Day 210.
Two hundred and ten! eek!
Yesterday, I had some projects to tie up, miles to run, laundry to fold, and a kid with a double ear infection.
I forgot to turn on the crockpot until about 3pm. It completely slipped my mind. I did it, though. But the meat I cooked would have been much, much better if I had plugged it in earlier in the day and let it stew, or better yet if I had had the meat sit in the fridge overnight in the marinade.
I bought Chinese Five-Spice Powder a few weeks ago, when I found myself in the grocery store all alone. I love grocery shopping alone. I get a mocha from Starbucks and wander each and every aisle, and always find something "new" that I didn't know I needed, or something that I wanted but didn't take the time to properly scout out. Some people like massages. I like solo-grocery shopping.
Lydia, from The Perfect Pantry, has a marvelous write-up about the wonders of Five-Spice Powder. I found it in the Ethnic section of my regular grocery store.
The Ingredients.
1-2 pounds thin steak meat (I used flank steak)
1/4 t kosher salt
1 t Five-Spice Powder
1/2 t ground ginger
1/4 t black pepper
6 cloves minced or chopped garlic
2 T soy sauce (La Choy and Tamari wheat-free are GF)
1 T white wine vinegar
The Directions.
In a small bowl, mix the dry spices. Rub the mixture on all sides of your meat.
Put the meat into a ziplock bag and add the chopped garlic, soy sauce, and white wine vinegar. Seal the bag and refrigerate for as long as possible; preferably overnight.
I did not do this. Your meat will taste better if you do.
When the meat has fully marinated, cook on high for 3-4 hours, or on low for 5-6. This is very thin meat and will cook quickly, since there isn't much liquid. If you are going to be out of the house for a while, add 1/2 cup of beef broth. I used my 6qt Smart-Pot, and it was not really enough food for it; this would work best in a 4qt.
Slice the meat thin and serve over rice with vegetables, or on top of a spinach salad. We had our meat on top of salad.
The Verdict.
Since I didn't put the crockpot on until 3pm, my meat had very little flavor, except for the very outer skin. We ate it, and it was fine, but it could have been much, much, better. I have meat leftover, and am going to re-rub it with the spices and let it sit for a while, then chop it up for fried rice to have for lunch.
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