Experiments in Slow Cooking

That would be a dog nose. There has been a lot of lovin’ going on in this house lately. Lola is an extreme cuddler.

But I’ve managed to carry on. I even conducted an experiment this week: using a Crock Pot to make dinner.

I know that many people use slow cookers all the time to make dinner, but I the special type of person for whom simple tasks are sometimes the most difficult. And messy. So I was a little anxious. The Boyfriend’s mother gave us the Crock Pot back in December, but I waited until my week off from work to try it out. I know the Crock Pot is designed to be left unattended, but knowing my luck the thing would have sparked and set fire to the kitchen, or exploded into oblivion, or, at the very least, scorched my beloved yellow table.

None of this happened. I credit my paranoid vigilance. Who says a watched pot never crocks?

To get myself through this experiment, I settled on a favorite recipe so it would be worth the wait: Beef Stroganoff. The recipe is super easy:

Beef Stroganoff

• 2 1/2 lbs sirloin steak
• 1 medium onion, chopped (I used red, but any color would work)
• 1 lb. mushrooms, chopped
• 3/4 c. flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. dry mustard
• 1/8 tsp. pepper
• 10 1/2 oz. broth (I used chicken)
• 1 c. sour cream or plain yogurt

Cut the meat into bite-sized pieces and toss with 1/2 cup of the flour, the salt, pepper, and mustard.

Put it in the pot along with the mushrooms and onions.   

Add the broth and stir. Cook on low for 6-7 hours, stirring every so often.

Before serving, stir in the remaining flour and sour cream.

Serve over cooked noodles.

Not the prettiest thing I’ve ever made, but the meat was so tender and tasty. Honestly, the stew would have been good (better?) without the addition of dairy. I don’t know if it’s because I used yogurt or because it was cooked differently than traditional Beef Stroganoff.

I was also so thrilled with the fact that there was only ONE DISH to clean when I went to serve dinner. It did look like this, though: