Hello all!!!! So let me start by saying that I am beyond sorry for not posting in almost a year! To my 5's - 10's of followers, I apologize for the wait. School took over my life and it's been hard to work in a post, but, i'm going to try to get better about posting again. Since I am now going to be in nursing school, I could fall by the way side again, but I'm gonna do my best! The first recipe back is a winner. It's Rachael's "Slow Cooker Meal: Asian Pepper Steak"!
So first up, is searing the meat. The cut here is sirloin. Rachael Tip: Bring the meat up to room temp. Putting really cold meat into a pan can cause it to seize up. Letting it come to room temp will combat that. Sear the meat on both sides and get a nice caramelization. Then you take ti out of the skillet and slice it. Let the meat rest for a few minutes to redistribute the juices. Otherwise, if you cut into it right away, all the juices will run out and you'll lose all those natural flavors! Once the meat is sliced up place it in the crockpot and then dust it with cornstarch and toss it to combine. The cornstarch acts as a thickening agent for the sauce as it develops in the crockpot. Chop your veggies and add to the crockpot along with the sauce ingredients. I combined the sauce ingredients in a bowl first and then added them. This way the brown sugar has a chance to dissolve before adding it to the dish. Once all the ingredients are added you put the lid on the crockpot and cook it for 4 - 6 hours, depending on whether you cook on high or low. Now I made the mistake of adding in chicken stock to my pepper steak. The recipe didn't call for it but it looked dry to me while it was cooking so I added it. By the time it finished, it released all the juices out of the meat and the veggies and the added chicken stock made it a little too soupy for my taste. A couple more teaspoons of cornstarch fixed this a little but was still just a little bit too soupy for me. If you like soupy, you may want to add a little chicken stock but next time I won't. In the last bit of cook-time cook your rice. I had brown rice in the pantry so that is what I used. I actually prefer brown rice with pepper steak so it worked out great, but by all means if you want white rice go with that. The recipe isn't specific about which type to use. When the rice and pepper steak are done, toss together the topper ingredients and then plate the dish!
Anyone who knows me knows that asian cuisine is my FAVORITE ethnic cuisine. This dish didn't actually have an overtly asian flavor to me until adding the topper ingredients. The topper to me gave it that little bit of asian edge. If you enjoy pepper steak and the ease of using a crockpot, give this one a try. You'll be glad you did. As always, the recipe link follows at the bottom. Until next time...
Slow Cooker Meal: Asian Pepper Steak:
http://www.rachaelray.com/recipe.php?recipe_id=3226
So first up, is searing the meat. The cut here is sirloin. Rachael Tip: Bring the meat up to room temp. Putting really cold meat into a pan can cause it to seize up. Letting it come to room temp will combat that. Sear the meat on both sides and get a nice caramelization. Then you take ti out of the skillet and slice it. Let the meat rest for a few minutes to redistribute the juices. Otherwise, if you cut into it right away, all the juices will run out and you'll lose all those natural flavors! Once the meat is sliced up place it in the crockpot and then dust it with cornstarch and toss it to combine. The cornstarch acts as a thickening agent for the sauce as it develops in the crockpot. Chop your veggies and add to the crockpot along with the sauce ingredients. I combined the sauce ingredients in a bowl first and then added them. This way the brown sugar has a chance to dissolve before adding it to the dish. Once all the ingredients are added you put the lid on the crockpot and cook it for 4 - 6 hours, depending on whether you cook on high or low. Now I made the mistake of adding in chicken stock to my pepper steak. The recipe didn't call for it but it looked dry to me while it was cooking so I added it. By the time it finished, it released all the juices out of the meat and the veggies and the added chicken stock made it a little too soupy for my taste. A couple more teaspoons of cornstarch fixed this a little but was still just a little bit too soupy for me. If you like soupy, you may want to add a little chicken stock but next time I won't. In the last bit of cook-time cook your rice. I had brown rice in the pantry so that is what I used. I actually prefer brown rice with pepper steak so it worked out great, but by all means if you want white rice go with that. The recipe isn't specific about which type to use. When the rice and pepper steak are done, toss together the topper ingredients and then plate the dish!
Slow Cooker Meal: Asian Pepper Steak:
http://www.rachaelray.com/recipe.php?recipe_id=3226
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