Crock Pot Beef Stew

Beef Stew

On a blustery spring day what could be better than a slow-cooked beef stew simmering in the crock pot.

CROCK POT BEEF STEW

Bacon fat or lard
Arrowroot powder
Sea salt
3 lbs. grass-fed stew meat
1 onion sliced
2 c. Tomato Sauce or Mock Tomato Sauce
a splash of organic red wine
Freshly snipped thyme
8 carrots cut into chunks
1 rutabaga cut into cubes

Bacon fat is nice for browning chunks of beef.  It doesn't smoke, it doesn't scorch, and it remains stable at high temperatures.

Put arrowroot powder with a bit of sea salt in a zip lock bag and coat beef chunks.  Place beef chunks, a few at a time, in the pan of hot bacon fat and sear the meat.  Searing the meat helps keep it moist and juicy.

Put the browned meat, sliced onion and tomato sauce in a large crock pot with about 1- 2 c.  water or stock.  (The amount of liquid depends on how thick you want the stew to be) Deglaze the pan with a splash or two of red wine and scrape into the crock pot.  Add fresh snipped thyme or dried thyme.  Set the crock pot on a low setting and let the it cook for 2 - 3 hours.

After it has simmered for 2 - 3 hours add carrot and rutabaga chunks and simmer for 1 to 2 more hours.

NOTE ON TOMATOES

While I eschew tomatoes of all kinds out of season, (I think Styrofoam might taste better), I do enjoy fresh tomatoes when they are in season, especially homegrown heirloom varieties.  Those who are sensitive to tomato sauce, like I am, will want to keep a few jars of mock tomato sauce handy.  Mock tomato sauce is a velvety blend of winter squash, onion, carrot, celery, and beet root.  Mock tomato sauce makes an excellent substitute for tomato sauce and I use it in a variety of soups, stews, enchiladas, and pasta dishes.  I particularly like it in lentil soup.  One of these days I should get around to posting how to make mock tomato sauce.