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Hi, this is Chef John from foodwishes.com, and today we are making a " black magic" roast in the slow cooker. That's right, we'll use black beer, black pepper, black garlic, black vinegar, and other dark and delicious ingredients to create the best slow cooker roast this side of the Mississippi. If you understood this hint, then you know your way around a roast. And if not, it just means the dish will be extremely delicious. To begin, we will fry the onion until black on a baking sheet lined with foil and lightly greased with oil. We're going to put it under the grill on high heat for a few minutes until it literally turns black-I know, it looks like a mistake, but it's not. This will add a subtle smoky bittersweet note, but without the
burnt aftertaste. Once the onion is ready, we will fry our meat over high heat in a small amount of vegetable oil. And no, we don't need to season the beef any further at this stage. We'll just brown it well on both sides. Also, if you want to put in more effort, you can try browning the edges after the flat sides. As you know, the better the surface of the meat is browned, the richer the taste of the dish will be. Although the Mississippi roast I mentioned earlier is often not seared before cooking in the slow cooker, this step can be skipped. But I do it and I think you should do the same. After removing the meat, we turn off the heat and add a little water to deglaze and collect all the caramelized
goodness from the bottom. As you will see, we will add this to our braising liquids. Once that's done, let's move on to the blackest and perhaps most magical ingredient-the head of black garlic. I'll cut it in half so we can look inside. This is not fermented garlic. It's just aged for a long time until it turns black. To use it, we simply squeeze the cloves out of the peel. It has a fairly mild, sweet, very savory, and slightly spicy flavor- perfect for roasts. Next, we will transfer our blackened onions to the slow cooker. And sprinkle a bag of dry onion soup on top, which, although not black, is
real magic for stewing in a slow cooker. Next, we'll add a little garlic powder, followed by the black garlic, which I've mashed up a little with a spoon. Although all of this will take so long to prepare that it probably won't matter much. But anyway, after that, we'll add the last four black ingredients: freshly ground black pepper, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, and finally, a bottle of dark beer. I use Deschutes Black Butte porter, which gives off rich coffee and chocolate notes that would work great here. But any porter or dark lager will do. And now we're going to mix it all up. Then add the liquid left over from deglazing the pan where we seared the beef. Oh yeah, don't forget that. And then we will transfer our roasted meat
along with all the juices that have released. We will turn it over several times so that it is well covered with this liquid. By the way, if you're wondering, thanks to the very salty soup packet and soy sauce, we may not need to add salt here. So be careful not to throw it out of habit. Of course, as always, we will taste later and adjust the taste if necessary. That's all, close the lid and set it to the minimum mode for 8 hours. This usually takes 8 to 10 hours, depending on usual factors. And we can barely touch it until the end of cooking. Although somewhere in the middle I like to open the lid, pour the juice over the meat and just see how things are going. I know you're a little worried about those charred bulbs, but please don't be
. We'll still strain the sauce once they've done their thing. But in any case, after we have poured over the meat, we cover it again and leave it to cook for another 3-4 hours, or until the beef is tender but not yet falling apart. So, the fork should go in fairly easily, but the meat will generally hold its shape if moved. When it reaches this stage, we will remove the onion from the top, and then for a moment lay the pieces of beef on a plate or in a bowl, so that it is more convenient to scoop out and strain the liquid, which by now has almost turned into our sauce. Which, by the way, we could thicken if desired with flour dressing or starch, but it's so rich and delicious that I don't think it's necessary. And I really think it's better to use it
as is. But anyway, after we've drained it, we're going to put the beef back in, pour our much better- looking sauce on top, cover it, and continue to simmer over low heat for another 30 minutes to an hour, or until the meat is very tender and starting to fall apart. So, don't worry about the time I'm telling you. You will have to decide when the dish is ready based on its appearance and texture. Ultimately, it's up to you how long it takes to cook. We are looking for a state where the meat easily separates into fibers with two forks, so we will disassemble it to make it more convenient to serve and eat. And it will also allow it to
better absorb the sauce, which, in my opinion, looks simply incredible. Thank you, charred bulbs and all your dark friends. And not only does it look amazing, it will be one of the most delicious beef stews you've ever tasted. So, using all these black ingredients wasn't just a gimmick. Each of them complemented the others perfectly, creating a very complex yet comforting beef stew that can be served in a multitude of wonderful ways. With rice, noodles, or even as tacos. But I recommend serving it on a mountain of mashed potatoes, piled high. And when I finished shaping this majestic meatloaf, I added some glazed carrots around it, which I think goes perfectly with the dish. Then I garnished everything with chopped green onions. But whatever
you decide to serve it with, you'll definitely want to pour the sauce over everything at the end. And you should have enough sauce both for braising and to drizzle over the dish when serving. Which, by the way, I will not do. I was just too hungry. And it looked and smelled too good. So I just picked up my fork and started eating. And I really like the way this shredded beef looks. Although according to the classics, stewed meat is not disassembled into fibers. It is served in large pieces or thick slices. So if that's what you want to do -please do. But no matter how you serve it, if you like beef stew, I think you'll really like it. Oh, and as I suspected, I did n't have to add any extra salt. But you might need it. So after you take the meat out of
the slow cooker, be sure to taste it and add salt if necessary. And while this would be delicious with regular garlic, I highly recommend finding and using black garlic as it has a really interesting flavor. But, as I said, it's very barely noticeable. So if you're worried that it will be too harsh, don't be. So, if you like the taste of roasted garlic, you'll like this too. As for other changes, the dish should turn out great no matter what beer or vinegar you use, or whether you experiment with other spices. So feel free to experiment. Although, if you use the same ingredients as us, you could call it "Black Magic " cookies, which, you know, sounds pretty cool. But even if the name wasn't, it was simple to make and incredibly delicious, so I really
hope you try it soon. Please follow the links below to find ingredient quantities, a printable recipe, and lots of other helpful information.
