Madhouse recipe : Slow Cooker Beef in Ale

Today, we looked out of the window and saw a gorgeous blue sky so we decided to go for a bit of an adventure and headed off for a long walk to the beach. I guessed we'd be tired when we got back and planned ahead with the slow cooker. I love coming back to a hearty, homecooked meal just waiting to be served when everyone's worn out and the last thing I want to do is cook ! I wanted something quick to throw together though so I used a couple of cooking shortcuts.

 Slow Cooker Beef in Ale

ingredients :

500g stewing beef (cheap cuts are fine)

2 large onions

5 carrots

a can of beer/ale

a sachet of Schwartz Slow Cooker Beef & Ale seasoning mix

some dumplings (optional)

I decided to brown the meat on all sides in a frying pan before putting it in the slow cooker. I peeled and chopped the onions and carrots into large pieces while the beef was cooking and put them in the slow cooker. I seasoned the beef with garlic pepper and onion salt then poured it, along with the cooking juices, into the slow cooker on top of the vegetables.

 I mixed up the sachet of seasoning with water and poured it into the slow cooker.

Normally, I add brown ale or strong Belgian beer but this time, I decided to use up a can of alcohol-free beer that had been lurking in the fridge ever since it arrived in a Degustabox ! We couldn't actually taste much difference which surprised me.

 I left it to cook for eight hours on low and the meat was fall-apart tender, despite being quite tough to begin with. I love the fact that you can get away with using cheaper cuts in the slow cooker. To make things even more frugal (and to clear out the cupboards a bit more !), I also tried my hand at making dumplings. I served it with some creamy mash to help soak up all the lovely sauce.

Other blogposts you may be interested in :

Madhouse recipe : Apricot & Pistachio Oaty Yogurt Bread

Madhouse recipe : Chilli Enchiladas

Madhouse recipe : Creamy Leek & Bacon Lasagne