I don’t know about all of you, but in my house, the whole stretch of time from after-school until dinner is a total write-off. My friends and I call it "the witching hour", which I’m sure has been used by moms around the world since time immemorial. There is no soporific that will calm my kids at this time, short of waiting on their every need and lavishing them with 100% of my attention. And it’s not that I don’t want to lavish them with 100% of my attention (well, most of the time, anyway). After all, I’ve missed them all day, too. It’s just that, by this time, I have to start thinking about what to make for dinner, and I have to get moving on preparing it. I might have rice to make, or meat to season, or veggies to chop. See, I pride myself on serving a home-made dinner to my family on most days. Sure, it’d be easier to go to M&M and stock up on freezer meals for every day of the week, and I do certainly avail myself of this convenience option from time-to-time, but I prefer not to do it every day.
So, in an effort to reclaim the witching hour for me and my kids, I’ve revived a traditional kitchen appliance from its dusty home at the back of a high shelf: the slowcooker.
Now, I’m the proud owner of a vintage gem of a slowcooker: this is the genuine article, folks! Circa 1967, original avocado colour…and a real "crock pot" to boot!
Observe and appreciate the snazzy graphics around the base! Bow down to the beauty of my slowcooker! A wedding gift for my mother-in-law, it was passed down to me when my husband and I tied the knot. Oh yeah…I was thrilled (NOT!). In the late 1990s, who was using a slowcooker anymore? Certainly not me. It was all about pasta and stir-fry in the 90s for me.
So the old crock-pot went to its dusty hideaway. And stayed there.
But then a few years ago, I started to notice a new item on the shelves at kitchen stores. Slowcookers. They were coming back. But fancier. With removable pots for easier (and safer) clean-up and serving. And a dial that does more than "off-low-high". And timers. And keep-warm settings. And then, in bookstores, entire cookbooks were released with recipes exclusively for slowcookers! The slowcooker had undergone a renaissance, and I decided to give it a try.
Check out the Cuisinart Slowcooker below. I’m starting to get some serious slowcooker envy here folks…maybe it is time to permanently retire the old vintage number and bring my family’s roast beef into the 21st century…whaddya think?
Well, I’m hooked now! I take about 10 minutes in the morning to prep the meal and throw it in the slowcooker. Then it cooks all day, and I have time to spend with my kids during the witching hour. I only need a few minutes to prepare a side-dish (easy-peasy if it’s rice and you have a ricecooker) or salad, and everyone’s happy.
So here’s what I did this morning to prepare roast beef for dinner tonight. (NB. I don’t know where I got this recipe from, so I can’t give credit to anyone for it!)
First, I blended freshly ground pepper (about 1 tsp) into about 4 tbsp of white flour. You can use your food processor to do this if you like – and add more seasonings as well. Then you evenly coat the roast with the flour. This is best done by shaking it all in a zipper bag, but since I didn’t have one big enough, I tried sorta rolling it and turning it in a big bowl. Trust me, the bag is the superior method.
While you’re flouring your meat, prepare a frying pan for searing. To do this, you need to heat about 1/4 cup of fat on med-hi. I usually use 4 tbsp or so of olive oil for this, but I have heard that you’re supposed to use melted lard or shortening. (In my opinion, I’ll use the healthier oil when I can, plus it is what I have on hand.) Once the oil is hot enough (should be nearly smoking but not burning), place the roast in. Sear each side for 1 minute or so, until it is nicely browned, but not burned.
You might object to the amount of fat used here, and to the thought of frying your beef before cooking it, but it’s really an important step. I know, because I omitted it once, for the reasons just listed. Take note: if you don’t brown your roast first, it will taste dry and will look uncooked when done. Slowcooking doesn’t brown meat the way frying or roasting does. It is – to say the least – disconcerting to pull a red lump of meat out of a slowcooker after 8 hours of cooking. And more importantly, the searing will help keep the juices inside the roast, so it will taste better, and be more tender and easier to chew. Bottom line: don’t omit this step. Trust me!
Okay, so your meat’s seared, so into the slowcooker it goes. Then, add 1 cup of water and 1 package of onion soup mix. Top with 1 large or 2 small sliced onions, pop on the lid, turn the slowcooker on to low, and walk away. Let it cook for 8 hours (or more) and remember to remove the roast about 20-30 minutes before you plan to serve it. Place the meat on a cutting board, cover with tinfoil and cover that with a tea towel. Let the meat "rest" and the juices will re-absorb back into the meat, it’ll be easier to cut and better-tasting, too.
Here’s my roast as it looked this morning before I left:
I’m going to serve it with salad and rosemary garlic potato wedges (buy them in a big bag at Costco and heat for 20 mins in the oven at 400 – yum) for dinner tonight – AFTER I play with my kids for an hour!