take-out – I Dream of Paris

Happy Saturday! Even though the weather is super messy and gross today, it’s my day off and I am going to enjoy it. With Andrew at work, and Guinness and I here in the apartment all day, I thought it would be fun to make a nice dinner that we can enjoy later. I’m busting out my slow cooker! In my opinion, it’s the best way to make meals on a gloomy, wet day like today.

I found this recipe on Pinterest (of course), and have been dying to try it. It sounds amazing, and I’m hoping it tastes as good as it looks. It is called Take-Out Fake-Out Broccoli & Beef, and you use my favourite kitchen tool to make it: the slow cooker.

I got my slow cooker for Christmas two years ago and it is one of the greatest things I have ever received. Like I said in my last post, cooking and baking are not my strongest skills, but the slow cooker is perfect for anyone that lacks experience and loves to cook.

The Pinterest post links back to Table for Two. The blogger, Julie, has an easy-to-follow recipe, so I am confident that I will be able to successfully cook this dish and have it taste delicious!

The ingredients:

1 pound of stewing beef
1 cup beef broth (I didn’t have any on hand, so I just used water!)
1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
3 minced garlic cloves
2 tablespoons cornstarch
4 cups fresh broccoli (I bumped it up from 2 cups because I love broccoli, but you don’t have to. You can also use frozen florets if you don’t have fresh broccoli)
Cooked white rice or quinoa (I’m going to use quinoa because we have SO much of it in the apartment. Plus, it’s healthier!)

Here are the insanely easy steps:

Throw the beef broth (or water), soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil and garlic into the slow cooker. Whisk everything together.
Add your beef and make sure all of the pieces are nicely dressed in the mixture.
Flip the slow cooker on low and leave it for 3 hours (the original recipe says 6 hours, but she does suggest that 4 hours would be a good place to start if you are making this for the first time. I had it set for 4 hours, but I know that my slow cooker tends to cook things more quickly than others, so I took it down to 3. It all depends on your slow cooker, so use your best judgement).
Once the beef is finished, take the sauce from the slow cooker and whisk it together with the cornstarch.
Pour this mixture back into the slow cooker and mix with the beef.
Add your broccoli and then cook for another 30 minutes (keeping the slow cooker on low).
After the 30 minutes, serve over hot rice or quinoa.

There you have it! I don’t know about you, but I think mine turned out pretty well. It looks good, but most importantly, it tastes amazing! Andrew enjoyed it too, so I would say that this recipe is a winner!