The New Crockpot and Beef Paprika (Low Carb)

So once upon a time, when Christmas rolled around I would ask Santa for Bebe Boots, or a heart charm necklace or Godiva Truffles, although I still ask for Godiva chocolates if we’re being honest.  But the other things?  They just don’t really fit into my life anymore.  I enjoy those things, but they just don’t excite me the way that they used to.  You know what excites me?  Gadgets and stuff for my kitchen.  Since there weren’t any gadgets this year that I was salivating over, my husband was very clever in remembering something that I had sent him a link to all the way back in October.

Williams Sonoma introduced an All-Clad crockpot with a 7 quart(!) cast aluminum insert that you can use to brown things in on your stove top.  I thought that was so brilliant, but the price was a little prohibitive, so I lusted over it for a few minutes and then let it go.  Christmas morning there was a huge box under the tree with my name on it and I really had no idea what it could be!  Sometimes that husband of mine can surprise the hell out of me with a flash of brilliance that comes out of left field and knocks me out.  Inside the box was that beautiful, shiny crockpot.

It’s shameful to admit, but I didn’t use the crockpot until this week.  I don’t know why, I just couldn’t think of what I was in the mood for to make in the crockpot.  I was going through some old recipes though and I found a recipe that I used to make a couple of years ago and I decided to give it a try with the new crockpot.

Beef Paprika

3 T. Butter
2 lb. of stew meat
1 big white onion diced
3 cloves of garlic minced
3/4 c. sugar free ketchup (prepared, or you can make it yourself)
3 T Worcestershire sauce
1 T sugar substitute (I use Splenda)
1 T paprika
a dash of cayenne pepper
1 1/2 c. water
1/3 c. cream

Brown the beef on the stove (you can skip this, but I find it’s much nicer when you brown the meat first)

Place the insert into the crockpot when the meat is browned and cover with water (just add the water to the insert, till it reaches just over the beef) and cook on high for 4 hours, low for 8 hours.

Isn’t that pretty?

When the meat has completed cooking, take a deep covered pan (I use a dutch oven) and melt the butter.  Add the beef, onion and garlic and cook until the onion is tender.  Stir in the rest of the ingredients except for the cream.  Simmer for one hour, cover if the liquid is evaporating too quickly.  When it’s cooked down and is pretty thick after about an hour or so, ad the cream, bring to a boil while stirring and let it boil for one minute.

I served it over steamed cauliflower and it was delightful.  If you’re not doing the low carb thing, egg noodles would be wonderful.

The crockpot, by the way, was terrific.  Clean up was a breeze and I couldn’t believe how quickly the whole thing cooled down.  Programming was a snap and it sure looks pretty on my counter, doesn’t it?