Can I Make Beef Stew Without Browning the Meat

I realize this is not very timely.  It's Spring - finally been feeling that way too, although information technology's cooling down once more equally we caput into the weekend - and I'thousand posting a beef stew recipe (on a baking web log, no less)!  Well, I call back this stew is light plenty to enjoy even in the Spring and personally, I want to keep this in my archives and share information technology with you because it'south a simple and succulent slow-cooker recipe.  So let's become on another little savory interlude today...

Beef and tomato stew made in the dull cooker, served with farro

I adapted this recipe from one of those old issues of Everyday Food that I talked virtually recently (there are tons of groovy recipes in at that place).  What I love nigh it is that it makes a big pot of flavorful, somewhat lighter, beef stew without a lot of work.  I sweat some vegetables in a pan before placing it into my slow cooker but you lot don't need to brown the meat!  I was skeptical until I tried it and I can tell you after making this twice at present that it is really expert stuff!

My husband loves beef stew and when I think about using my slow-cooker more often, I always think that I'd like to find a expert beef stew recipe.  The i affair I really don't like nearly making it is browning the meat.  Recently, I saw something promising in a mag from America's Test Kitchen.  It featured a ho-hum-cooker beef stew recipe that didn't require browning the meat as well.  Theirs was a somewhat more than intricate process (if I'm not mistaken, there was a foil pouch of potatoes sitting on top of the stew involved) but I recall them explaining that adding certain ingredients like soy sauce helped "beef upwardly" the flavor when not browning the meat.

Fork tender meat after half dozen hours on high in the wearisome cooker

This recipe I worked from didn't telephone call for soy sauce but I took some of those suggestions I'd read and tweaked the recipe by added a few extra things.  There are no potatoes in this stew, which lightens it upwards, and the heavy focus is on the tender meat likewise equally onions and carrots that's cooked down with crushed tomatoes and other flavorings I threw in.

Long story short, if you have a slow-cooker and like beef stew, I highly recommend this!

Okay, it's more than a little weird to meet chunks of beefiness on a baking web log but that's obviously the star of this post today.  I used 2 lbs. of chuck meat, cut into roughly one-inch cubes.  Trim away excess fat or enquire the butcher for the leaner pieces, like I did.  I lightly salt and pepper the meat.

The other component of the stew is the vegetables.  I omitted the celery in this recipe and substituted it for more carrots.  I'm not a fan of celery unless it's cooked way down like in a soup.  I actually wouldn't listen it in this scenario but I'm reluctant to buy a bag of celery only to utilise a few stalks and have leftovers in the fridge.  If you like it, you lot tin certainly employ it.

I sweated 2 medium-size onions and nearly half-dozen carrots in a pan for about x minutes before transferring it to my dull cooker.

On top of the vegetables, add together the meat, four cloves of crushed garlic, as well as one 28-ounce tin of diced tomatoes.  Looking into my pantry for inspiration, I besides threw in a teaspoon of stale thyme, i dried bay leaf, as well as near a tablespoon of soy sauce and rice vinegar.  You lot could also add some red pepper flakes or other herbs you like.

I gently blend the ingredients together, then set the tiresome-cooker to cook on High for 6 hours.  Stir occasionally and by the end of 6 hours, non but will your house smell wonderful but you will have a pot of tender and flavorful beefiness stew.  Just before serving, I stir in two cups of thawed peas (the petite kind are my favorite).

You'll notice a good amount of liquid in the pot afterward the cooking flow but it does thicken equally information technology sits.  I detect the extra sauce great "insurance" for when I demand to keep the stew on "warm" for a while before dinner (no one wants dry beef stew).

We like to swallow this with a side of quick-cooking (10-minute) farro from Trader Joe's; it'd be cracking with whatsoever type of grain.  For a heartier meal, you could serve it with noodles or mashed potatoes (which I like to brand with only milk for a lighter version) since there are no potatoes in this stew.

Recipe:

Slow-Cooker Beef and Tomato Stew
Adapted from the January/Feb 2012 outcome of Everyday Food (The "Lite" Effect)

- Serves 6 -

2 pounds beef chuck, excess fat trimmed, cut into i-inch chunks
Coarse common salt and pepper
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
two medium yellow onions, diced
6 medium carrots, peeled and cut into three/four inch rounds
i can (28-ounce) crushed tomatoes
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
4 garlic cloves, crushed and peeled
1 tablespoon depression-sodium soy sauce*
Dash of worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
ane/2 teaspoon stale thyme
one dried bay leaf
2 cups frozen peas, thawed

*Note: Ingredients listed subsequently garlic are items I choose to add.  You can omit or make adjustments every bit it suits you.

Lightly season the beef with table salt and pepper.

Oestrus oil in a large pan over medium oestrus.  Add onion and carrots and cook, stirring oftentimes, until vegetables are softened, well-nigh 10 minutes.  Transfer the mixture to a 5 or 6-quart tiresome-cooker and add the beef, tomatoes, goop, garlic, soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, vinegar, thyme, and the bay leaf.  Add 1 teaspoon table salt and one/4 teaspoon pepper.

Comprehend and melt on high, vi hours, stirring occasionally.  Nigh five minutes before stew is done, stir in the peas (or if non eating the stew right away, add peas merely earlier serving and plow the slow-cooker on loftier for five minutes to warm the peas through).  Remove bay leaf before serving, and conform seasoning, if necessary.

Stew can be refrigerated in an closed container for up to 3 days, or frozen for upwards to 3 months.

Estimate Nutritional information: Listed as 486 calories per serving (served with rice); 19g fat (7g sabbatum fat), 47 g carb.

richardsonforescon.blogspot.com

Source: http://www.playingwithflour.com/2013/04/simple-slow-cooker-beef-stew-no-meat.html

Share this post