I’m not much of a slow-cooker user. Although I do like the way beef turns out in one. So I adapted my beef pot roast recipe for the slow-cooker.
How did it get?
I think the beef turned out juicy and tender with just the right sweetness from the apples. I used Gala but any sweet apple will work just fine!
Apple and Beef Pot Roast Slow Cooker Style
Ingredients
2 to 3 lb beef roast
3 medium potatoes cut into wedges
2 cups baby carrots
1 cup red onion, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
1 apple, pared and sliced, skin on
1 32-ounce carton beef stock
2 cups apple juice
1/4 cup gravy seasoning (Kitchen Bouquet or Maggi)
1/3 cup olive oil plus 2 Tablespoons
1/3 cup flour
Salt and pepper to taste
Par cook potatoes, carrots and onions in beef stock for about 5 to 10 minutes or until about 1/2 cooked.
Brown roast in a large skillet over medium-high heat on all sides using 2 Tablespoons olive oil.
Add broth and veggies to slow-cooker. Place browned roast on top of veggies. Add Maggi, apple, apple juice and then enough water as needed cover roast.
Set slow-cooker on low for 5 to 6 hours.
When roast is done, move it to a cutting board to rest then slice. Remove 1 cup broth, set aside.
Make roux by combine flour and 1/3 cup oil over low heat until thick and bubbly. Slowly add reserved broth to make a paste.
Add roux back into stew. Add sliced meat. Serve.
Winter is a great time for getting our creative gardening juices flowing. A garden can give pleasure year round by selecting plants with colorful winter foliage, unusual bark or produce berries. This week’s Garden Sense focuses on Bare Bones Gardening with ways to improve your winter landscape at Daily Dish.
If I need to pick just one comforting, soul warming dish today, I think Ham and String Beans (green beans, wax beans, haricot verts, snap beans) with potatoes is my choice.
Smoked ham hocks or shanks have a flavor and texture all their own. The meat is tender and moist. If you never had this portion of a pig, I’d compare it to the dark meat of poultry.
The cuts come from the same place, a shank named for German name of schenkel or thigh and a ham hock, which is a cut just above the foot.
My earliest gardening memories are of sitting at our kitchen table with a big colandar of green beans on my lap. My job was to snap off the ends, grab the little “string” and pull it off.
Today most varieties are “stringless” but every once in a while, I’ll find some farm fresh beans and I get to pull one!
Ham and String Beans
Ingredients
2 ham shank or 2 hocks
1 pound fresh or frozen beans, ends removed
4 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed (about 3 cups)
4 cups of homemade or 1 (32 ounce) carton of chicken stock
2 cup celery, chopped
1 cup onion, chopped
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped or 2 Tablespoons dried
Place ham, celery, onions, potatoes and stock in slow cooker.
Set on High and set probe for 160 or time for 3 hours.
Check for doneness, meat should pull away from bone.
You can cook your beans on your stovetop then add them to the mix if desired. I choose this method because I’m fussy about how tender (not mushy) my beans get! 😉
If you don’t have a slow cooker, no worries! 🙂
Place ham, celery, onions and stock in large Dutch oven and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat, and simmer about 2 hours or until meat easily separates from the bone.
Move meat to a plate and allow to cool slighty. Remove meat from bone, set aside.
Add potatoes and beans to stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook until tender.
Return meat to the pot, add parsley.
Serve on a plate or as a stew with the broth.
This goes great with salad or crusty bread!
 4 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed (about 3 cups)
 4 cups of homemade or 1 (32 ounce) carton of chicken stock
 2 cup celery, chopped
 1 cup onion, chopped
 ¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped or 2 Tablespoons dried
Instructions
Place ham, celery, onions, potatoes and stock in slow cooker.
Set on High and set probe for 160 or time for 3 hours.
Check for doneness, meat should pull away from bone.
You can cook your beans on your stovetop then add them to the mix if desired. I choose this method because I'm fussy about how tender (not mushy) my beans get! 😉
If you don't have a slow cooker, no worries! 🙂
Place ham, celery, onions and stock in large Dutch oven and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat, and simmer about 2 hours or until meat easily separates from the bone.
Move meat to a plate and allow to cool slighty. Remove meat from bone, set aside.
Add potatoes and beans to stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook until tender.
Cilantro is one of those herbs people feel passionate about; they either love or hate it. You find cilantro used mainly in Mexican, Asian and Caribbean cooking. Learn more about Cilantro at my column on Daily Dish, Cilantro Know Your Herbs and Spices . See you there!
