Crockpot Recipe: Beef and Barley Stew
This is one of my old tried and true recipes. I’ve been making variations of it for years. We love it, and it is SO good on a cold night! Pardon my ad hoc measuring units– I rarely use measuring cups so the units here are good guesses. Use your own creativity a little, and adjust the recipe as you wish
Beef and Barley Stew
2 lbs beef cubes
2 Tablespoons flour
Ground pepper
1 cup dried barley
2 cans beef broth or stock OR 1 can beef gravy with 1 can water added
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar (optional)
1 teaspoon prepared mustard (optional)
1 cup chopped or shredded carrots
1 white onion, diced
1 teaspoon paprika
In a separate bowl, mix the flour and ground pepper. Toss in the beef cubes and coat the cubes thoroughly. Place them in the crockpot.
Toss the rest of the ingredients into the crockpot. 
Stir everything. You can add other vegetables in there if you wish, such as leftover green beans, etc (just make sure the pieces are small). Turn on LOW for 8 to 10 hours. Stir the stew from time to time. Add a little bit of warm water if the stew needs it.
Tip: remember to sift through the barley before you toss it in the crockpot. You should also do this with dried beans. I commonly find stones in the bags, as big as stepping stones! Well, OK, they are not THAT big, but they sure feel like it when your teeth hits them!
I also make this in a Dutch oven on the stovetop, too. I usually cook that all day on low. You’ll know it’s done when the barley is very tender and the beef melts in your mouth.
Weird Crockpot App Discrepancies
Yes, I’m blogging about the iPhone Crockpot app AGAIN. I’m purposely forcing myself to try out a large number of the recipes (I usually grow bored with them by now), so that I can get used to the thing. If you’re wondering what I’m talking about, see my post here about the app I’ve been experimenting with. Also, if you search under “Crockpot” you’ll find where I have posted various recipes and my reviews of the results. It’s been interesting, to say the least.
This week I was sifting through more recipes, trying to decide on what to make. As I looked at ingredients and read cooking directions, I noticed a terrible flaw with the app– the directions do not match the ingredients.
Look at this recipe, the Thai Chicken I was thinking about making:
8 chicken thighs
1 cup hot salsa
1/4 cup peanut butter
2 Tablespoons lime juice
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1teaspoon grated ginger
1/2 cup chopped peanuts
2 Tablespoons fresh cilantro
Directions:
1. Coat bottom of skillet with oil and place on stovetop set to medium heat. Add chopped onion, garlic, and jalape-o, and saute until soft.
2. Move onions, garlic, and jalapeno to one side of the pan and brown chicken breasts on other side…
3. Place stoneware in slow cooker heating base, add onion mixture, chicken, potatoes, chicken broth, coconut milk, salt and pepper, and curry powder…
WHOA WHOA WHOA.
Now I thought I was supposed to have chicken thighs? And what’s this with coconut powder and potatoes and curry?
The thing is messed up. It wasn’t just for this recipe, I saw this for a few others. 
I don’t think I can use this app anymore. It’s unreliable. The whole reason I liked it was so that all I had to do was literally “click here“, and it would automatically create a shopping list for me …. but if it’s going to add different ingredients than what the recipe calls for, what good is it?
I’m sad. I was hoping that I had finally found the perfect app. Please leave a suggestion if you have any apps you want to share. I’m obviously in the market for one! LOL
P.S. By the way, am I the only one who hates cooking things twice? When I want to make a crockpot meal, I just want to throw everything in the pot and forget about it. All this chopping and sauteing and transferring is a royal pain!
Worst Crockpot Recipe Ever: Three Cheese Penne
I’ve been in the process of trying out and reviewing some new recipes here. I downloaded an iPhone app, iPhone Crockpot Recipe Finder. The app is nice because it automatically generates a shopping list when you save recipes. I’ve already tried a few recipes, the very tasty Cranberry Brisket and the mediocre Beef Stroganoff. Oddly enough, the best recipe so far (Cranberry Brisket) got a low rating on the Crockpot app, only 2 out of 5 stars. Huh.
Well, I spotted another easy recipe, Penne with Three Cheeses that rates a whopping 4 out of 5 stars. The recipe was awful! I had to force myself to down it. It was pasty and sticky and WAY too cheesy. I thought about giving the leftovers to the dogs, but I didn’t think they’d even eat it, despite all the dog training we’re giving them to eat the scraps. 
This stuff was awful.
I mention it here because it goes to show you that the ratings mean next to nothing (to me, anyway). In case you are curious, here’s the Penne with Three Cheeses recipe:
10 ounces refrigerated Alfredo sauce
1 cup milk
12 ounces evaporated milk
4 cups shredded Italian 3-cheese blend
1 pound uncooked penne pasta
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
I couldn’t even bear to snap a photo. The stuff was like glue, and the milks and cheeses melted before the pasta was done, so on top of the glue-y cheese, the pasta was chewy.
I guzzled about 5 cups of cold water after having some.
Manhattan Clam & Fish Chowder
As is my custom, I took a “basic” clam chowder recipe and tinkered with it somewhat. The original recipe calls for bacon, green peppers, and minced clams. I replaced the bacon with sausage, the green peppers with red peppers, and added minced clams but also added some leftover whiting fillets. The additions made for a rich, rich luxurious chowder (see photo, although that’s before the stuff was cooked). Serve with freshly baked garlic bread for the WOW factor. Oh, be sure to wash your feet before serving, so that your family can kiss them after dinner. This is THAT good.
Manhattan Clam & Fish Chowder
Serves 8– leftover soup tastes even better
2 cans petite diced tomatoes
1 8 ounce can tomato paste
3 cans (undrained) minced clams
1 pound ground sausage, cooked and drained of fat
1 white onion
1/2 red pepper, diced
3 potatoes, diced
1/2 cup carrots, cut into very small circle or matchsticks
4-5 fillets of fish (cooked) (Optional)
1 Tablespoon dried basil
1/2 Tablespoon dried oregano
Add all the ingredients into a very large crockpot or Dutch oven. Stir well.
If using the crockpot, set on LOW for 8-10 hours, or on HIGH for 4-5 hours.
If using the Dutch oven, turn on medium. Get the chowder simmering, then, cover the pot and turn down to medium-low. Stir frequently and adjust burner as needed so that the chowder does not burn.
Like many chowders and stews, this one gets better the longer it is allowed to sit. You can always make this ahead of time, store it in the refrigerator for a day or two while you go about your merry way buying cheap eyeglasses or whatever…. then reheat and serve. It’s very good. I suppose you could add kielbasa or shrimp to make it into a “gumbo” type of stew, too.
Enjoi!
Allow to cool SLIGHTLY, then serve with hot bread.
New Recipe: Crockpot Cranberry Brisket
I’ve been testing various crockpot meals from my iPhone CrockPot Recipe Finder app. 
I like the app because it makes an automatic shopping list for me, so I don’t have to do all the organizing and writing. I did a review of the app, you can click the link to read it.
Well, this time I tried the Cranberry Brisket Crockpot recipe. The rating for this recipe is only 2 out of 5 stars. The ingredients looked a little weird, and when I put them all in the crockpot, it smelled even weirder. I did wonder if this was really going to turn out OK. I felt a little queasy when I mixed the sauce with tomato sauce… hmmm….
Cranberry Brisket
2.5 pounds brisket (I used a regular pot roast)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 can cranberry sauce
8 ounces tomato sauce (I had only paste, so I used that and added a little water)
1 cup chopped onion (I used white)
1 tablespoon mustard (I didn’t know if they meant dried or prepared, so I used prepared.)Place the beef in the crockpot. Sprinkle the salt and pepper and rub it into the meat a little.
Mix together the remaining ingredients. Pour on top of the beef.
Cover, and cook on Low for 8-10 hours, or High for 4-5 hours.
Well, here’s what I did a little differently, besides altering the ingredients a little as I already said:
I didn’t exactly chop the onion. I sliced it, and placed it on top of the roast.
I also accidentally used whole-cranberry cranberry sauce. I didn’t read the can well enough. I tell ya, I was sweating buckets when I just stirred the can in to the tomato paste. It didn’t smell so good, not to me. I wondered how acidy this sauce was going to be! Then I had to stir in mustard!
I covered the pot, flipped on the switch (I set it at High and it cooked for about 6 hours). Hours later, the roast smelled REALLY good.
I had no idea what to serve with it… what do you serve with tomato and cranberry?? I threw in some sliced red potatoes and served a side dish of broccoli and cauliflower.
My Hubs said this roast was outstanding. It turned out great!!! And it’s SO easy. The sauce was not acidy, it was savory; and the side vegetables were a perfect match. So this is our new roast recipe.
I give the recipe a 5 out of 5. I do recommend setting the crockpot on Low for 8-10 hours. The higher setting worked well, but it would have been nicer if I had cooked it longer. I am such a lousy crockpot cooker, I never get to the recipe 8-10 hours before dinner time!