Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Slow Cooker Beef and Broccoli


For the past three months I've been trying to convince myself to order Chinese takeout. Mr. O-P and I had a favorite Chinese restaurant that was located not too far from the house. In order to get delivery, we had to have a minimum purchase of $20. That may not seem like a lot, but $20 is a lot of Chinese food.  The two of us could eat for three days on that food; my guess is that I’d probably have it until the end of the year, but I digress.

The other day I really had a hankering for Chinese food, and toyed with the idea of calling Green China for my favorite combination of carryout items, but it just seemed weird to be doing that on my own. I know, I know, I'll get over it, and move on, and soon I will have a refrigerator full of Chinese takeout containers. But for now, I think I'm going to have to content myself with just making Chinese food at home.

When I saw this recipe for beef and broccoli (coincidentally enough exactly the dish I was craving) that is also made in the crockpot, I figured, why not? Truth be told, instead of using the sirloin steak called for the recipe, I actually used a rather large filet mignon from the freezer. (As you may recall
from this post, I'm trying to clean older items out of the freezer, in order to make room for something new.) The use of a filet in a dish like this may seem a bit extravagant, and perhaps it was, but I have quite a number of them in the freezer, and I'm not sure that I'll be able to eat all of them on my own. So I figured why not treat myself to a special dish this evening.

Whether I used the fillet or the sirloin, this dish was spectacular! I could not believe how easy it was to put together -- it almost seemed sinful -- and the aroma that wafted through the house while it was cooking was amazing.
If you like Chinese food the way that I do, this is absolutely the recipe for you. I adapted it slightly by adding an entire onion that I sliced up and layered on top of the meat, and I thought this was just perfect. I may try this again and, instead calling it beef with broccoli, call it beef with vegetables and add thin strips of carrots in addition to the broccoli and onion as well as some water chestnuts and diagonally sliced pieces of celery. This recipe is a winner, no matter what you do. Highly recommended.

Slow Cooker Beef and Broccoli

(Slightly adapted from Buzzfeed.com)


2 lbs sirloin steak or boneless beef chuck roast, sliced thin
1 medium onion, sliced
1 cup beef broth
1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp. sesame oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 Tbsp. cornstarch
4 Tbsp. Water
1 head of broccoli, cut into florets

In a medium bowl whisk together beef broth, soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, and garlic. Pour mixture into the bottom of the crockpot.

Place slices of beef into the liquid and toss to coat. Layer sliced onion on top. Cover with lid and cook on low heat for 4 hours.

After 4 hours, whisk together cornstarch and water in small bowl. Pour into crockpot and stir to mix well. Add the broccoli, and gently stir to combine. Cover with lid and cook 30 minutes more to cook broccoli and thicken sauce.

Serve over warm white rice.

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8 comments:

  1. Ok, that looks amazing....and now my tummy is rumbling!! Have to try this one out, I'm a big fan of anything that can be cooked in the slow cooker!

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  2. I love beef with broccoli. It's my absolute favorite. I cannot wait to try this. Heading for the store now.

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  3. A great dish for the slow cooker, the flavor looks great! Thanks so much for sharing with us at Full Plate Thursday. Have a great weekend and come back soon!
    Miz Helen

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  4. Hi Pattie, This recipe looks so delicious! What a great idea to make it in the slow cooker! I bet the meat came out so tender! Like you, I'm going through my freezer and food storage trying to rotate everything with a looming expiration date! Hope you have a great week! Blessings, Janet

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  5. I love slow cooker recipes - this looks good! Thanks for sharing at the What's for Dinner link party!

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  6. Wow this looks and sounds so amazing. I love using the crock pot this time of year!
    Thanks for sharing the recipe at C&C with J&J! Enjoy the week.
    Julie xo

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  7. Pinned this! Sounds amazing!

    I would love for you to share this with my Facebook Group for recipes, crafts, tips, and tricks: https://www.facebook.com/groups/pluckyrecipescraftstips/

    Thanks for joining Cooking and Crafting with J & J!

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  8. We love beef and broccoli. I also love the idea of this being cooked in the crock pot! Thanks for sharing with SYC.
    hugs,
    Jann

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Thank you so much for commenting, I love every one of them! I am, however, unable to respond to anonymous comments.