Things I Eat: Slow Cooker Beef 'n' Broc

Do you love me

(do you love me)

Do you LOOOve me

(do you love me)

Noowww. .that I. . .have meeeeat?

True. I do eat meat. I enjoy meat. I have these sharp teeth not only for opening packages - but for eating. With my epic eating issues, meat is something I do consume.

It's just expensive and I often forget to thaw it and. . .lazy. I mean, look at my photography skills? Bad.

Thankfully, my husband is pretty cool with whatever I feed him – just not butternut squash. Anyhow, the man deserves some meat. And so do I! And. . .there was a BOGO.

The cut of meat on sale was called “sirloin steak” and the term “sirloin” actually covers about three types of cuts in American and maybe two in England-ish areas. But, ‘Murica is where I am. Top Sirloin is the best cut and it is normally marketed as such. Bottom Sirloin is less tender but is larger and when there is a BOGO or something called “sirloin steak” this is probably what you are getting. It’s perfect for slow cookers and probably what you get when you go to a chain restaurant that gives you a sirloin steak for $15.

Don’t use a really good piece of meat in the slow cooker. I mean, unless you know what you are doing.

I'm incompetent!

What You Need

• Bottom Sirloin: Hopefully, you find an awesome sale - buy one, get one - on sirloin steaks.
• Onion: Onion is pretty basic.
• Broccoli: Roasted for extra love
• Rice: I used brown, long grain rice from my rice cooker.
• Thyme, garlic, paprika - you know the drill!
• Beef bouillon: I used two cubes of Wyler's Instant Bouillon Beef. Do what you will.
• Olive oil: For searing.
• Water: Tap?

If you want to make a complete meal like I pictured - you will also need:

• Brown rice: Make in a rice cooker for ease.
• Broccoli: My husband and I easily eat a pound.
• Sesame oil: For the rice.

What You Do

I actually made this for a weeknight dinner. That means less drinking and more running around to get to work and stuff.

So, it might be early in the morning, but, get out that meat and sear it. That means brown it on both sides. You don't have to cook it all the way through by any means. Just brown it on the outside. I found the Crockpot is a famous flavor zapper but browning meat helps seal in juices and flavors. You can pool in a little olive oil or something. My mornings are full of running into things so. . .if I can get up and do this, so can you. It’s not like you can really mess it up. Too bad.

I used one large onion in my crock pot, coarsely cut into strips because I wanted it to hold up a little bit and not dissolve. I’m a big fan of onion. If you don’t like them as much, you can chop it up more finely and it will just dissolve into a delicious flavor infusion.

I put my onions on the bottom, like a little nest or bed for my meat, then I put in a ton of thyme, some garlic and a healthy dose of paprika on them, and then put the seared steak on top. I don’t think this layering matters, actually, I just feel better knowing my meat is resting comfortably on a bed of onions. We should all hope for such a fate.

You could add salt and pepper to, I did not.

I used about 1 cup of water (probably a little less) to help the cooking process and the bullion. I don't like soup so I tend to add less water than more. I'm still working on this. I just wanted some liquid in there. I dropped in my beef bouillon cubes in there, too.

Leave it on low for. . .hours? I went to work and came back. I'm always amazed when my town is still standing when I use the Crockpot. I always think it will burn down.

I think I cooked it for about 8 hours.

Sides!
When you get home, you are going to want to roast the broccoli. (And turn the Crockpot to "warm.") You don't have to if you are in a rush or lazy - like me - but it adds a nice flavor when you roast it. I roast mine for about 25 minutes in a 400 degree oven with olive oil and salt.

I also made my brown rice in the rice cooker. I did season it with sesame oil for an added kick. I think sesame oil is really underrated - it goes excellent with more than just Asian type dishes. You could add a little more sesame oil on the rice to give it its own story if you want.

Or thyme to match the beef. I'm not going to tell you how to live.

And. . .
Then you can serve it! You can either separate it out or mix it up. You go crazy! Everyone loved it, by the way. Even Lucky the cat stole some from my handsome lover!

By the way, onion is toxic to cats. Don't feed this to your cat. Mine is a street cat, he doesn't know better.