
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
1 tablespoon of Hungarian sweet paprika
1 tablespoon brown sugar – mix all three (and spices) into a paste
Assorted spices include; chilli flakes, ground cumin, tumeric, mustard powder and garam masala.
It was at this moment, I realised I had no garlic... - nvm, was still good without, but I would normally add about 2-3 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 cup of beef stock – combine with paste to make a pour-able sauce.
Pour sauce over the dish, then top up with little extra beef-stock to about an inch from the top... you want to almost cover the meat, but don’t over-fill the pot.
Replace lid and set on low to slow cook over 8-12 hours.
I've only just discovered that I can cook potatoes in my rice cooker
To accompany a stew, my go-to is usually rice but it often takes away too much of the flavour. So for something different and rather than adding potatoes to the stew, I served it up on a bed of mashed potato instead.
4 Large potatoes – wash, peel and cook in the rice cooker for 15 mins
Mash and season to your liking – milk, butter, salt, pepper plus anything else you might want to add.
These were the only photos that survived the corrupted hard drive and I almost forgot to take this last one before woofing it all down.
Thanks so much for reading but I really do hope everyone is keeping in good spirits and that you're finding time to work on something that brings you joy, happiness or peace of mind.
I'll try not to make it so long between drinks next time.
Love to all 💛
