From-Scratch Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff

• 1 kg / 2 lb beef, cut into 1x5cm strips
• 2 onions, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 500g / 1lb mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 cups tomato paste
• 1 cup tomato puree
• 2 tbs paprika
• 1 cup beef stock
• 1 tbs mustard
• 3/4 cups sour cream
• 1 pinch salt and pepper to taste 

1. Add all of the ingrients in a slow cooker, except mushroom and sour cream.
2. Cook for 9-10 hours on auto.
3. Add mushrooms 1 hour before serving.
4. Fold in sour cream 15 minutes before serving or right before serving but make sure it warms through. 
5. Serve with egg noodles or a side dish of your choice.

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Slow-cooked Beef Stew

The no-nonsense stew, hearty and wholesome with no canned ingredients. Best if cooked at night, stays on 'warm' during the day and eaten in the evening.

Serves: 4
Makes in: 10 hours+

• 2 lb beef
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 minced garlic
• 1 bay leaves
• 1 tsp paprika
• 3 potato, diced
• 1 white onion, diced
• 4  carrot, sliced
• 1 celery stalk, chopped
• 1/2 cup red or white wine 

1. Dredge meat in flour, brown in a hot skillet till brown, 8-10minutes. Add wine, salt, pepper. Let the wine evaporate, 3 minutes. Transfer to slow cooker.
2. Add vegetables, spices. Cook on low for 10-12 hours. 

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Vegetable Barley Soup

A fantastic recipe for winter time.

• 8 cups vegetable broth
• 1 cup barley, uncooked
• 2 large carrots, chopped 
• 2 celery, chopped 
• 1 3/4 cups (14oz) canned tomatoes
• 1 zucchini, chopped
• 2 cups (15 oz) canned garbanzo beans, drained
• 1 white onion, chopped
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp white sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp dried parsley
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce 

1. Pour the vegetable broth into a large pot. Add the barley, carrots, celery, tomatoes, zucchini, garbanzo beans, onion, and bay leaves. 
2. Season with garlic powder, sugar, salt, pepper, parsley, curry powder, paprika, and Worcestershire sauce. 
3. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer over medium-low heat for 90 minutes. 
4. The soup will be very thick. You may adjust by adding more broth or less barley if desired. Remove bay leaves before serving. 

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Beef Barley Soup

• 1 lb / 0,5 kg stew beef, cut in 1" / 2 cm pieces
• 2 cups carrots, sliced
• 1 cups celery, sliced
• 3/4 cups green bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2 cups barley, uncooked
• 1 cup white onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup parsley, chopped
• 2 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp dried basil leaves
• 2 tbsp ketchup or tomato sauce 

1. In a heated skillet, brown the beef pieces.
2. Layer in a slow cooker all of the ingredients. Cover with 5 cups of water. Do not stir. 
3. Cook 9-11 hours.

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Stu's Meatballs

My husband's colleague, Stu, had been bringing these meatballs to quite a few potlucks. They are sweet and tangy and disappear in no time; I couldn't help asking for a recipe and here's the copy'n'paste from his email:

I usually use a package of hamburger (medium fat or lean), larger, but not the family pack. For a lot of meatballs, use two of the packs. I make small meatballs, but my mother-in-low (the source of the recipe, but she got it from a woman on an air force base in Quebec, so I have no idea where the recipe actually comes from) makes balls about 1" to 1.5" in diameter, as they stay softer in texture. My meatballs are probably about 3/4"-1" in diameter.
The sauce is made from 1 jar of red currant jelly (not jam) and one or two jars of Heintz chili sauce. I roll the meatballs in flour and brown in a skillet, then place in the sauce and let them
simmer for a couple of hours, then usually let them sit in a cool place overnight and heat again for serving the following day.

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Steak Rolls Florentine

• 10 beef / veal slice, 1-2 cm thick, up to 10cm in length
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar, mixed with red pepper and salt to taste
• 1 1/4 cup frozen, chopped, drained spinach
• 1/3 cup white onion, chopped
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 1 tbsp basil leaves
• 2 tbsp romano cheese
• 14 oz  / 400g canned stewed tomatoes

1. Place the meat slices on a cutting board and pound till about 1cm thin. Brush with dressing. 
2. Combine spinach, onion, garlic, basil and cheese in small bowl. Stir in 1 cup tomatoes. Spoon 1 cup of spinach mixture over each steak, spreading to cover steak evenly. 
3. Roll up jelly-roll fashion. Tie rolls with string. Place meat rolls in stoneware. Pour remaining tomatoes and spinach over meat. 
4. Cover cook on Low 8 to 10 hours or on High 4 to 5 hours. 
5. Lift meat rolls from stoneware and slice to serve.

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Chicken Curry

• 3 tbsp flour
• 3 tbsp curry
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp salt
  
• 1/2 lb, cut into 1 chicken breast
• 2 cups peeled, chopped potato
  
• 1/2 cup sliced carrot
• 1 cup coarsely chopped apple
  
• 3/4 cup chopped white onion
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1 seeded, finely chopped jalapeno pepper
• 1/2 cups water
• 1,5 cup (13 oz) unsweetened coconut milk

1. In a large plastic bag combine flour, curry powder, cumin, and salt. Add chicken, a few pieces at a time; seal and shake to coat.
2. In a slow cooker combine potatoes, carrots, apple, onion, garlic, jalapeno peppers. Top with chicken. Pour water over chicken mixture.
3. Cover; cook on low-heat setting for 6 to 8 hours or on high-heat setting for 3 to 4 hours.
4. If using low-heat setting, turn the slow cooker to high-heat setting. Stir coconut milk into chicken mixture. Cover; cook for 30 minutes more. 
5. Serve over hot cooked rice. Sprinkle each serving with raisins and peanuts. Makes 8 servings.  

Modified recipe from the BHG website

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Hungarian Goulash

• 1 1/2 lb / 750g stewing beef, cut into 1" inch pieces
• 1/2 cups water
• 8 oz tomato sauce
• 2 white onion, chopped
• 1 cloves minced garlic
• 2 tbsp paprika
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1 cup sour cream

1. Place all ingredients except sour cream in the slow cooker. Cover and cook for 8-10 hours on low. 
2. Add sour cream to the slow-cooker 10min before serving. Serve over noodles.

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Creamy Beef Curry

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 lb / 1kg beef, cut into 1 inch cubes
• 2 white onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp ginger, minced ginger
• 2 red or green chili peppers
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cracked peppercorns
• 4 cardamom pods
  
• 4 cloves
  
• 1/2 cups of water / beef broth
• 1 bay leaves
• 1/4 cup ground almonds
  
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt 

1. In a skillet eat oil over med-high. Add beef, in batches, brown. Transfer to slow cooker. 
2. Reduce heat to med. Add onions and cook till softened. Add garlic, ginger, chili pepper, cumin, coriander, turmeric, salt, peppercorns, card. pods, cloves, and cook, for 1 min. Add beef stock, bay leaf, bring to a boil. 
3. Pour mixture over beef. Stir to combine. Cover and cook on Low for 8-10h, High for 10min. Stir yogurt and serve over hot rice. 

Delicious & Dependable Slow Cooker Recipes by J. Finlayson

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Best-Ever Meatballs

• 1/4 cups rice
• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 2 beaten eggs
• 1 white onion, grated
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp ground cumin
  
• salt, ground black pepper to taste
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil 

Tomato Sauce:

• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 t dried oregano leaves
• 1 t salt
• 1/2 t cracked black peppercorns
• 1 cinnamon stick piece, about 5cm length
• 1 can tomatoes, 28oz/796 ml
• 2 tbsp lemon juice

1. Meatballs: In a bowl, stir rice into 4 cups of boiling water. Set aside for 30min to soak, drain well. Return to bowl. Add remaining ingredients, except oil, and mix well. Form into 16 balls, each 2 inches in diameter.

2. In a skillet, heat oil over med-high heat. Add meatballs, in batches, and brown on all sides. Transfer to slow cooker. Drain all but 1tbsp  fat from pan.

3. Tomato Sauce: Reduce heat to med. Add onions to pan and cook, stirring until softened. Add garlic, oregano, salt, peppercorns, and cin. stick and cook, stirring for 1 min. Stir in tomatoes and lemon juice and bring to a boil, breaking up tomatoes with spoon as they cook.

4. Pour sauce over meatballs. Cover and cook on Low for 8h, on High for 4H until meatballs are no longer pink inside. Discard the cinnamon stick.

Can be prepared the night before. Complete step 3, adding 1T oil to pan before softening onions. Cover and refrigerate. Next day make the meatballs and cook as directed in steps 1, 2, 4. 

Delicious & Dependable Slow Cooker Recipes by J. Finlayson

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Slow cooker Bolognese Sauce

This Bolognese Sauce is a great recipe to make for freezing for future use. The output is about 1 liter / 2qt of sauce, which I usually divide (cooled) and store in ziplock bags or cups and freeze individually. Next time you want to make Pasta Bolognese, pizza, spaghetti with sauce, or anything that requires, all you need to do is to thaw this beautiful Bolognese Sauce!

• 1 lb / 500g lean ground beef
• 1 lb / 500g pork sausage
• 1/4 cup pepperoni, sliced
• 1 cup green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 cup red bell pepper, chopped
• 1tbsp garlic, minced
• 2 white onions, chopped
• 2 carrots, diced
• 1 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 cup mushrooms, sliced
• 2 cups tomato sauce
• 2 cups diced tomatoes
• 1 cup tomato paste
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 tbsp dried thyme
• 1 1/2 tbsp dried oregano
• 1 1/2 tbsp dried basil leaves
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 tbsp white sugar
• 1 cup beef bouillon
• 1 tsp black pepper 

1. For slow cooking mix all ingredients and cook for 8 hours. 
2. For conventional cooking, see the recipe below.
   
   
   • In a large stockpot cook the ground beef, sausage, pepperoni, green bell pepper, red bell pepper, garlic, onion, carrots and celery. Cook until beef is no longer pink. Drain into a large colander to drain grease.
   • To the large saucepot, add the mushrooms, tomato sauce, tomatoes, tomato paste, bouillon cubes, bay leaves, thyme, oregano, basil, crushed red pepper, black pepper, sugar, and beef broth and stir well. Pour the meat mixture into the pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cover. Simmer for 2 hours.  

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