topside of beef in the slow cooker? who's done it and how please?

[dizzydixies]

I normally do stews/casseroles etc but last week I branced out and did a whole chicken and today am wanting to do a topside of beef (800gworth)

can someone tell me how not to ruin it please

bump

Dizzy - try this it's from my slow cooker book.

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 kg rolled beef (topside with no added fat)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 red onions, peeled and quartered
• 1/2 a celeriac, peeled and cut into chunks
• 12 carrots, peeled sliced
• 4 garlic cloves
• 2 beef bouillon cubes
• 400 ml just boiled water
• 100 ml red wine
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried herbs
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons gravy mix

Directions

Preheat slow cooker.
Heat oil in a large pan (I find a wok is best), and carefully brown beef on all sides, turning with two wooden spoons. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
Add the vegetables and garlic to the pan and, stirring regularly, cook for 5 mins until the onions are beginning to go soft.
Transfer the vegetables to warmed crock pot and place the beef on top, push the beef down so it nestles among the vegetables.
Dissolve the stock cube in the just boiled water, add the wine, oregano, mixed herbs and pepper
Pour over the beef, add the bay leaf and cover. Cook on auto for 8-10 hours or low for 10-12 hours.
Once the beef is cooked, carefully remove from the crock pot and place on a warmed serving platter. Remove the vegetables with a slotted spoon and arrange around the beef. Cover and keep warm

Sorry for wierd format just cut and pasted.

ok I have one carrot and one onion not looking good is it!?!?

I just add what I have personally it's just as a guide. Also I hate celeriac [boak]

I cooked a really cheap brisket in my slow cooker at the weekend. I didn't put anything else in, just the meat, the amount of gravy that came from it was amazing and the meat just fell to pieces when we carved it!!

Stick in it with just the carrot and onion, some garlic and a glass of red wine if you have it.

Dizzie, chop your onion and your carrot, put them in the bottom of the slow cooker, and rest the meat on top. No need to add anything else. Put it on "low" for about 10 hours. You'll get an amazing amount of juices which make lovely gravy.

Does this really work, I mean really??

How can cooking be so simple??

I've just asked this about a chicken in a slow cooker too

MN really is about to revolutionise my life!!!!

Because cooking really is simple. Our ancestors have been cooking food for many, many thousands of years; it's easier for us to digest many foods if they're cooked. Over thousands of years, we've discovered all sorts of "stuff" about adding flavours, or medicinal qualities to our food (garlic is an incredible antibiotic, honey really is good for sore throats etc), and of course now we know more about how important it is to cook fowl properly (and how much of that has to do with how we raise fowl these days?), but cooking in itself is something our most primitive ancestors did.

It is my personal opinion that most of the dietary restrictions in the Bible were health-based - eg, pig meat (in those days) had/has (?) a high chance of carrying various parasites, including worms, which would transfer to humans if the meat wasn't properly cooked through, ergo Jews don't eat pigmeat. Seafood is notorious for causing tummy upsets if not managed properly - and how exactly does a desert-dwelling tribe keep shellfish good to eat?

(There's a bit of me that wonders whether pig meat tastes too much like long-pig [human] meat, and it was the start of weaning folk off cannibalism?)

OK, I'm not saying an utter novice could turn out a perfect soufflee (sp?) but honestly, anyone with a bit of nous can produce a tasty stew.

It's not rocket-science, it's fun, and it's easy. Honest.

I do cook - honest. In fact I cook these days more than ever since having the boys and I do find it fun as long as I've got the time

I just don't do roasts. Mainly because of the time they take. Now I know that I can lob the meat in the slow cooker then go out for the day and do the potatoes and veggies in the last 1/2 hour or so then I'll be far more likely to do roasts (and we all enjoy them so that's great!)

Interesting thoughts about why certain dietary restrictions exist and fwiw, I think you could be right!