Slow Cooked Beef Tips

The cooking class started back this month, modified for COVID—smaller groups, masks in the kitchen, hand washing every thirty minutes, which I was already doing before the pandemic because Bernice raised me to wash my hands and I have been washing them continuously for fifty years. We have twelve students, down from thirteen, because one woman moved away during the pandemic, and I am running two groups of six instead of one group of twelve so the kitchen doesn't feel crowded. This is more work. It is worth the work. The students need the class more during the pandemic than they did before it. They need the kitchen. They need the gathering. They need to stand beside someone who knows what they're doing and to learn, which is the same as saying they need to feel less alone. The class is always about that, finally. The aloneness and the cooking and the together. You come in alone and you leave knowing something and that knowing is company. It is the best kind of company.

This week we made oxtails. I teach oxtails every August because August is the month for them—they need a full day and the autumn stews are almost upon us and oxtails are the bridge, the transition dish, the thing that says summer is ending and something richer is coming. Twelve women made oxtails in two groups on a Saturday morning, masked and careful, and by afternoon the church kitchen smelled like Bernice's kitchen in Bessemer in September, and I stood at the stove and I was fifty years old and I was eight years old, both at once, and the chain went forward and back simultaneously, and it was all right. It was more than all right.

Oxtails take a full day and they ask you to be patient, which is why I teach them in August when the season itself is asking the same thing — slow down, pay attention, something is about to change. If you can’t find oxtails at your butcher, or you’re just starting to find your footing with long braises, these slow cooked beef tips are the same lesson in a different key: low heat, time, and trust. Bernice would have recognized this pot. That’s all the endorsement I need to give.

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 8 hours | Total Time: 8 hours 20 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

2 lbs beef sirloin tips or stew beef, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
1 packet (1 oz) dry onion soup mix
1 can (10.5 oz) cream of mushroom soup
1 cup beef broth
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 medium yellow onion, sliced
2 cups sliced cremini or button mushrooms
2 tablespoons cornstarch (optional, for thickening)
2 tablespoons cold water (optional, for thickening)
Egg noodles or mashed potatoes, for serving

Instructions

Season the beef. Pat the beef tips dry with paper towels. Season evenly with salt, pepper, and garlic powder on all sides.
Layer the slow cooker. Place the sliced onions and mushrooms in the bottom of a 6-quart slow cooker. Arrange the seasoned beef tips on top in an even layer.
Mix the sauce. In a bowl, whisk together the cream of mushroom soup, beef broth, dry onion soup mix, and Worcestershire sauce until smooth. Pour the mixture over the beef and vegetables.
Cook low and slow. Cover and cook on LOW for 7 to 8 hours, or on HIGH for 4 to 5 hours, until the beef is fork-tender and pulls apart easily. Do not lift the lid during cooking.
Thicken the gravy (optional). About 20 minutes before serving, mix the cornstarch and cold water in a small bowl until smooth. Stir the slurry into the slow cooker, replace the lid, and cook on HIGH for an additional 15 to 20 minutes until the gravy thickens.
Taste and serve. Taste the gravy and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper as needed. Serve over egg noodles or mashed potatoes, spooning plenty of gravy over the top.

Nutrition (per serving)

Slow Cooked Beef Tips — The Bridge Dish That Carries You Home