Easy Slow Cooker Beef & Potato Curry

Things have got awful busy for us this year but in a good way. It was totally unexpected, me getting the job in my children’s school canteen but I’m thoroughly enjoying it. I have felt life, as I knew it, slipping away from me at home but I’m slowly trying to implement new routines so I can keep on top of things. One of my greatest life savers has been my trusty slow cooker. I picked up a piece of stewing steak on special one day and tucked it away in the freezer, forgetting about it but when I stumbled across it, I thought of nothing better than throwing it in the slow cooker. To mix things up from a basic stew, I made this easy and very simple Beef & Potato Curry using pantry staples.

After dredging the meat in seasoned flour (I put it in a plastic bag to make less mess), I fried it in a little olive oil. Sometimes I do this step and sometimes I don’t. It doesn’t make too much difference to me but it does add a little caramelisation and flavour to the meat when you do.

If and when my slow cooker ‘dies’, I’m going to get one with a browning plate built in. This will make this process a whole lot easier.

Next, the really easy part. Combine one tablespoon of beef stock, curry powder (to taste), salt and pepper. Add a cup of water and stir until dissolved. I do love Indian food but I’m the only one in the house that does. I’m happy to sacrifice those lovely, spicy tastes for the whole family and I no longer buy all the spices to make my own curry powders. A simple, supermarket curry powder is fine in this recipe.

Put meat in the slow cooker.

Add a couple potatoes which have been chopped in large pieces. (We don’t want them to dissolve in the slow cooker but to keep their shape.)

Set and forget. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours. Serve with rice (which I just happened to already have pre-cooked in the freezer) and dinner is done. This is a tasty stew with a curry flavour and the meat just melts in your mouth. You could try it with any spices, for example Moroccan, Spanish or Mexican and add any other vegetables you like.  This beats any packet mix, hands down.

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Easy Slow Cooker Beef & Potato Curry

A simple meal for the slow cooker that you can set and forget. Using stewing steak and pantry staples, your mid week dinner will be ready to eat when you are with little cooking on your part.

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 4 hours

Total Time 4 hours 10 minutes

Servings 4

Author Anne

Ingredients

• beef stewing steak
• 3 large potatoes chopped in large pieces
• plain flour seasoned with salt and pepper, for dredging meat
• extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbs beef stock powder
• 1 tbs curry powder
• salt and pepper
• 1 cup water
• rice to serve

Instructions

1. Add diced meat to plastic bag filled with seasoned plain flour and ensure each piece of meat is coated well in flour.
2. Fry in a little olive oil until golden.
3. Put fried meat in slow cooker.
4. Combine stock and curry powder, salt and pepper with 1 cup of water.
5. Add diced potatoes.
6. Cook on high for 4 hours or slow for 8 hours.
7. Serve with boiled/steamed rice.

Recipe Notes

Can add other vegetables as desired.
Instead of curry powder, use Moroccan, Spanish or Mexican seasonings.

 

Beef Olives

Now that I’m a Mum, there’s absolutely no point trying to be creative when it comes to dinner time and my children. I have a rotating menu, with the same old meals served at every meal time. At least I know they’ll eat it. This is something I remember clearly when it came to my childhood. We ate pretty much the same few meals but I had a flashback the other night to when Mum really pulled out all the stops and created “Beef Olives” for us. It is definitely a retro classic and back to the 1970s and a time when home cooks started to experiment and try new recipes. 

This is such a great recipe for ‘using stuff up’ and using a cheap cut of meat all while trying to be a little bit fancy. If you save the bread crusts, like I do, make up a couple cups of breadcrumbs.

This part is where you can let your imagination go wild. I just happened to have 2 slices of bacon sitting in the fridge. I added chopped onion and a beaten egg plus a bit of seasoning. You can add just about anything here. Things like chopped ham, grated vegetables, olives, just about anything that needs using up.

You don’t need an expensive cut of meat here. I used topside steak and flattened out with a meat mallet in between pieces of plastic wrap.

Place a handful of stuffing mixture onto the centre of the steak. I cut these pieces in half just so they were easier to roll.

Secure with a toothpick. I can remember my Mum tying these with pieces of string. Something that I would find way too time consuming when I’m trying to get the meal out on the table. If it’s something you’ve got time for in the morning and you’re planning on cooking these in the slow cooker, then go right ahead. I find securing with toothpicks does a good job.

Roll each ‘olive’ in a little seasoned flour and fry in a little olive oil. You don’t really need to do this, especially if you’re in a hurry or wanting to add them straight to the slow cooker but I wanted to do this meal in the electric frypan so I could make a gravy from the pan juices.

Once the beef has been browned on all sides, melt a little butter in the pan and add 2 tablespoons of plain flour. Fry for about a minute then add 2 cups of beef stock until a thick gravy is formed. I got lots of nice chunky bits of bread and bacon in my gravy which just added to the flavour. Return the beef back to the pan and allow to cook for a couple more minutes.

Serve with mash and your favourite vegies and you’re done. This wasn’t difficult at all. You could make an Italian version which would go great in the slow cooker. Stuff with Italian seasoned stuffing and cook in a couple cans of tomatoes or passata. I’m going to try this next time. This is also known as Beef Braciole. If you feel like trying to ‘fancy’ things up for your family, this is an easy recipe to try on them. I must say it worked with my fussy lot.

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Beef Olives

A retro classic of a thinly sliced cheap cut of meat stuffed with soft breadcrumbs and whatever you have lying about in the fridge.

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Author Anne

Ingredients

• thin slices of beef can use chicken, pork, veal
• 1-2 cups soft breadcrumbs
• bacon or ham diced
• 1 onion finely chopped
• 1 egg beaten
• dried herbs I used thyme and oregano
• salt & pepper
• flour for dredging
• extra virgin olive oil

Gravy

• 2 tablespoons plain flour
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 cups beef stock

Instructions

1. Mix breadcrumbs, chopped bacon/ham, onions, egg, seasoning and salt and pepper.
2. Flatten meat with a meat mallet until quite thin.
3. Place half a cup of stuffing mix into the centre of the flattened meat and secure with toothpicks.
4. Roll beef 'olive' into seasoned flour and and fry in a pan until golden on all sides.
5. Remove from pan.
6. Add butter and flour to pan.
7. Fry until clumps of flour are formed.
8. Add beef stock and whisk until the mixture has thickened.
9. Return beef olives to pan for approximately 5 minutes.
10. Serve with mash and vegetables.

Recipe Notes

For the slow cooker:
Once beef olives have been made, place in the slow cooker with 1 cup of beef stock.
Cook on high for 4 hours or low on 8 hours.
Remove olives and add 2 tablespoons of flour which have been made into a paste with a little water and add to the slow cooker juices.
Alternatively, remove liquid from slow cooker and make gravy as per instructions above.
Can be made with Italian flavoured seasonings and cooked in canned tomatoes or passata either in the pan or slow cooker.

 

 

22 recipes using pulled meat

Pulled meat seems to be very popular these days. It’s a great alternative to cooking meat that might be a cheaper cut and the slower you cook it, the more tender it becomes so you can ‘pull’ it. Pulling the meat means you just grab two forks and start pulling it apart until it appears shredded. I love it in both summer and winter. It’s usually cooked in the slow cooker so you don’t heat up the kitchen. You can serve it in tortillas, on bread rolls, in tacos, topping nachos, with salad or cold on sandwiches. In winter time, it’s a hearty main meal served with all sorts of sides like mashed potatoes, rice, pasta, in stuffed potatoes, in enchiladas or burritos, in a savoury pie or with a huge side of crusty bread. A little goes a long way and you can use any kind of meat like pork, beef, chicken, leg ham, duck or lamb. Just remember, the cheaper the cut, the better. I hope you find some inspiration from this wonderful selection of recipes.

Slow Cooker Coffee Barbacoa Beef

Mexican Pulled Pork with Red Cabbage Salad

Slow Cooker Honey Balsamic Pulled Pork

Pulled Pork Pizza Puffs

Beer Braised Pulled Pork

Crockpot Honey Mustard Pulled Chicken

Slow Cooker Maple Pulled Pork

Mexican Pulled Chicken

Slow Cooker Italian Pulled Pork

Pulled Pork Nachos

Slow Cooked Pulled Brisket

Jerk Pulled Pork with Sweet Corn Cakes

Pulled Pork Sliders

Slow Cooked Shredded Beef Ragu Pasta

Slow Cooker Mexican Beef for Enchiladas

Slow Cooker Spicy Chipotle & Lime Shredded Beef

Shredded Mexican Beef Burritos

Shredded Beef Chilli Con Carne

Sweet Soy Sauce Shredded Chicken

Slow Cooker Shredded Chicken

Crockpot Cilantro Lime Chicken

Crockpot Caramelised Shredded Ham

Fresh tomato & beef lasagna

I make lasagna often. It’s no big deal. Just a basic bolognese sauce, layered with dried lasagna sheets and topped with bechamel sauce. I always use tinned tomatoes but if I have the excess tomatoes, I’ll make big batches of passata to use in my bolognese and other tomato based pasta sauces.

I was clearing out the fridge one day when I came across way too many tomatoes. They were getting a little soft and maybe not so nice for salads so I decided to incorporate them straight into the ground beef for the lasagna that night. It was way quicker than deseeding them, peeling them, trying to bottle or freeze them.

I roughly chopped them with onion, garlic, basil, oregano, salt and pepper (and a couple tablespoons of sugar) and then mixed them with the browned beef. That was it.

The tomato taste was lovely and fresh and made a nice sauce for the lasagna. I did overcook this one and the top got a little brown. Here’s a link to my Beef and Eggplant Lasagna that will give you quantities and the recipe for bechamel sauce. Never throw those older tomatoes away. Cook them up into a pasta sauce.

Asian beef & noodle lettuce cups {for kids}

I may have mentioned once or twice about my 7 year battle with my daughter’s fussy eating but its not really worth going on about. What I do want to say though is that my 6 year old son, who has always just eaten what she did because it was easier, has been eating whatever I eat. He always asks for tastes of my food so instead of making him and her the same, I make him and my meal the same.

Its nearly like a breath of fresh air has blown into the kitchen and I don’t know why I didn’t try it sooner. I feel like the rest of the population who can cook a ‘normal’ meal every night. I’m not saying my son is not picky at all but he’s such a delight to feed. He just loves food (like his Mumma). The lettuce was cheap, crispy and HUGE at the supermarket last week so I thought I’d try this simple Asian style beef and noodle filling to use some of it up. He just wrapped it up and ate the lot. I added a slurp of sweet chili to mine.

The flavours were simple and tasty and it was a quick meal to get on the table.

Asian Beef & Noodle Lettuce Cups {for kids}

• ground beef mince (or pork, chicken etc)
• brown onion, chopped finely
• grated carrot
• other vegetables, chopped finely
• vermicelli noodles
• 2 tbs tomato sauce
• 1 tbs soy sauce
• oil spray
• liquid beef or chicken stock
• small lettuce cups

1. (Adjust quantities to suit the number of serves.)
2. Brown onion and beef in a pan sprayed with oil spray until onions are soft and beef is brown.
3. Add vegetables, sauces and stock.
4. Simmer until most of the stock has evaporated.
5. Soak vermicelli noodles in a bowl covered with boiling water until softened then add to beef mixture.
6. Spoon into lettuce cups to serve.
7. Add sweet chili sauce to for a spicier version.