There's a definite chill in the air so, after a long trek around the neighbourhood trick or treating on Monday, I knew we'd want to come home to a lovely warming meal ready and waiting for us. Time to get the slow cooker out ! And time to try out another of the Schwartz Slow Cookers range of spices, this time the Beef & Tomato Casserole mix.
It's supposed to be made with onions and red peppers but we opted for carrots, onions and mushrooms as that was what we had in the fridge. Sophie opted for vegetable peeling and chopping duty !
Meanwhile, I browned off the beef before setting off the slow cooker. It's not an essential step but it does give the meat a lovely colour, as well as help seal in the flavours and juices.
It's a totally simple one pot recipe. You just throw in the meat and vegetables.
Add your sachet of spices to a tin of chopped tomatoes.
Mix it in and you get a lovely thick sauce to add to the meat and vegetables.
It looks like there won't be enough liquid but don't be tempted to add any extra. The slow cooking process releases a lot of juice from the meat and vegetables and melts all the fat in the meat, as well as sealing in the steam, so you get a surprising quantity of sauce.
My one regret was not putting on an apron, as my Tshirt was covered in splashes of tomato sauce by the time it was all done !
A few hours in, it already looks and smells good. Time to head off trick or treating and met the slow cooker work its magic.
Big smiles from the girls ...
and a clean plate (almost) from Pierre !
For the grown-ups, who ate later, I felt I needed to add a bit of salt and some chilli to give it a bit of a kick but it was unanimously declared delicious.
The mix contains Wheat Flour, Pea Flour, Smoked Paprika (10%), Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Flavouring (contains Barley), Tomato Powder (7%), Salt, Red Bell Peppers, Sugar, Bay Leaves, Marjoram (2%), Parsley, Black Pepper, Anti-caking Agent (Silicon Dioxide), Colour (Paprika Extract). The pack contains 118 calories.
star rating : 4.5/5
RRP : 99p
for more information : http://www.schwartz.co.uk/productdetail.cfm?ID=11574
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Sounds great - really simple delicious meal for all the family! x
ReplyDeleteHumm! Sounds delicious!
ReplyDeletesounds nice and easy to make - i love my slow cooker
ReplyDeleteI bought the Beef & Tomato casserole in the UK last month when I was visiting family and I loved it,the problem is I live in the U S A, so do you sell the Slow Cooker Casserole here.???thank you velindregirl@aol.com
ReplyDeleteIt's probably UK-only but if you look at the ingredients list in my blogpost, you could try recreating it yourself with herbs and spices in similar proportions :)
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