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Beef and Black Bean Stew on a Bed of Roasted Cauliflower

February 1, 2012 By Leave a Comment

We got our first order of grass fed, hormone free, pasture raised beef and I was so excited, but a little bit nervous about getting my family used to the difference in taste. When you grow up eating one thing, sometimes the thing that’s better for you is a bit of an acquired taste.  I did find the beef to be leaner and therefore a little bit drier, but tasty – I think next time I do this, I’ll cut the pieces a bit smaller.

  • 2 lbs stew meat
  • 1 heart of celery chopped
  • 2 medium onions chopped
  • about 6 carrots, really roughly chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic chopped
  • 1 cup vegetable stock
  • 1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce – or more if you like
  • strained tomatoes – I used a 28.6 oz. box of Pomi – more or less is fine.
  • 1 tablespoon cumin
  • 1 tablespoon chili powder
  • 1 pint mushrooms
  • 1 package dried black beans
  • 2 heads cauliflower, florets

The night before, soak your beans according to package directions. When you get up in the morning, drain them, refill the pot with fresh water and simmer on low for 1.5-2 hours until tender and done – I learned a trick recently to check from the four poles of the pot.  One bean each from North, East, South and West of the pot.  If they’re all tender, you’re done!

beef and black bean stew 9 Beef and Black Bean Stew on a Bed of Roasted Cauliflower

Drain again, set aside in an air tight container. Refrigerate if it makes you feel better.  I left it out – we’re still alive. =)

When you put the beans up to simmer, take a large dutch oven, or the insert of your crock if it’s stove top safe. Heat on med/high heat.

Admire your grass fed, no hormone, pasture raised beef…

beef and black bean stew 10 Beef and Black Bean Stew on a Bed of Roasted Cauliflower

Add them to the heated pot and brown – this is where I ran into my first issue.  There was a lot of liquid and the meat wasn’t browning like I wanted.  I removed all beef from the pot, drained the liquid and put the meat back in – it started to brown immediately.  You may not have this issue, but I wanted to share my experience in case you did.

beef and black bean stew 8 Beef and Black Bean Stew on a Bed of Roasted Cauliflower

While the meat is browning, chop all your veggies and put in a bowl.  I added my spices here too, because I like to toast spices like cumin and chili powder, so why not do it all together?

beef and black bean stew 7 Beef and Black Bean Stew on a Bed of Roasted Cauliflower

Transfer the meat to a plate, put the veggies and spices in the pot, or slow cooker insert, add a big pinch of salt and brown them for a little bit, tossing occasionally.

beef and black bean stew 6 Beef and Black Bean Stew on a Bed of Roasted Cauliflower

Add the meat back in and cover with the tomatoes, Worcestershire, and stock.  Transfer to the crockpot, stir, cover and set on low to cook for 8 hours.

beef and black bean stew 5 Beef and Black Bean Stew on a Bed of Roasted Cauliflower

About an hour before eating, add the black beans and mushrooms, stir and cover. Preheat the oven to 400, cut up 2 heads of cauliflower, put on a sheet pan, toss with a little olive oil and kosher salt

beef and black bean stew 2 Beef and Black Bean Stew on a Bed of Roasted Cauliflower

and roast for 40 minutes to an hour, until golden.

Put a bed of the roasted cauliflower in the bowl, and spoon some stew on top, making sure that you get a little bit of everything.

beef and black bean stew 1 Beef and Black Bean Stew on a Bed of Roasted Cauliflower

Soooo good! And you can feel so good about feeding this meal to your family!  If you’re not carb conscious like we’re being for a while, you could add potatoes, or serve this on a bed of egg noodles. Stick to your ribs, delish.



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Filed Under: All, Crockpot, Healthy, Lowcarb, Recipes Tagged With: , , , ,

Asian Flavored Slow Cooker Beef Short Ribs

December 29, 2011 By Leave a Comment

I had this idea to remake my Korean Short Ribs with Peas into a lower carb dish, but when I actually started cooking, I realized I only had 1/4 cup of soy sauce left. So… I improvised.  This is even better than the original. The amounts used were basically what I had left – and it came out great, further proving that when you cook, just add what you’re feeling or what you’ve got. This is about love, not science. Everything’s going to be alright. Just keep tasting it to make sure it’s balanced.

  • 1/4 c. soy sauce
  • 1/4 c. teriyaki sauce
  • 1/2 c. rice wine vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons honey (yes, this is a sugar – but I use local, raw honey and it’s good for our allergies)
  • a pinch of red pepper flake
  • 3 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon fresh ginger chopped
  • about 10 short ribs
  • 2 heads cauliflower, trimmed
  • olive oil
  • salt
  • pepper

Combine the soy sauce, teriyaki, vinegar, honey, red pepper flake, garlic and ginger in a bowl and whisk till combined.

short ribs 5 Asian Flavored Slow Cooker Beef Short Ribs

Heat a pan, or your stove top safe, slow cooker insert to med/high heat – sear your ribs on all sides.  Don’t crowd the pan, do this in batches if necessary.  Add them all back to the slow cooker insert and pour the marinade over the top. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

short ribs 4 Asian Flavored Slow Cooker Beef Short Ribs

About an hour before you’re ready to eat, preheat the oven to 400 and cut the florets from the cauliflower, place on a foil lined baking sheet, drizzle olive oil over the top, toss and roast 30-40 minutes or until the florets are slightly browned.

Put a bunch of cauliflower in the bottom of your bowl, place 2 or 3 ribs on top and spoon some of the cooking liquid over the top.

short ribs 1 Asian Flavored Slow Cooker Beef Short Ribs

As I was putting the ribs in the bowl, the meat literally fell off the bone. So tender and delicious and browning the meat first sears the fat and makes it crunchy and tasty.  Yum.



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Apple Cider Slow Cooker Beef Stew

November 11, 2011 By 2 Comments

I love my slow cookers.  They’re so convenient and as we all try to stretch a buck it makes things so much more doable while keeping everything tasting delicious. The addition of apple cider here gave a slightly sweet taste that was really delightful. We ate this up.

  • 2 lbs. beef stew meat
  • 3 slices bacon chopped
  • 1 heart of celery, chopped
  • 4 carrots, cut in coins
  • 3 small onions, chopped
  • 3 lbs. small potatoes quartered
  • 2 cups beef broth
  • 1 cup apple cider
  • 2 big pinches dried rosemary
  • 1 pinch red pepper flake
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 tablespoons all purpose flour (for slurry)
  • 2 tablespoons cold water (for slurry)

Heat either a heavy bottomed pan, or the insert of your crockpot if it’s stove top safe.  Add your stew meat and bacon and sear until browned and bacon is crispy – don’t over crowd your pan, I did mine in batches

slow cooker cider beef stew 7 300x180 Apple Cider Slow Cooker Beef Stewand set aside the browned meat in a bowl

slow cooker cider beef stew 6 300x232 Apple Cider Slow Cooker Beef Stew

Add the celery carrots and onion and saute with a big pinch of salt to help it sweat

slow cooker cider beef stew 5 300x202 Apple Cider Slow Cooker Beef Stew

When the onions get glossy, add the potatoes

slow cooker cider beef stew 4 300x218 Apple Cider Slow Cooker Beef Stew

Saute until you have a little bit of brown on some of your potatoes. This step is really arbitrary.  I like to brown my potatoes a little bit, but if you don’t, don’t worry, they’ll be completely cooked by the slow cooker.

If you used a pot to brown, transfer everything to the crockpot insert at this point.

Add the broth, cider, rosemary, pepper flake, and bay leaf

slow cooker cider beef stew 3 300x215 Apple Cider Slow Cooker Beef Stew

Set slow cooker on low, cover and cook for 7-8 hours.

When the meat is cooked through and falling apart and the potatoes are done to your liking, make a slurry with the cold water and flour, whisking with a fork till completely combined.  Turn the slow cooker to high, add the slurry and mix to combine.  Cover and cook on high for at least 15 minutes.  Check it to make sure it’s not getting too dry.

Spoon into bowls and ladle liquid on top.

slow cooker cider beef stew 1 300x225 Apple Cider Slow Cooker Beef Stew

The addition of the cider is really an unexpected, yet surprisingly subtle taste.  This should have fed at least six people, but my family of four gobbled it up.  Next time I think I’ll make a rice, or egg noodle to serve it over – that would be a great addition and there might even be leftovers.  I’m not counting on it though.



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Crockpot Chili

October 27, 2011 By 2 Comments

I have never made chili before.  (Updated:  Apparently, I’m a liar.  Here’s chili I made a scant year and a half ago!) As a matter of fact, I don’t even eat it that often, but when I do – I always enjoy it.  Stew meat was on sale this week, so I decided to give it a whirl.  Here’s what I did:

Ok, here’s what I did eventually.  I kept tasting and adjusting and here’s the recipe that we wound up with.

  • 2 lbs. stew meat
  • 2 med. onions
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 26.5 oz. container chopped tomatoes*
  • 26.5 oz. container strained tomatoes*
  • 17.64 oz. container tomato sauce*
  • 1/3 cup worcestershire
  • big glub of dijon mustard
  • 2 tablespoons chili powder
  • 1 tablespoon cumin
  • 2 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, minced
  • 4 tablespoon raw sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 bag dried kidney beans
  • a large handful or two of frozen corn

In a large dutch oven or the stove top safe insert of your crock pot, brown the stew meat, onions and garlic and then transfer to the crockpot.

crockpot chili 6 300x225 Crockpot Chili

In a large bowl add the rest of the ingredients except the beans.

crockpot chili 3 300x225 Crockpot Chili

Whisk to combine and pour over the meat/onion/garlic mixture.

crockpot chili 4 300x225 Crockpot Chili

Set the crockpot on low for 6-8 hours.


In a large pot (possibly the dutch oven you just used, add the beans and cover with water. Bring to a boil and allow to boil for at least 10 minutes. (Read this article to find out why this is so important!) Drain the beans, add them back to the dutch oven and cover with fresh water.  Bring to a boil, lower to a simmer and allow to cook for 2 hours or until tender 

crockpot chili 5 300x225 Crockpot Chili

I let mine go the whole two hours and they were completely soft and ready to add to the chili.

An hour or so before serving, drain the beans and add them to the crock pot.  Carefully stir to combine.  About 30 minutes before you’re going to eat add the frozen corn and let it warm through.

crockpot chili 2 300x225 Crockpot Chili

Ladle into bowls and top with your favorite fixins.

crockpot chili 1 300x206 Crockpot Chili

I used shredded mozzarella (I didn’t have any cheddar), but sour cream would have been delightful too and I think tomorrow for lunch I’m going to shred some lettuce and add it at table.

*I use Pomi tomato products because I really like that they don’t have the BPA lining that cans have and there are no preservatives in them.  If you’re using canned tomatoes, use the measurements loosely – a little more or a little less is going to be just fine.



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Crockpot Beef with Tomato, Pearl Onions, and Mushroom

October 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment

crockstar 300x226 Crockpot Beef with Tomato, Pearl Onions, and Mushroom

I’m so excited!  I was featured today on Crock-Pot’s Facebook page for Crock-Star Confessions

 

I’m only featured today, (October 12th, 2011), but after that you can see the video in their YouTube library.

Here’s the recipe:

Crockpot Beef with Tomato, Pearl Onions, and Mushroom

• 1 large cut of beef (any boneless cut that’s big enough to feed your family)

• 1 bag frozen pearl onions

• a big pinch each of dried oregano, basil and parsley

• a small pinch of red pepper flakes

• 2 containers of chopped tomatoes (I used 2 17.5 oz boxes of Pomi Chopped Tomatoes)

• about 1/3 -1/2 cup of Worcestershire Sauce

• 1 pint sliced baby portobello mushrooms

• salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot, brown your meat on all sides. Transfer to the crockpot. Add the onions,tomato sauce, beef, and Worcestershire Sauce. (The Worcestershire sauce is the bonus secret – if you use a bottom note, like Worcestershire, red wine, or even balsamic vinegar, you get a more complex, tasty sauce!)

Set on low for 8 hours

After about 7 hours, add the mushrooms and carefully stir to combine.

Cover and cook an additional hour.

You could serve this as is, with a side salad or put it over egg noodles, rice or even pasta for a hearty, stick to your ribs meal.



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Filed Under: All, Crockpot, Easy Dinner, Recipes Tagged With: , , ,
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