today's first use of the crockpot and a bit of a half asses attempt at that. husband decided to clean our oven as part of our big spring clean project. he had already planned on having beef and beer for dinner and pulled the stuff out last night. so now we have no oven for 24hrs and a meal plan that requires beef to slow cook for like 3hrs. what to do? crock it!
i'm just going to copy the recipe out of the book and how it should be made in the oven. if you want to crock it, do your own thing.
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beef and beer from delia smith
2lbs chuck steak cut into cubes(we use whatever cheap beef we have)
3/4lb onions peeled, chopped and separated into layers
1 fat garlic clove minced
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 bay leaf
1 well-heaped tablespoon of flour
1/2pt pale ale
salt/pepper

pre-heat oven to 275degreeF(140degreeC)
on the stove top heat your casserole dish- medium high, add some oil and brown your meat chunks in small batches. remove meat when browned and set aside. add the onions to the casserole dish and stir them around until the edges are browned. return the beef to the casserole dish(and any meat juices) add the flour and turn the heat down to low. get the onions and beef nicely coated in flour. gradually stir in the sale. while everything slowly comes up to a simmer add the thyme, garlic, s/p.
as soon as things start to simmer, give a good stir cover and put in the oven for 2 1/2hrs.
this dish cooks for 2 1/2hrs and does not require stirring or looking at. just cover it, put it in and leave it alone. you get a really nice thick sauce and the meat just falls apart in your mouth. good with rice or mashed potatoes. serves 4.
freezes well, so if you're cooking for 1 you can eat a serving and freeze the rest for later use. only the husband eats this dish so i usually just make it with half the amount of beef but keep the rest of the ingredients the same. he gets a dinner and then lunch later in the week.