As the name of my blog indicates, I spend a lot of time thinking about home. Of course, my Heavenly Home is the one that is eternal, so that’s where I need to lay up my treasures, and that’s the one I’m striving for. But in the meantime, I have been given this tiny piece of the here-and-now—this home on the edge of town, this family, this neighborhood—in which to serve Him. And, though this is in the earthly realm, I want the things that happen here to be investments in the Heavenly realm.




Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Slow Cooker Tuesday ~ Week 3 {Beef Ragu}


Today's recipe is another that falls into the "It Could Hardly Be Easier!" category. A wee bit of chopping, put it all in the crock pot, and go about your business. 

That's exactly what I did yesterday. At lunchtime, I assembled the ingredients in my slow cooker. In the afternoon, the girls and I went shopping while Ron (who had the day off) puttered around in his shop. When we got home, everyone was hungry, but that was not a problem. I shredded the beef, cooked some fettuccine, tossed together a salad, and we were sitting down to a delicious hot meal in no time.




Ingredients:
1 medium yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
6 tablespoons tomato paste
3 teaspoons dried oregano
(or 3 tablespoons of chopped fresh oregano leaves)
1 beef chuck roast (approximately 4 pounds), halved
coarse salt, ground pepper
1 to 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Directions:
  1. In slow cooker, combine onion, garlic, tomato paste, and oregano.
  2. Season roast with salt and pepper and place on top of onion mixture. 
  3. Add 2 cups water, cover, and cook until meat is tender and can be pulled apart with fork (approximately 4 1/2 hours on high, or 9 hours on low).
  4. Let cool 10 minutes, then shred meat with two forks and stir in vinegar to taste.



When I have made pork ragu, I have browned it first and then simmered it for most of the day in a Dutch oven on the stove, so I had kind of expected this recipe to be a little low on flavor. Not so! Martha did not disappoint. ~smile~ 


Do you typically brown your meat before slow cooking it?


8 comments:

  1. I have not used my slow cooker except for Sundays, and have been bored with my recipes. This looks like a great meal - one I could put back into the crock pot after adding the pasta, if I wanted to take it to a fellowship meal.

    Thank you for taking the time to put together this series! It's such a help!

    Deanna

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  2. I am such a fan of the slow cooker especially on days that I will be gone from home fore several hours. This recipe sounds delicious and I would certainly love to try it sometime. Thanks for sharing, Cheryl :)

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  3. I have started to brown it but I liked that you didn't in this because why dirty another pan. This reminds me a little of "Mississippi Roast."

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  4. This sounds good! I need to start using my crockpot more, I haven't plugged it in since Christmas. Thanks, Cheryl, for your sweet comment on my post yesterday.

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  5. Love finding new slow cooker recipes, Cheryl,this looks like a winner! I like that you didn't have to brown the meat first, a step that I usually don't like, but will follow the recipe. ~smile~
    Thanks for sharing.

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  6. I love new slow cooker recipes.
    This one sounds delicious-
    especially if its cooking during a shopping trip!

    That's great!

    Enjoyed visiting, and I am a new follower.

    Laura
    White Spray Paint

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  7. Hello Cheryl! As I compile my New Year thoughts I planned on using my crock pot more. How nice to see this recipe! I appreciate your comment that it was full of flavor. I am looking forward to making this in the near future. It looks delicious!

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