It’s a cold overcast day in Canberra. I’m on-call and answering e-mails while watching TV and movies.
When I went grocery shopping this morning I went looking for beef cheeks but couldn’t find any. I saw a small rolled rib roast and thought I’d cook it in a slow cooker rather than the oven.
This lump of meat will give me something to eat during the week at work for lunch for a few days.
The leftover mixed vegetables and bacon were cooked on Friday for lunch.
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Recipe
It’s important to read the recipe before cooking because the timing of processes needs to be understood.
- Rolled rib roast
- Vegemite
- Beef stock cube
- Red wine
- Carrots
- Celery
- Frozen chopped onion
- Potato
- Leftover mixed vegetable and bacon mix
- Queensland nut oil
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Add some Queensland nut oil to the bottom of the cooking vessel of the fast slow cooker.
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Toss in about a handful of frozen chopped onions and turn on the sauté function.
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Dice the carrots and celery roughly but be careful not to handle the knife roughly, you don’t want to cut your fingers off.
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Toss the carrots and celery into the cooking vessel and keep the sauté function on while stirring through the onion, carrots, and celery.
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Squirt some Vegemite into a measuring cup and add a beef stock cube. Fill the cup with water and boil the water with microwave radiation.
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Add the Vegemite beef stock to the cooking vessel along with a cup of red wine.
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Unwrap the rolled rib roast from the environmentally unfriendly plastic wrap and put it into the cooking vessel.
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Put the lid on the fast slow cooker and set the timer for the slow cooker to six (6) hours.
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After five hours, slice a spud into wedges and squirt on a little Queensland nut oil and put into a toaster oven at 200 °C for about 40 minutes.
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After 40 minutes, spoon the refrigerated mixed vegetables and bacon onto the baking sheet next to the potato and return the baking sheet to the toaster oven for a further 15 to 20 minutes.
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When the slow cooker has finished remove the lid and remove the cooked meat from the cooking vessel and put it onto a plate and cover with aluminium foil (that’s aluminium for my American readers and not how you spell it).
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Transfer the contents of the cooking vessel into a saucepan and purée the contents with a stick blender until it is smooth. Heat the saucepan and bring the broth to a gentle simmer and allow it to reduce until it reaches a gravy consistency.
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Slice off a couple of slices of the beef and put the rest into a container and refrigerate for later.
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Put the cooked mixed vegetables and bacon on a dinner plate along with the potato wedges.
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Placed the slices of beef next to the mixed vegetables and potato wedges and then pour some gravy over the top.
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Shoot a photograph.
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Eat the meal.
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Wash the dishes (hint, wash as you cook, it makes life easier).
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Write the recipe.
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Write the blog post.
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Hit publish and hope this blog post gets shared on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest.
Disclaimer I have no culinary training nor qualifications. This post is not intended to convey any health or medical advice. If you have any health concerns about anything you read, please contact your registered medical practitioner. The quantities are indicative. Feel free to vary the quantities to suit your taste. I deliberately do not calculate the energy for dishes. I deliberately default to 500 Calories or 500,000 calories because I do not make these calculations.
Photographs
This is a gallery of photographs. Click on one image and then scroll through the photographs.
Questions and answers
Why a slow cooker rather than the oven?
I like the slow cooker because it renders the meat to an unctuous tenderness and perfectly cooker throughout unlike the oven which can create an overcooked outer and undercooked inner portion of the lump of meat. The slow cooker also means the juices are perfectly combined between the meat juices and those from the vegetables and seasoning.
What will happen with the rest of the gravy?
I’ve kept some in the refrigerator for a pork steak dinner this week and put the rest in the freezer for use later.
What will happen with the rest of the meat?
I’ll use it for lunches this week at work. I’ll slice it thinly and eat it with carrots, celery, and dates.
Final thoughts
- Do you prefer cooking a rolled rib roast in the oven or the slow cooker?
- Do you normally keep a bucket of leftover gravy?
- How are you coping with the stay at home recommendations for the COVID-19 pandemic?
Sponsorship
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This looks great, thanks. I enjoy roasting pieces of meat in the slow cooker. Adding beans also works well in my experience. I have not used vegemite, but I have added star anise to simmered meat dishes, especially beef. The idea is from Heston Blumenthal. In terms of easy use stock, I now tend to use the Continental stock pots, which are a type of jelly, instead of the previous powder – it seems richer, although you don’t need much in the slow cooker as it tends to produce its own liquid (I am still working on my judgement of how much liquid to add to the beginning of any slow cooked meal).
G’day Chris, thanks for the tips. I like the idea of star anise in a slow cooked meal. It’s getting well and truly into slow cooking weather at the moment.
That recipe–especially the perfectly browned potatoes–looks great! We’re going a little stir-crazy with the stay-at-home orders, but we’re trying to remain positive and keep busy. Hope you’re doing well!
My only concern about being in a suppression phase is how do we open the borders to let tourists visit without opening quarantine stations. We have so few cases now, it’s like being in a limbo.
I agree, the potatoes looks great!
Thanks Chris 😂👍
This looks delicious Gary. I cooked beef on Friday and it was so comforting and delicious now that the weather is getting colder (although I suspect not as cold as Canberra). What were you watching on tv?
Thanks, Lorraine. I’ve started a rewatch of Sopranos and during the week I’m enjoying Master Chef Australia (so far).
Those strings around the meat. How necessary are those anyway???
Also, is there a safe way to chop veggies? I’m often nervous as a cat when I use my knives. I know you aren’t supposed to cut towards yourself, but how can I not??? I’m very careful and don’t care for blood as seasoning.
The meat was sold with them and in a slow cooker it’s helpful to stop it from falling apart along the tissue planes. It makes it easier to lift out of the slow cooker. I like having a safety glove when cutting some things.
I was thinking about you when cutting up a carrot yesterday, I was sooo careful and then the darn thing rolled and I almost sliced the tip of my finger. Gloves are a good idea!
Yep, I lost too much skin and blood last year with a new mandolin. I now wear safety gloves.
Ah, Vegemite/Marmite – the cook’s secret (magical) ingredient… I love my slow cooker too. Last night, I made a beef chilli in there. Mince is always better done in a slow cooker. Leftover gravy is the best, isn’t it? Here in Scotland we are still in lockdown so life looks the same as it has done for the last few weeks but I’d rather follow the guidance of someone who sounds as if she knows what she’s talking about.
It’s obvious that the countries which listen to expert medical advice are doing well.
I’ve never put Vegemite or Marmite in a stock. Can you buy Marmite in Australia?
Yes, in supermarkets you can buy Vegemite, marmite, and promite.