Crock pot night

It’s been cold and today was a class day, so I decided to do Sandra Lee’s Caribbean Nights Dinner from her Slow Cooker Recipes 2. I will start this blog by saying I did not like it. I thought it was very dull. Jim did like it, but it had beef, what can say. As this involved a crock pot that I could set up before leaving for class it seemed ideal. When I arrived home it smelled wonderful.


3 plantains, peeled and sliced ¼ “thick

1 c chopped onion, red and green pepper. This is where you have to be careful with Sandra Lee recipes. She does a show called Semi Homemade. I spent hours in Wegman’s looking for Pictsweet frozen seasoning blend. Came home looked on the internet and found out it was equal amounts of onion, green and red pepper. Took less time to shop than I spent looking.

2 -15 oz cans of black beans, drained.

1 ½ # flank steak, patted dry and sprinkled with salt and pepper

3 t Jamaican Jerk blend. I used Penzeys

1-8 oz can crushed pineapple in juice

1 c beef broth

In my case, chop the onion and peppers and add with the cut up plantains and black beans to the slow cooker. Season the flank steak with salt, pepper and 1 t of seasoning and place the flank steak over the beans. In a bowl mix the pineapple, beef broth and remaining seasoning. Pour over the steak. Set the slow cooker on low for 6 hours.

Jim served a 2006 El Felino Malbec by Vina Cobos of Argentina. Unfined and unfiltered, it was a big, luscious red with lots of flavor.

My flank steak virtually fell apart, but we tried to cut it across the grain. I have never tasted plantains before and found them dry and tasteless, kind of like dried up old potatoes. Could be the distance they travel to our stores. In the Caribbean they could have a whole different taste. There is nothing in this dish that Max cannot have. Bon Appetite, the leftovers, Max.