Sunday, November 27, 2011

Kitchen Adventures: All Good Things Come From The Crock Pot

The crock pot is one of the most magical tools in a a kitchen. I'm always amazed how you can throw a bunch of roughly chopped stuff in it, turn it on, leave it for an entire day and come home to something yummy to eat. The food practically cooks itself!

It's also great for office potlucks. I work with people who love to eat together and cook for each other, so I pulled out my trusty crock pot for the office Thanksgiving potluck this week past week. I wanted to bring something warm to hearty in keeping with the occasion, so I pulled out an oldie but goodie from my 1990 edition of the Milford Memorial Hospital Auxiliary Cookbook.

Crock Pot Steak - by Marian Marshall
"Steak" is a bit of a misnomer in this case, because the finished product is more similar to a beef stew. Regardless of the name, it's easy and tastes great.

1 1/2 pounds chuck or round steak
1/3 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 large onion
1-2 green peppers
16 oz. canned chopped tomatoes
4 oz. canned mushrooms, drained
2 Tbsp molasses
3 Tbsp soy sauce



1) Cut steak into strips (I cheated on this part and bought pre-cubed beef at the store -- different shape, same result).

2) Put steak strips, flour, salt and pepper in pot. Stir well to coat steak.

3) Chop onion and green pepper. Add all ingredients to the steak.



4) Cover. Cook on high for one hour then turn to low for 8 hours.



5) Serve over rice.

Rice it great, but I LOVE biscuits and I don't have enough legitimate reasons to eat them, so I made a substitution.

Who doesn't love a nice golden brown biscuit?  

The finished product served over half a biscuit at my office potluck!

If you're using a normal sized crock pot (3 1/2 quarts) the recipe is perfect as is. If you're feeding more people like me and using a larger pot, (5 quarts) you can easily double the recipe and it will still cook in the same amount of time.

So the next time you need an easy, satisfying meal for yourself or a crowd, give this a try! And if you're feeling brave, substitute chicken for the beef and let me know how it turns out....

What is YOUR favorite crock pot recipe?

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