Slow Cooker Roast Beef

There are many benefits to cooking beef in the slow cooker.  There's no guessing if it's cooked enough.  No fat splattering all over the oven.  No tough bits going to waste.  But best of all,  it's tastes absolutely divine and comes out super moist and falls apart as you cut it into slices.

Here's the recipe I made up a couple of years ago.

1 Bolar blade or Yearling roast beef ( or similar cut )

2 dessert spoons of Beef  Stock Powder

2 dessert spoons of French Onion Soup powder

1 kettle full of boiling water

4 tablespoons of Plain Flour

2/3 cup of cold water in a small jug



*  Preheat the slow cooker on the high temperature and spray with oil ( for easy cleaning later )

*  Brown off the meat on all sides in a fry pan

*  Place the meat in the slow cooker.

*  Add the beef stock powder and french onion soup.

*  Fill up the slow cooker with boiling water until it almost reaches the top ( 2 cm from the top or 1 inch ).

*  Place the lid on and cook for 8 - 10 hours.

*  Take the meat out,  cover with foil and let it rest for at least 15 minutes.

*  While the meat is resting,,  make the gravy using plain flour and cold water dissolved in a measuring jug.  Add a little of the hot liquid from the slow cooker to the plain flour  and water mixture and combine.  Slowly pour the mixture into the hot liquid in the slow cooker while whisking quickly to prevent lumps..


NOTES -

*  Leftovers can be frozen.  I like to add lots of gravy to the leftovers before freezing.  The meat seems to retain it's moisture.

*  Save two thick slices of beef and make Massaman Beef in the slow cooker the next night or freeze the slices for future cooking.

Roast beef dinner

Browning the beef

Cooking in liquid.

Slow Cooker Chop Casserole

This is a great yet simple recipe for when lamb chops come on sale in Spring.

1 lamb chop per person
1 tin of crushed / diced tomatoes
1 tin of boiling water
4 medium potatoes,  peeled and cut into large pieces
2 cups of frozen / fresh beans
1 large carrot peeled and sliced
1 stick of celery finely diced
1/2 packet of french onion soup mix
1 teaspoon of curry powder
salt, pepper and other seasonings to taste.

Thickening ingredients -

2 tablespoons of corn flour and a little water 

Turn the slow cooker on first.
Place the chops in the bottom of a greased slow cooker. 
Add all other ingredients and stir the top slightly. Add more water if needed until everything is just covered with liquid. 
Cook on high for 6 - 10 hours. 
Thicken with a little corn flour and water mixed together in a cup. 
Serve with mash.

Notes -

Any other vegetables can be added or deleted depending on your taste and budget.

You could use Italian seasonings  of basil and oregano if preferred

Can be frozen.

Prices I Pay For Meat

With meat prices ever increasing,  it can be challenging to feed your family on a budget.  I'll admit,  we are not huge meat eaters.  By that I mean we don't eat big portions of meat with our meals.  On the weekends we eat simpler meals like toasted sandwiches,  homemade chunky soups or leftovers.  This does save us money on the food budget and gives us a chance to use things up.

I don't have a hard and fast rule for meat prices,  but I do work to a limit of what I'll pay per kilo.  My current limits are -

*  Beef Mince - I pay no more than $8 a kilo for the Coles mince.  I must admit,  this seems like an expensive price.  Tasman Meats had mince on sale in February for $5.99 kg and I bought four big trays with maybe 1.5 - 2 kilos per tray.  I portioned the mince out into 250 g lots and bagged it up for the freezer.  Some meals I use two portions eg - meat pie.

*  Chicken Fillets - If I can get them down to $3.99 kg then I buy up really big. Maybe 10 kilos worth.  The most I'd pay is $5.99 kg but at this price I'd have to be desperate for chicken and maybe only buy 1 kilo.

*  Legs of Lamb - $7.99 kg is the only price I'll pay for legs of lamb.  If it's any dearer then we go without and wait until next year's season.  At $7.99kg I'll buy 3 or 4 legs and always try to get the smallest.  This is enough to have lamb once a month with each leg giving the three of us 3 or 4 meals.  When I cook up the leg,  all leftovers are frozen in gravy for the following months.

*  Fish - I pay no more than $10 a kilo for frozen fillets and are usually bought from Aldi.  On the rare occasion I buy salmon from the deli section at Coles for $26 a kilo.  As I said,  it's saved for a rare treat.  Buying from the deli section is cheaper than the pre packaged salmon at $44 per kilo.

*  Corned Silverside - If I can get it for $5.99 then I'm happy and will buy 4 or 5.  I'd probably pay $6.99 kg if the cuts looked good and I was running low.

*  Roast Beef - I'll pay $7.99 kg if there is not too much fat on the meat and the cuts look good.

*  Chicken Drumsticks - I'd be in heaven if I could pay $1.99 kg.  I think those days are gone for now so the top price I'd pay is $3.99 kg.

*  Lamb Chops - I'll pay no more than $8 a kilo but to get it at that price it would have to be on clearance in the supermarket.  Regular prices for forequarter chops are now $16 a kilo.  We eat one chop per person and it's now a rare treat.

*  Whole Chickens -  I'd pay $3.99 kilo but I rarely buy whole chickens.  Drumsticks and fillets are quicker to cook and fillets can be stretched a long way in a meal.

*  Diced Beef - $8 or $9 a kilo is my top price but I have to get it on clearance.

*  Beef Steaks - Are rare in our house.  We bought the Drovers pack from Coles for Australia Day and the steaks were delicious.  I think we paid $22 per kilo but cut the steaks in half so our guests didn't eat too much in one hit ( I had other meat on offer ).

*  Sausages - I buy from Coles for just over $5 a kilo.

 

3 Easy Chicken Marinades / Sauces

Once there was a time when all our chicken dishes were covered in a sauce that came from a jar.  I thought it was yummy.  Darren and the girls loved it ,  but we didn't know any better.  Then I needed to slash the grocery budget to free up some extra money.  Mr Google was helpful for ideas on how to make my own marinades as well as my own common sense.

I don't know how to make lemon chicken the conventional way.  Infact,  I've never looked for the recipe.  I just sort of made these recipes up in my head and tried them out on my family.  The feedback was positive and now the following recipes are firm favourites in our home.

The following recipes I've used on chicken pieces like drumsticks.  There's no need to measure anything.  Just a good squirt of this and that and adjust to your own personal taste.

Honey / soy - In a small bowl add a good squirt of honey and microwave for 20 seconds until runny. Then add a slightly smaller squirt of soy sauce. Mix together and brush over chicken. Season with garlic, pepper, parsley and onion flakes

Lemon chicken - squeeze 1 lemon over the chicken pieces. Season with salt, pepper, garlic, onion flakes and chives. Slice another lemon and place over each chicken piece.

Saucy chicken - use equal parts tomato and bbq sauce. Mix together with 1 - 2 teaspoons of mustard powder. Brush over chicken and season with salt and pepper.

Generally chicken pieces need to be cooked for 40 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius.  To intensify the flavour,  baste the chicken half way through the cooking time with juices from the bottom of the pan.

Honey Soy Chicken Drumsticks

Silverside - Slow Cooker Style

I grew up with Silverside ( corned beef ) being cooked on the stove in a saucepan for a couple of hours.  Years later as a newly wed,  i took on this cooking practice because that was all I knew.

Years later I was given a slow cooker but no recipes to go with it.  That slow cooker sat in a kitchen cupboard unused for about nine years because I didn't know what it could do that a saucepan couldn't do.  It wasn't until I was visiting my cousin Louise in Ballarat that I discovered how to cook Silverside in the slow cooker.  Louise said the Silverside comes out tender and juicy.  I must admit I was surprised because the Silverside I'd been cooking was ok,  but a bit on the tough side.

Here's how I cook Silverside in the slow cooker -

1 piece of Silverside ( corned beef )
1 kettleful of boiling water
1 cup of brown vinegar
3 bay leaves
1 tablespoon of dried onion ( or 1 fresh onion cut up )
2 tablespoons of brown or raw sugar
1 lemon cut into 8 pieces
8 whole cloves
Canola spray

*  Spray the insert of the slow cooker with canola spray.

*  Place the piece of Silverside into a preheated slow cooker.

*  Add all ingredients except the boiling water.

*  Add the boiling water until the slow cooker is almost full ( about 1 inch or 2.5cm from the top ).

*  Place the lid on top and cook for 8 - 10 hours turning the meat around in the liquid halfway through the cooking time ( if possible )

*  Remove the Silverside from the slow cooker and wrap in foil for 30 minutes to retain the juices.

*  Unwrap the meat and allow to cool slightly then place in the fridge until completely cold. 

*  Wrap in cling wrap or foil until ready to slice.


NOTES -

*  If your slow cooker cooks on a high heat ( boiling and burning ),  turn the slow cooker onto the low setting.  If it cooks on a low simmer then set the temperature on high.

*  The lemon is an optional extra but adds an amazing light citrus taste.

*  Spraying the slow cooker with canola spray helps with washing up afterwards.

*  The meat should be placed in the fridge as soon as the steam disappears. 

*  Use a good sharp knife or electric knife o cut the meat.  It will have a slightly crumbly texture due to it's tenderness.

*  Serve hot or cold with salads or hot vegetables.

*  I personally keep the meat in the fridge for two days after cooing.

*  Can be sliced and frozen for future meals.