Here’s yet another easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy crockpot recipe (last Tuesday I showed you myCrockpot Chili Con Carne).  Great for those times when life is rushing past and you want to get a handle on things and have dinner planned in advance – with no cooking required!

Take a joint of beef.  The cheaper the better.  (You can chop it into small chunks if you really want to.)  If you have time and the inclination, then brown it quickly in a really hot pan.

Beef sizzling in the frying pan

Dump the beef into your crockpot and pour over a bottle of beer.  I used some Danish Christmas ale.

Use any beer you like…

Throw in a stock cube to ‘beef’ up the flavour [boom, boom!], lots of salt and pepper, put the lid on and turn the crockpot to high – or low, if you’re going to leave it there all day.  I also added a roughly chopped onion and some carrots, so that I wouldn’t have to cook veggies later!

The beer makes a really tasty gravy.  If you want to thicken the gravy/juices, then add a few spoonfuls of Maizena and turn the crockpot to high for about 30 minutes before serving.  We like to eat the beef with mashed potatoes (great to soak up the yummy gravy).  But rice, polenta or couscous would work well too.  And, if you’re really pulling out all the stops, how about adding some dumplings to the beef, during the last 45 minutes of cooking?  Divine!

We were so hungry on Sunday that I forgot to snap a picture of the beef all plated up.  So here’s the crockpot sans contents…ready for washing up!

The most difficult part of crockpot cooking?  Forcing yourself to clean the pot immediately instead of leaving it to sit on the kitchen worktop for a whole week! ;o)

Bon appétit!

Diane :o)