Crockpot Azorean Beef Stew

This is another A Year of Slow Cooking recipe.  It was pretty good and the only change I made was using half the cinnamon and no red pepper flakes.  This stew was good and had a different taste than just plain beef stew.

1 lb beef chuck stew meat
5-6 cloves of garlic, smashed and chopped
2 potatoes, chopped in 1 inch chunks
3 green onions, chopped
3 cups beef stock
1 cup baby tomatoes, cut in quarters, or 2 large chopped tomatoes
1 cup baby carrots, or 3 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 T kosher salt 
1 tsp all spice
1 bay leaf
1 tsp cumin
1 cinnamon stick


Put the meat in the crockpot.  Add the broth.  Chop the vegetables and add to crockpot.  Stir in the salt, all spice and cumin.  Add the cinnamon stick and bay leaf.  Cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 6.  As the Crockpot Lady says, stew tastes better when you cook it longer and slow (at a lower temperature).


Serves 6-8.

Crockpot Mustard Beef (or Chicken)

This was a very yummy and simply beef recipe, and not surprisingly it's from A Year of Slow Cooking.  Beef is so good in the crockpot since it stays tender.  The only thing I might change is using more molasses and mustard for the sauce (1/2 cup of each instead of 1/3 cup).  You can also use 4-6 chicken breasts instead of the beef and make it endo diet friendly.

3 lbs beef roast (use a cut labeled for pot roast)
1/3 cup molasses
1/3 cup Dijon mustard
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

This is another one where it's great to toss in a plastic bag in the fridge overnight.  Dump everything in the plastic bag or crockpot.  Flip the beef over a couple times in crockpot to make sure both side are evenly coated.  Cook for 7 hours on low.

Serves 4-6

Crockpot Pomegranate Beef

I made this for a dinner party and everyone really liked it. The cranberries and pomegranate make it very fall appropriate. It's a tart instead of sweet version of fruit and meat, which I'm a big fan of.

I'm linking to the recipe on Gluten-free Goddess. My only changes were doubling the recipe, using a much cheaper, pot roast type cut of meat like chuck roast, and cooking for 10 hours on low since I didn't cut the meat into serving pieces or brown it. If I made it again, I'd probably half the amount of balsamic vinegar used.

Beef Stroganoff

I got this recipe from Simply Recipes. The hardest part is getting the beef cut into strips. I modified it by cooking the mushrooms separately for my husband since I don't like them. We really liked it but it only made 2 servings.

6 Tbsp butter

1 pound of top sirloin or tenderloin, cut thin into 1-inch wide by 2 1/2-inch long strips

1/3 cup chopped shallots (can substitute onions)

1/2 pound cremini mushrooms, sliced

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon of dry tarragon or 2 teaspoons of chopped fresh tarragon (optional)

1 cup of sour cream at room temperature

Melt 3 Tbsp of butter in a large skillet on medium heat. Increase the heat to high/med-high and add the strips of beef. You want to cook the beef quickly, browning on each side, so the temp needs to be high enough to brown the beef, but not so high as to burn the butter. You may need to work in batches. While cooking the beef, sprinkle with some salt and pepper. When both sides are browned, remove the beef to a bowl and set aside.

In the same pan, reduce the heat to medium and add the shallots. Cook the shallots for a minute or two, allowing them to soak up any meat drippings. Remove the shallots to the same bowl as the meat and set aside.

In the same pan, melt another 3 Tbsp of butter. Increase heat to medium high and add the mushrooms. Cook, stirring occasionally for about 4 minutes.

Remove mushrooms and reduce heat to low. Add the sour cream and stir in the beef and shallots, and mix throughly. Don't let the mixture simmer or boil or the sour cream will curdle

Serve over egg noodles (I used whole wheat).

Make 2 servings.

Crockpot Ropa Vieja

This was very good. It's a make-again. I love beef in the crockpot since it's always tender and flavorful. I combined a bunch of recipes I found to make one that suited us.

2 lbs beef

1/2 onion, chopped

1 cup tomato sauce

1/2 cup chicken broth

1/4 apple cider vinegar

2-3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 tbsp paprika

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp cilantro

salt and pepper to taste

1 bay leaf

Rub beef with spices. Place in crockpot and place onion on top. Pour tomato sauce, broth, and vinegar. Cook on low for at least 10 hours or on high for at least 7 hours.

Makes 6-8 servings.