Thursday, 24 November 2011

Slow Cooker Roast Beef

Having recently discovered the wonders of roasting a whole chicken in my slow cooker, I have also been experimenting with joints of beef too. As I said in the roast chicken post I may never have to roast a piece of meat in the oven again!

I have found that by roasting my joint of beef in the slow cooker, not only is my meat tender beyond belief but as it cooks it creates its own gravy which contains all the juices from the beef. Now I like my beef cooked well done so this recipe is based on that cooking method, but if you wanted it rarer I would suggest you cook it for less time. I appreciate that a joint of beef doesn't take long to cook the conventional way in an oven but I like the fact that I can leave it all day while I am doing other things for an evening meal, or pop it on before I go to bed if I wanted it for Sunday lunch. it also means that you could have a cheaper cut of need like brisket and it ends up tender by the end of its slow cooking.

This way of roasting a joint of beef is my way and I know that not everyone will want to try this, but it is delicious, if you have the time to wait for it!


You Will Need:
a joint of beef of your choice (I have used both brisket and top rump)
thyme
black pepper
sea salt
olive oil
1 onion
2 carrots
oxo cube and 1/2 pint of boiling water 

Method:
rub the joint in olive oil and coat with the thyme, and seasoning 
heat a frying pan on the hob/stove and add a little olive oil
flash fry each side of the joint to brown it and seal the juices
chop the onion into quarters and roughly slice the carrots and place at the bottom of your slow cooker
transfer the joint into your slow cooker and sit on top of the veg
mix the oxo cube with the filing water and add to the slow cooker
put the lid on and put on lowest seeing and thats it - for me I tend to leave it cooking for 6 hours approx
when its cooked to your liking remove the beef and leave to rest and then use the sauce in the slow cooker
as the base for your gravy

Also
you could add red wine or ale in the slow cooker to roast the beef in to make an extra rich and tasty gravy

I don't have a photo of the plated up meat as I forgot to take a photo of it! 






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