Slowly Cooking

Today is Menu Plan Monday! I know, we are all excited. With cooler (read: not colder) weather, we have wanted soup. Last week, it was cold. This week, it's significantly warmer than last week. And I've been cooking with my crock pot! Sometimes it works. Sometimes, it goes wrong.

Prep is easy. I've been prepping the crock pot dinners the night ahead. I peel, rinse and dice my potatoes, cover them in water and store in the fridge over night. Drain them before putting them in the crock. I set out the colander and the crock and put the dry ingredients in the colander. All I have to really do is strain, pour and stir.

Last week I made a baked potato soup. It was surprisingly delicious! The recipe is below. I'm also going to review the recipes.

But first, this week's MPM!

Sunday - Chicken fettuccine alfredo
Monday - Crock pot beef stew (recipe below)
Tuesday - Crock o leftovers!
Wednesday - Crock o leftovers!
Thursday - YOYO - I'm going to a work holiday party
Friday - Possibly chicken with couscous
Saturday - Possible leftovers ... it's time to clear out the fridge!


Today's adventure in crock-potting is beef stew. I picked up the following recipe from MyBiscuitsAreBurning

Ingredients

2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1 inch cubes

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 clove garlic, minced

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon smoked Spanish paprika

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 onion, chopped

1 1/2 cups beef broth

3 potatoes, diced

4 carrots, sliced

Directions 

Place meat in slow cooker. In a small bowl mix together the flour, salt, and pepper; pour over meat, and stir to coat meat with flour mixture. Stir in the garlic, bay leaf, paprika, Worcestershire sauce, onion, beef broth, potatoes, carrots. Cover, and cook on Low setting for 10 to 12 hours, or on High setting for 4 to 6 hours. 

Adapted from allrecipes.com

I think we had a bit too much of the beef. I got two packages at just over a pound each. I only used two large baking potatoes and I didn't have any room for the carrots. I also eliminated the onions as I don't like them. But everything else went in.

It turned out... okay. The liquid was a bit too 'brothy' for me. I think I would've liked it more if if the stew was thicker and more 'stewy'. Maybe next time, I will half the recipe. I think it also needed some more salt. 

Aaaand the baked potato soup from last week!

Crock Pot - Style Loaded Baked Potato Soup from Food.com

Ingredients:

6 large baking potatoes, peeled, cut in 1/2 -inch cubes

1 large onion, chopped

1 quart chicken broth

3 garlic cloves, minced (or pressed)

1/4 cup butter

2 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1 cup cream or 1 cup half-and-half cream

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

3 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

1 cup sour cream (optional)

8 slices bacon, fried & crumbled

cheese, for sprinkling

Directions:

Combine first seven ingredients in a large crock pot; cover and cook on HIGH for 4 hours or LOW for 8 hours (potato should be tender).

Mash mixture until potatoes are coarsely chopped and soupy is slightly thickened.

Stir in cream, cheese and chives.
Top with sour cream (if used), sprinkle with bacon and more cheese.

Completely easy! I thought all the broth still sitting there before mashing was unnecessary and took some out. Wrong! It actually ended up being pretty thick and I put some broth back in. But it was certainly yummy!