Food is Cheap

I lamented the under-use of the crock pot in the every day kitchen a few days ago, and for good reason — the crock pot, or slow cooker, is a versatile tool that can be used to create a varied range of dishes easily.

One of my favorite crock pot recipes is Beef Stew.

SUPER-EASY CROCK POT BEEF STEW INGREDIENTS:

• 2 pounds chuck roast
• 1 can (15oz) chicken stock (low-sodium)
• 1/4 head cabbage
• 3 russet potatoes
• 2 small yellow onions
• 1/2 lb baby carrots
• 2 stalks celery
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon worchestershire sauce
• 2 bay leaves

It all begins with two pounds of beef — I like using chuck roast, because it’s cheap and has tons of fatty goodness that gives stews its beefy flavor.

The chuck is cut into chunks — I try to keep the meat fairly large, slightly bigger than bite-site, to make searing easier.

I use a cast-iron pan for this step because it promotes browning and retains heat easily — a few drops of canola oil and the in goes the meat. Do not overcrowd the pan!

It took three batches to complete my hunk of chuck roast.

It takes about two minutes for a proper sear. When one side is done, use your tongs and flip over each piece of beef.

Repeat until every piece is properly browned.

Your patience will be rewarded with a beautiful batch of seared beef.

Deglazing the pan is an optional step, but the flavor left in the pan shouldn’t go to waste — to deglaze, I used chicken stock and was rewarded with about half a cup of extremely flavorful, beefy liquid, which is added to the stew.

Red wine or cognac would be an even better deglazing medium, as the alcohol adds a beautiful aroma and flavor to your stew.

Additional stew ingredients are up to your personal taste. I used cabbage, potatoes, baby carrots, celery, and yellow onions here — but you could also use turnips, bell peppers, green beans, peas, and so on…

Also added was one can (15oz) of chicken stock (beef stock will work too but I find it to be too salty), two bay leaves, a teaspoon of worchestershire sauce, and half a teaspoon of dried oregano.

The beef goes on top of the veggies — don’t worry if it seems like there won’t be enough liquid for the stew, because as the veggies reduce and release their liquids, this will soon change.

Piling the beef on top of the veggies ensures that it doesn’t stay submerged for the entire cooking process, keeping it from drying out into cardboard cubes.

After four hours on HIGH, the stew is ready to eat. Due in part to our foresight in searing the meat, the beef does not fall apart and is full of delicious flavor.

This recipe yields 7-8 big heapin’ servings.

Related Posts:

• Crock Pot/Slow Cooker Magic
• Stewed Chicken, or Chicken Stew?
• Cafeteria-Style Hamburger Stew
• Chicken Spinach Casserole: Quick 'n Easy Dinner