Slow Cooker Roast Beef

Saturday is always a family day for us. This is the time for me to cook a hearty meal for the whole family, there is nothing better than homemade cooking. It  is cheaper, healthier and taste much better than does serves in the restaurant.

This weekend, I prepared the family favorite roast beef, but this time I cooked it in a slow cooker. Hubby suggested to add apple and orange on the roast for added flavor and it turned out moist and delicious fall apart roast. The stock makes a wonderful gravy by thickening with cornstarch and the left over roast can be a good barbecue sandwich.

Ingredients:

• 3-4 lbs beef chuck roast, trimmed off excess fat
• 2 tbsp salt
• 1 granny smith apple, peel core and cut into squares
• 1 (navel) orange, cut into 8 wedges
• 1 large white onion, cut into 8 wedges
• 1 tsp black ground pepper,
• 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 2 tbsps cold water
• 2 bay leaves

Side dish Vegetables:

• frozen corn on the cob, cook according to package direcrtion
• green beans
• brocolli
• carrot

Directions:

1. Put roast beef in a slow cooker, sprinkle with salt and ground black pepper.
2. Add the apples, orange, onions and bay leaves.
3. Drizzle with Worcestershire.
4. Add 1 tbsp. cornstarch dissolved in 2 tbsp. cold water.
5. Cover, cook on low for 10 hours. Roast is done when meat falls apart.
6. Transfer roast to a serving plate or to a cutting board to thinly slice against the grain, wait 10 minutes before cutting the roast.

How to cook the vegetables for side dish and the gravy:

1. Pour the juice through a fine-mesh sieve.
2. Put in a sauce pan, boil, turn stove into medium high fire.
3. Add carrots and half cook, remove from pan, set aside. Do the same to other vegetables.
4. Continue boiling the dripping until it reduce to 1/3 and stirring constantly to thicken. You can add more cornstarch for a thicker consistency. 
5. Place vegetables in a serving plate
6. Serve with mashed potato or rice and sauce/gravy.