Garlic Beef Crockpot

Well... as promised in Monday's post, I am back with a new recipe.

I took an extra day because a small child confiscated my camera and hid it under the couch.

And let's face it, this blog is not as much fun without pics right?

Anyway.....

I have had this recipe in my files for a while.  It sounded good when I saw it somewhere on the web (I can't remember where).

I mean garlic & beef.  YUM right? 

Add that to the fact that you make it in the crockpot and BONUS!

(And just a note... this is not an asian dish in any way... even though it sounds like it).
  
When I started to make it I realized that I needed to tweak the reicpe a bit. 

The original recipe called for 6lbs of beef.... I have a large family... but not that large!

So, I changed it up added some things and made it my own... that makes it more fun anyway.

Ingredients

2 pounds lean steak, cubed

5 cloves garlic, minced *( my garlic was very large... I would use 10 regular sized cloves)

1 bay leaf

1/2 small onion, sliced/diced

14 oz can Italian stlye diced tomatoes

10+ black olives, sliced
1 1/2 tsp salt

2 Tbs olive oil

1/2 C broth (chicken or beef)

Directions

1. Place all ingredients in slow cooker.

2. Mix

3. Cover; cook on Low 7-9 hours or High 3-4 hours.

4. Remove bay leaf before serving.

***Review:

This was a great dish!  Very garlicy.... and I love garlic. Hubs liked it a lot too.  The kids however gave this one a thumbs down.  Go figure... since it has tomatoes and onions... 2 things they refuse to eat.  I was hoping the black olives would distract them enough.... no luck!  I will be making this one again though!  MMMMM.

**Tips:
If you have a crockpot that you know cooks on the hot side, I would recommend using a smaller crockpot for this.  If you don't have a small one (I don't) you can place a glass bowl ,large enough to fit your meal, inside your large crockpot and that should work too!  My crockpot doesn't cook hot though... so this worked just fine.  My meat was frozen though... so that added a bit more water to the pot. 
Speaking of frozen meat.... here is a great tip:  cut meat when it's still mostly frozen.  It makes it waaay easier.  If you have to cut fresh meat, use kitchen scissors.  Trying to cut raw/thawed meat with a knife can be challenging.
Also, if you are a tomato person... I would probably try adding another can of diced tomatoes to this dish.  I will do that next time. 
FYI  I cooked this on high for 4 hours and it was perfect!

*Serving:
I served  this over white rice.  It was really good that way and kind of reminded me of a beef stew type dish.  If you are trying to save on calories, it would be fine to eat it alone. 

Printer Friendly Recipe

Ingredients

2 pounds lean steak, cubed

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 bay leaf

1 small onion, sliced/diced

10+ black olives, sliced

14 oz can Italian stlye diced tomatoes
1 1/2 tsp salt

2 Tbs olive oil

1/2 C broth (chicken or beef)

Directions

1. Place all ingredients in slow cooker.
2. Mix
3. Cover; cook on Low 7-9 hours or High 3-4 hours.
4. Remove bay leaf before serving.