If I've said it once I've said it a thousand times. I love my slow cooker. What is not to love about something that you can throw a whole lot of ingredients into and walk away only to return to a tender, warming, gloriously delicious meal? This recipe is so simple you can throw it together in about 15 minutes. No braising, not too much chopping and just a few ingredients make for a deliciously simple winter dinner.
Throw the beef cubes, carrots and onions in the slow cooker and toss them around until they're reasonably evenly distributed.
Pour the tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce and Dijon over the meat and veges and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Mum's original recipe uses tomato ketchup instead of paste. I'm not a huge fan of the stuff so I used tomato paste instead.
Mix the sauce into the rest of the pot and add enough water so that the meat is nearly covered. I added about an extra cup and a half. Top the mixture with some fresh herbs (you can used dried). I added a sprig of rosemary and a sprig of oregano fresh from the garden. Put the lid on, set the slow cooker to low and walk away.
8 hours later, take the lid off. I like to turn it up to high and leave it to simmer with the lid off for 30 minutes just so some of the liquid evaporates. I'm probably imagining it but I think it makes a big difference.
Serve the casserole with baked potato and steamed veges. It would also go rather nicely with mashed potato or some thick pasta. Enjoy!
Recipe
Ingredients
- 500 g 1lb beef, cubed (no need to use a good cut - slow cooking makes any piece of meat tender and delicious)
- 3 large sliced carrots
- 3 large onions sliced
- ½ cup tomato paste or ketchup
- 2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- salt pepper
- 1 ½ cup water
- fresh herbs your choice
Instructions
- Place the beef, carrots and onions in the slow cooker and mix them around.
- Top with the sauces and stir then add enough water to nearly cover the meat.
- Place some fresh herbs on top and cook on low for at least 8 hours.
- Remove the lid and turn the slow cooker to high. Leave it to simmer for 30 minutes.
- Serve with potato and veges or anything you like.
- This recipe freezes well.
Meredith says
Yum! I stuck to your advice and used the tomato paste rather than ketchup but I added a big clove of garlic and replaced 1 cup of water with home-made beef stock. Very tasty and the whole house smells great!
Claire says
Oh yum Meredith! Hope you enjoyed it.
ANNA KELLY says
This looks delicious.... can it only be done with a slow cooker?
Claire says
Nope good question! It can be done in a casserole dish in the oven. Just layer the carrots, onion, beef then cover in sauce. Put the lid on and put it in the oven on a low temp for about 2 hours.
Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella says
I'm such a sucker for anything slow cooked at the moment! I've been playing around with the new Fast Slow Cooker and this looks ideal for the slow cooker mode :)