Hi guys! Hopefully this will be the start of a more regular recipe posting schedule. I will try to cover one meal a week.
For this week's post I will cover my experience making beef and broccoli. I am a college student and this was a big exam week so I decided to try this out as it is relatively low fuss.
The only things you need are right here! (plus a knife and a cutting board unless you want to go with the caveman approach)
To give credit where it is due, I am using the recipe from: https://www.reddit.com/r/GifRecipes/comments/4nqt6m/easy_slow_cooker_beef_and_broccoli/
Ingredients
2 pounds sirloin steak or boneless beef chuck roast, sliced into strips or chunks
1 cup beef stock
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 tablespoons cornstarch
4 tablespoons water
1 head of broccoli, cut into pieces
Step 1:
Combine the liquid ingredients, brown sugar, and garlic in the crockpot
put the beef in and toss it about
Set crockpot for 4 hours and set a timer for 3:30
cover and walk away
At this point it should be something like this:
BEEPBEEPBEEP BEEPBEEPBEEP. I guess it's time for Step 2:
chop the broccoli (or precut, I assume you live in a free country) and mix the cornstarch with enough water to dissolve
These parts should look like:
pour the starch mix in and toss it around. This will thicken up the sauce more than just dumping it in
put the broccoli on top and recover for the next 30 minutes like so:
(pssst, now might be a good time to make rice if you are so inclined. I use a rice cooker because I make a lot of it and I don't have the will to do it in a pot)
Bing! Its ready to be taken out. Mix it up and ladle into a bowl atop the optional rice and enjoy
Taste:
The beef is tender and savory (I did not use low sodium soy sauce mind you). The broccoli is soft without feeling like its been cooked to death and the florets make perfect mops for the sauce. If you went with rice that also makes sure you get every saucy spoonful which I can heartily recommend. I rate this 8/10 for home cooking recipes.
What I would do differently:
When I do it again, I will definitely mix the cornstarch in more to attain that level of goopy chinese restaurant goodness. This could almost pass for a stew as it was. If I am feeling like buying some more niche ingredients, I would also consider embellishing this with some grated ginger (1 Tbsp would do), and maybe adding in some dried szechuan chili peppers in for some authentic heat.
All in all I would consider this a success. I apologize for some blurry photos and I would love to hear what I can do to improve my posts. I would also love to take requests for foods to try. Small tips would certainly give me a nudge if you are so inclined. Thanks steemit and I'll be coming back with some more delicious meals soon!