Hearty Beef Stew to Warm Your Belly

Sandy oh Sandy. As I’m writing this the lightening is flashing and the thunder is booming outside my apartment. We were hit (more like open palmed slapped…half-heartedly) by Hurricane Sandy yesterday, and I figure this is some sort of aftershock-esque weather. I only had to work a half day at work because the T shut down at 2. But to be honest I was radiating with annoyance at having to go into work at all…there’s nothing I love better than a stormy day in my sweat pants. But whatever right? There are people with ACTUAL  problems resulting from Sandy so I’ll stop being a jerk.

this poor guy seems to be the only casualty on my street!

Anyways…I’ve been meaning to post this for like 2 weeks. So I’m sharing it with you now. A few weeks ago I busted out the ‘ole crockpot and whipped up some Beef Stew. As I’ve mentioned before in other posts I’m really not a soup person; it’s just not my jam generally. But I wanted to branch out and give it a go…partly because the weather turned arctic…remember that week? brrrrrr!

It’s actually really easy to put together and you don’t need any other pots or anything…it’s mostly just layering. Here’s how the magic happens: (recipe from Get Crocked)

Hearty Beef Stew

• 2 lbs. stew beef
• 1/4 c. flour
• 1 tsp. paprika
• 4 lg. carrots, peeled & sliced in 1/2 inch pieces
• 3 lg. potatoes, peeled & chopped into chunks
• 1 c. condensed beef broth
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 1/3 c. soy sauce
• 1 lg. onion, sliced
• 1 can tomato sauce (8 oz.)

1. Layer potatoes on the bottom of your crock pot.
2. Next, layer carrots on top of potatoes.
3. Place meat on top of carrots.
4. Sprinkle meat with soy sauce, salt, paprika, pepper & flour.
5. Layer chopped onions evenly on top of sauce/seasonings.
6. Combine beef broth & tomato sauce and pour over everything in the crock pot.
7. Cover and cook on low for 7 – 8 hrs. (or high 4 – 5 hrs. if pressed for time

   Now I changed it up a bit to suit my tastes…I added canned corn and a sweet potato as well.

This is an easy recipe for putting the freezer for later cooking, or just feeding yourself slash your family. I think it’s a good one to keep in your arsenal for this winter!

Back in Action…with a dish that has no name

So those of you in the Boston area probably remember that last week was absurdly cold. The arctic temperatures kept me from the grocery store…and by a trickle down effect kept me from Crocket. But good news! It warmed up and I made it to the grocery store. This weeks chronicle is about a mystery beef, sweet potato, and apple dish. Recipe courtesy of my mom..who pulled it from one of the million cookbooks at my Gram’s house. 

I was looking to try something different this week. I wasn’t really in the “stew” kinda mood and I already did the whole lasagna thing. So this recipe appealed to me. Its also real easy to put together. Here’s what’cha need:

about 2 lbs stew beef
2-3 sweet potates cut in large chunks
2 apples cored and sliced (leave skin on)
1 onion sliced
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 cup beef broth
tyme, salt, pepper
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbl corn starch
2 tbl cold water

I suck at cutting vegetables. FACT. I always manage to cut myself. You don’t have to mince everything with this one…so win for me…and my fingers. You legit just throw it all in the crockpot (minus the last 3 ingredients) and go about your business. Then when you get home you take the apples, beef, potatoes, and onions out and put’em to the side. Here’s the part I did WRONG. You mix the cornstarch, cinnamon, and water together BEFORE you add it to the broth. The end game here is a kind of gravy. But when you just throw the corn starch in it clumps and is weird. So avoid that. Cook the gravy on high for like 15 mins and then add the other biz back in and ENJOY.

It makes a BUNCH of food so you’ll be set for the week.

Today was a big day. I just got 3 new stellar cookbooks (CAN NOT WAIT to try some of the recipes) AND I bought a fondue pot. So get ready for some fondue action in the future…especially with Super Bowl Sunday coming up!!

 

This is what it looks like BEFORE cooking…lots of good stuff in there.

 

 

 

The AFTER shot…it cooks down nice and it hearty and filling.