My theory about slow cookers is that they are supposed to work for me and not vice versa. Chopping, browning, draining and cleaning BEFORE placing your ingredients in the slow cooker just doesn’t make any sense to me. I might as well leave the dish in its original pot and end up with less dishes. The same logic applies to dish washers. My husband has this principle about not putting plastic ware in it in order to preserve them and washes them lovingly by hand. The problem starts when I am at the sink, with no love left to go around. I believe that these appliances are supposed to serve me. To save me some time and effort without requiring constant TLC. For that I have my children.
That’s when I started my quest to find slow cooker friendly recipes that are easy to assemble, throw in and forget about until supper. Or as my Italian friend A. would call it, the “shcoff it and forget about it” method. I am a big fan. And it has to taste great and look presentable too. I am less than a fan of tasty mush when you have company coming.

This recipe is my biggest success so far. I was inspired by my father’s Hungarian stew recipe, but found all that chopping, frying, stirring and timing a tad less inspiring. That’s when I came up with the idea of mincing all the ingredients of the stew (less the meat) in a food processor and then shcoffing (dropping) the fragrant paste over the meat. Luckily, since my husband’s big boss came over for supper, it was a blooming success. Sooo yummy. You must try this at home.

slow cooker Hungarian beef stew

For the meat:
1 to 1.5 kg beef stew cubes

For the sauce:
in a food processor mince together:

2 green peppers (seeds removed)
2 peeled onions
2 peeled garlic cloves
1 small can of tomato paste (156 ml),
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp black pepper
1 Tbs salt (maybe a bit less)
1/3 cup canola oil (I put slightly less)
1/2 cup water

preparation:

Place the meat cubes in the slow cooker and pour over the sauce. Mix well and put the lid on. Yes, just like that. Done. I cooked it on HIGH for 1 hour and then on LOW for 5 hours. You can surely put it on LOW for 8-10 hours. An hour before serving, combine 2 Tbsp corn starch with 2 Tbsp cold water (fingers work best here). Pour in the slow cooker and mix well before putting the lid back on.

I served my stew with spinach salad and home made biscuits. These are amazingly easy to prepare and equally yummy.