I've had a hankering for more balsamic meaty goodness ever since our last night in Florence. The balsamic steak we had was to die for - it was covered in a thick balsamic glaze, which tasted both sweet and savoury at the same time. God, it was good. This recipe wasn't the same in the slightest, actually, because the balsamic was a much more subtle flavour, but it was still pretty damn good.
I must do a disclaimer first - this recipe nearly went horribly wrong. The beef roasting joint I used would have been better replaced with diced stewing or braising steak, and when I make it again (when, not if), that's what I'll be using. The joint was from the rump, and was a little dense and thick. We chopped it up and returned it to sit in the sauces for an hour, and it was excellent, but it wasn't the falling-apart-meat that I was expecting. Sometimes improvising can make an even better meal though, and I really think this did. It was incredibly, incredibly tasty, and a really flavourful, hearty Sunday lunch.
Slow cooker Balsamic Beef
(adapted from a recipe from Shugary Sweets)
(adapted from a recipe from Shugary Sweets)
Lidl British beef roasting joint (but I recommend using diced steak instead)
1 litre beef stock
100g brown sugar
60ml balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp salt
3 cloves crushed garlic
1 large onion, finely sliced
8 mushrooms, sliced
2 tbsp cornflour
Serves 6-8
1. Add all the ingredients except the beef, onions and mushrooms to a bowl and mix together with a spoon.
2. Slice the onion and mushrooms and add to the bowl and stir.
4. Cook on low for 7-8 hours.
6. Return to the slow cooker and cook on low for another hour.
7. If using diced steak, you can skip steps 5-6.
8. Remove the meat, onions and mushrooms from the slow cooker with a slotted spoon, and transfer the juices to a saucepan. Don't worry too much if the odd bit remains!
9. Make a cornflour paste with a couple tablespoons of cornflour and a small splash of water. Stir together until no lumps remain.
10. Add the cornflour to the pan with the juices, stir together and then cook on a high heat for about 10 minutes. Keep stirring, and it should start to thicken. If it's still a little watery, just add more cornflour paste.
11. Transfer the beef juices to a jug - this will be your gravy.
12. Serve your beef with mounds of buttery mash, honey roasted carrots and tenderstem broccoli, smothered in delicious gravy.
I'm a real convert to Lidl and their counterpart (who I won't name here!) - I've been shopping at both a lot more frequently lately, and have been genuinely surprised at how much more I got for my money. I spent about £15 on the ingredients for this, and considering it could serve 8 people, that's pretty impressive.
Oh my gosh, this looks incredible! The best thing about the autumn is easily the chance to justify multiple slow cooker meals in a week (:
ReplyDeleteThis sounds delicious, I am definitely going to try this with some braising steak!
ReplyDeleteMaria xxx
This looks heavenly! I am all about the stews and soups in this weather. I seriously need to buy a slow cooker!
ReplyDeleteBeth // SANS SOUCI