Crockpot Magic

I have come to a conclusion.

Crockpot dishes might be magical, but they do not photograph well.

Let's face it: Food prepared in a crockpot rarely looks...magazine worthy. It does not capture well on camera. At all.

That being said, it usually tastes really good.

This week's recipe is Hungarian Beef Stew. It was a snap to put together, economical, and although I missed points for presentation, it was tasty.

Hungarian Beef Stew

1 1/4 lbs stew meat
1 lb sliced carrots (I didn't use as many and substituted baby carrots.)
2 med. onions, diced (I only used 1.)
3 cups thinly sliced cabbage (I used 1 smallish head.)
2 cups water or 1/2 cup red wine (I used beef broth.)
1 small can tomato paste
1 envelope onion-mushroom soup mix
1 Tbs paprika
1 cup sour cream
1 package pre-sliced mushrooms (This is my addition.)

Mix all ingredients except sour cream in a slow cooker. Cook on low 8 hours until the meat is tender. Turn off slow cooker and stir in the sour cream until well blended.

Serve with egg noodles (I used whole wheat.) and extra sour cream.

Thanks to my pal Carrie for this recipe sent through the Facebook Land post office.

I baked a loaf of bread to accompany the stew. I deviated from my usual Shiner Bread and made an Oatmeal Whole Wheat Quick Bread. I made quite a few changes to this recipe. If you are interested, email me and I will let you in on my tweaks.

It got a bit brown around the edges. I will lower the baking temp next time. But it was dense, soft, with just a hint of sweetness.

I tried to get a good picture of the bread all sliced and buttered. However, I live with vultures. They devoured the loaf.

I will make it again. For sure.