Asian beef in the crockpot

Ok, so I have been slacking this week. 

I just realized that I haven't posted since Monday and today is Saturday.

Have no fear though.... I will have my 3 posts in by Sunday.

This week has been especially busy for us.

We had 2 school delays and one snow day. (not normal for this time of year) 

These kinds of things totally threw me off.

Not to mention, I spent most of my free time finishing up Christmas shopping

And then hubs car broke down.... and we had a piano recital... you get the picture. 

There was some grilled cheese,pizza & take out nights this week.

I am embarassed to mention how many.

I did, however, get lots of stuff at the grocery store to make some yummy dishes. 

I am hoping to cook a lot next week and have all that to share with you soon.

 

I have been in the mood for Asian food lately  (ahem, mostly take out)

So I have been searching for something I can make at home.

I actually made this Asian Beef recipe last night, in hopes of blogging about it then.

I made the mistake of getting it into the crockpot too late.

I figured I would just put it on high and it might be done by dinner.

Nope!

One thing I already know is that you can't rush a roast.

So when it wasn't done at 6pm, I threw some penne pasta on and heated up some sauce & veggies

Viola! Instant dinner.

I let the roast keep cooking for another 2 hours and it was done.

So, it's dinner tonight.



Ingredients:
4 pounds boneless beef or pork roast ( I used deer)
1/2 C  soy sauce
1/2 C hoisin sauce
4 Tbs ketchup
6 Tbs honey
2 tsps Chinese 5-spice powder*

 2 tsp garlic powder (or 6 cloves, minced) ( I used fresh garlic)
1/2 C Ty ling Sesame sauce( I added that later because I thought it needed it)

*(If you don't have the 5 spice powder you can try 1 1/2 tsp sesame oil, 3/4 tsp ginger, 1/2 tsp garlic salt)

The Directions:
Place the roast in a  5 quart crockpot. You can use fresh or frozen meat
Sprinkle the dry spices directly onto the meat, and top with the ketchup and honey.
Pour in the soy and hoisin sauces.
Cover and cook on low for 8-9 hours, or until meat shreds easily with a fork.
(definitely give it the whole 8 hours.... this is not a quick cooking recipe)

When it's tender/done shred up and put back in juices to serve

***Review:

The first taste went to my 8yr old whose eyes got huge and this thumb went up immediately!  After chewing he yelled out "Awesome".  This is a good sign.  I however, didn't love it.  I think that the hosin sauce just isn't my thing.  It's a little more spicy/bbq flavored and I like my asian food sweet/salty.  But, a few of the boys liked it.  A few didn't. Hubs is not home for dinner tonight, but I think he will probably like it.

 

**Tips:

As stated above, definitely let this thing cook for 8 hours on low.  It takes a long time for roast to be so tender that it shreds. 
Also, I would recommend serving this with rice.  I didn't have any so I used angel hair pasta... not the best idea.. but it works.  I have also seen that you can serve it over shredded cabbage, which I think would be good.  I actually have some, but it's for another recipe this week. 
also, if you do use noodles, you could add a little sesame oil to them to give it a little asian flavor.