Pintesting In The Kitchen - Crockpot Beef And Broccoli

When I was a little girl the only thing I ordered at a Chinese restaurant for quite a while was beef and broccoli so when I saw this pin on pintrest I was dying to try it. The source recipe for this pin can be found here.

My crock pot has been working over-time lately so I don't always have all of the burny bits scrubbed off the edges. But have no fear the pot is still very clean. I actually have two others and will probably be employing other uses for them in the near future. 

First we start with adding the mushrooms. I chose to use the Amish kind in the jar, partially because I forgot I had straw mushrooms that needed a home.

Next, the rest of a large onion I had in the refrigerator that was also in desperate need of use before it went completely bad.

Now for the beef. I used top round that was already in strips.

Before putting it into the pot I cut those strips into bite sized pieces. Then in they went.

Combine a mixture of oil, beef broth, minced garlic, sriracha chili paste, soy sauce, ginger, and pepper. I was out of sesame oil so I used vegetable.

Mix well.

The next directions are to cook your food on low for 6 - 8 hours. Having started later in the day then I really intended (just about after 1PM) I set the crock pot for 6 1/2 hours.

Don't be like me - check to make sure you have broccoli. Or at least att empt to avoid just settling to go ahead and buy some at 6PM LOL. I just bought a few broccoli crowns and then ripped off pieces.

For any of you who are uncertain about what  a broccoli crown looks like.

By the time I was ready to add my broccoli the smell of the beef was filling the house.

Mix your tbsp cornstarch and 2 tbsp water in a separate bowl before adding to your crock pot.

Adding the broccoli turned out to be a bit more exciting for me than expected (or then I guess it possibly should have been). Look at that beautiful color!

That night was actually taco night so I let this cool and put it in the fridge to eat for lunch the next day.

I was really excited. The sauce wasn't as thick as I wanted so I took some of it out of the container, put it in a separate bowl, and added cornstarch. In this didn't prove to be at all useful. The sauce was still too watery.

I dug in anyway. How was it? Really disappointing. I hated it. If you're really into super hot and spicy food you may like this. It was absolutely nothing like the Chinese food you order, which could be okay, but I still really hated the end result.

For the recipe I used for making the brown rice to go with it go here.