Slow Cooker Week Day 7

I'm glad you folks have enjoyed Slow Cooker Week. My friend Genevieve, who has some mental block against blog commenting, told me in person about all these fabulous slow-cooker recipes she has. I told her to hook me up, then next time I saw her she said she had lent the book to someone. So they will be forthcoming and "Slow Cooker Week" may extend into "Slow Cooker Fall". Seriously. I love using my cooker and having dinner done by 10am, but need lots and lots of options for variety. So please, if you've got a good one, do keep them coming! Post it or email it to me and I'll do more slow cooker posts over the next few months or possibly forever (and give due credit of course.)

Beef Stroganoff

I just tried this one this week for the first time - it's from the Oct/Nov '08 issue of Cook's Country magazine. They really took their time to make the meat and the sauce good and I loved it. Sometimes I like the recipes that cook for 9 or 10 hours because I throw it together around breakfast time and don't have to worry about it, especially if I'm going to be gone all day. Prep is about 1/2 hour, and then about 20 minutes at the end.

1-1/2 cups low-sodium beef broth
1/4 cup dried porcini mushrooms, rinsed and patted dry
2 T vegetable oil
2 onions, chopped fine
2 T tomato paste
1/2 cup white wine
1/3 cup soy sauce
4 pounds boneless beef chuck stew meat cut into 1-1/2 inch pieces
1 pound white mushrooms, cleaned and quartered
6 T all-purpose flour
1-1/2 cups sour cream (I used fat-free)
2 T chopped fresh dill
Salt and pepper

1. Combine 1/2 cup broth and porcini in bowl and microwave until steamy and mushrooms have softened, about 1 minute. Line fine-mesh strainer with one paper towel and strain porcini, reserving liquid. Chop porcini fine nad set aside.

2. Heat oil in large skillet over med-high heat until shimmering. Cook onions and tomato paste, stirring frequently until lightly browned, 7 to 10 minutes. Stir in wine, soy sauce, remaining broth, chopped porcini, and reserved porcini liquid, scraping up any browned bits with wooden spoon. Bring broth mixture to boil, then transfer to slow cooker. Add beef and white mushrooms to slow cooker, cover and cook on HIGH until meat is tender, 6 to 7 hours (or cook on LOW for 9 to 10 hours.)

3. Set slow cooker to HIGH, if necessary. Skim fat from surface. Transfer 2 cups sauce from slow cooker to large bowl and whisk in flour. Stir flour mixture into slow cooker and cook, covered, until sauce thickens, about 15 minutes. Stir in sour cream and dill and season with salt and pepper. Serve over rice or buttered egg noodles (I did whole wheat egg noodles.)