Buying a CrockPot?

Prazzie

I made Beef Stroganoff today and it turned out excellent. I just tossed in as much as I thought looked good, but here is a rough recipe.

2 cups chopped leeks
8 cups mushrooms - I used white mushrooms, portobello and baby buttons, sliced or chopped if they're large
2 onions, sliced
1 kg stewing beef
2 cans of Weight Watchers Condensed Cream of Mushroom soup
1 can hot water (use the mushroom soup cans, swirl the water to get all the soup out)
salt, pepper and spices to taste (I used salt and a "Steak and Chops" spice mix)
Cream cheese (I used two "slices" from a block of Philadelphia I had in the fridge)
Sour cream

I opted to brown everything in a pan first, to enhance flavours and give the meat some colour. First I cooked the onions until they were browned at the edges, then tossed them in the crock. In the same pan, I sautéed the leeks in a bit of butter, then added them to the crock. Next, I browned the beef in batches in a little bit of sunflower oil. I sprinkled the salt and spices on while the beef was in the pan. I added the browned meat to the crock, then added the two cans of soup and water. Stir everything and turn on the slow cooker.

I cooked it on high for about 2 hours, then had to go out, so turned it to low. It was ready after 6 and a half hours, so then I boiled some tagliatelle pasta to serve it with (if you're on a diet you might want to use wholewheat pasta or rice, I just cooked the pasta for my family, I will eat the beef stew only). About 30 minutes before you're ready to serve, add cream cheese (how much you add is up to you) and a couple of tablespoons of sour cream (again, the amount is up to you, you can leave these out if you're trying to cut down) and stir it in. It will melt into the sauce and create a nice creamy texture and colour.

That was that, very easy and very delicious.