Braised Steak and Onions

My slow cooker is my new best friend

Since having children, well, since moving out of home really, I've been trying to cook a lot of my favourites of Mum's dishes. Steak & Onions in particular I really loved, but somehow I just could not get it right. Tonight was no exception, but I'm getting a lot closer, and at least we didn't have to eat onion flavoured shoe leather. I tried this dish using my slow cooker, and the only problem was there was too much water at the end, which would not have nearly been so bad had I not run out of gravy powder.
Steak & Onions
500g stewing/braising/blade/whatever steak
500g or more onions
40ml vinegar

Fry the steak brown and then cover it with water and let it simmer until it just about falls to bits. Take out of the sop. and cut very fine. Put aside. Fry the onions slowly, until nice and brown. Add them to the meat. Add vinegar and let the whole lot simmer for a few more minutes.
Thicken with gravy mix, stir while you are adding the gravy mix. Serve with mashed potato.

Or at least, that's what my mother emailed to me. I used a kilo of chuck steak, browned in the frying pan and then placed in the slow cooker straight away on Low, with the vinegar and just enough water to cover. Then I fried 1kg onions in the same frypan (in batches), tipping them into the slow cooker after each batch browned. Then I deglazed the pan with some more water, and tipped that in too. That brought the water up to cover the onions, which was too much. Next time I'll just cover the meat, and it'll be perfect.

I've said before that the best thing about a slow cooker is the wonderful smells through the house all day. And while that held true today, the best thing about a slow cooker is actually the luxury of getting to mid-afternoon and not needing to do half a dozen things so that dinner can be prepared, and getting to late afternoon and not having to frantically rush around, cooking and feeding and cleaning and screaming... ah, I mean... it's nice to be able to spend time with the kids, and not just around the kids. Not only does everyone have more fun, you can get some great photos too.

Miss Two loves to dance!

Crunchy Chicken and Hutspot

It's hard to photograph tri-colour moosh well

Another relatively simple meal tonight. 2 carrots, 2 onions, and 2 potatoes per person chopped and boiled all together in one pot till cooked. Then mashed with a little milk, butter and some cheese (because I was feeling decadent). Meanwhile, I fried a couple of chicken schnitzels that I bought precrumbed (because I'm lazy, but also because I can't get crumbs to stick to anything other than my hands). I sprinkled them with some tarragon, I really am loving that herb. I'll have to source some fresh whenever it comes into season and see what it really can do.

Hutspot (the aforementioned mash) was a dish my mother frequently made when I was growing up. The onions really give your mash a distinctive taste, and it makes washing up easier too. I liked it when the kids were just starting "people" food, because once they'd tried all three ingredients, I could give them the same thing the family was eating, saving me from having to cook multiple meals. It's a lot tastier than just potatoes mashed on it's own - probably the reason both my two food-eating children loved it so much back then.