Recipes & Tips / slow cooker

Let me tell you something about this recipe: you cannot mess it up. 

I tried. Not on purpose, of course, but when you host a party and forget about it, leaving it in the slow cooker for 12 hours instead of four, you kind of expect the worst when you remember you forgot it and sprint to its rescue. 

Instead, I found the eye of round pieces in a perfect fall-apart state. The broccoli had absorbed both the sweet and the savory, and the peppers were soft but in no way mushy.

Recipes with real, whole ingredients are often forgiving, and a trusty crock pot will never steer you wrong. As much as I love to eat, I sometimes am just not the best of cooks.

Needless to say, my husband is grateful for recipes like this. 

INGREDIENTS

• 3lbs Eye of Round (steak or roast), cut into 1" chunks
• 2 cups beef broth
• 1.5 cup low sodium soy sauce
• 2/3 cup brown sugar...or a little more ;)
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon red chili flakes (optional)
• 6 cups broccoli florets
• 3 cups red pepper, diced into large pieces

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Grease the inside of a slow cooker. Add steak, beef broth, soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame seeds, garlic, and chili flakes. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or low 6 hours (as I mentioned above, it's perfectly okay to leave it for a couple extra hours).
2. 20-25 minutes before serving, add broccoli and red peppers. Cover and allow to cook. 
3. ENJOY!

Mock Tender steak comes from the Chuck primal of an animal, and is sometimes referred to as Chuck Tender or Scotch Tender. We chose "Mock" because it rhymes with "Crock," and there are 1,000 reasons we love crock pots. 

Just kidding. Mock Tender is the official name recognized by the USDA, and also how our butcher labels this cut, and whatever Dave says, goes. 

God knew humans would have a hard time letting go of Summer, which is why He created football. God also suspected creating football could create a whole lot of work for anyone with a big screen and a couple of couches, so He created the slow cooker.

Whether you're hosting a viewing party or just need a hands-off, delicious meal, this recipe for Barbacoa Beef can be started the night before or morning of, because you shouldn't have to throw a Hail Mary.