Chef´s Choice – Slow Cooker Recipes

Tasty Beef Stew

I personally came in contact with a slow cooker for the first time in my life by the advice of my English neighbours. And I was immediately impressed by the concept, because it saves a lot of time in the kitchen and above all the dishes taste. You can leave the cooker without supervision during cooking and you decide when the dish should be ready! Oddly enough these practical kitchen appliances are largely unknown in Germany.

So, for readers who don´t know what a slow cooker is, here comes a brief explanation:

A slow cooker, also known as a Crock-Pot (a trademark that is sometimes used generically in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand), is a countertop electrical cooking appliance that is used for simmering, which requires maintaining a relatively low temperature (compared to other cooking methods such as baking, boiling, and frying), allowing unattended cooking for many hours of pot roast, stews, soups, “boiled” dinners and other suitable dishes, including dips, desserts and beverages.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 onion, coarsely chopped
• 3 potatoes, diced
• 4 carrots, coarsely sliced
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup wheat flour
• 1 tspn salt
• 1 tspn ground black pepper
• 1 tspn sweet paprika powder
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 350 ml beef stock

Preparation

Place the meat in a slow cooker.

Mix together the flour, salt, parika and pepper in a bowl, pour the mixture over the meat and stir until the meat is coated.

Mix in the onion, garlic, bay leaf, potatoes, carrots and celery. Pour over the beef stock. Drizzle with the Worcestershire sauce.

Cover and cook on Low setting for 10 to 12 hours, Medium setting for 7 to 9 hours, or on High setting for 4 to 6 hours. DO NOT take off the lid during cooking!

Note: It is often recommended to shortly brown ingredients in a frying pan just before they come into the slow cooker. This is an option the cook decides, you can usually do without it.