hot pot

I love my slow cooker. It has been there to pull me out of some tough weeks when I don’t have the time to cook but don’t want to get take out. I realized that I was neglecting it this year so I pulled out the Semi-Homemade Slow Cooker Recipes 2 and went right to a recipe I had bookmarked for a while now. I was always drawn to it because it was affordable, quick, and flavorful… sign me up!

 

I really enjoyed this slow cooker meal. I know I’ll make it again because it was so flavorful and was so simple. I made some changes to the recipe to suit out palate and what we had on hand. For example, since we always have carrots around I used fresh instead of the frozen as specified. My advice for the recipe to come out well is use low-sodium beef broth and to not cook it for too long.  The broth concentrates so it would be way too salty if you use regular broth. Because of my schedule I actually had to cook it for 10 hours. I wish I could simply tell work I need to leave early to manage me slow cooker… imagine! ha! The rice was a bit gummy/mushy at the bottom. It didn’t ruin the meal at all but just something I noticed comparing the rice at the top verse the rice at the bottom.

 

Beef and Mushroom Hot Pot

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 pounds stew meat, cut into small pieces
• 1 pound of mushrooms, sliced (2 80z packages)
• 4 carrots, cleaned and sliced into 1/4″ thick rounds
• 1 box (6 oz) of wild rice blend
• 2 14 oz cans of low sodium beef broth
• 1 tablespoon ground black pepper

Process

1. In a small bowl combine the Dijon mustard and Worcestershire sauce. Mix together well and set aside.
2. In a 5-6 quart slow cooker, combine all of the ingredients together.
3. Set slow cooker for 6-8 hours.
4. Mix halfway through, if the mixtures looks like it is drying out or too soft in areas.
5. Enjoy!