Empty pantry creativity, with a side of herby layered beef stew
Yesterday, I was starting to feel better coming off some congestion and fun winter coughing, so I started scrounging around the pantry trying to come up with something for dinner -- only to realize I haven't been shopping for basics in weeks. No milk. No tomatoes. Only a couple potatoes. Not much of anything that usually forms the basis for a quick dinner around here. And everything was iced over outside, so a trip to the store was out of the question, in my mind at least.
After digging through the freezer, I found a pot roast hidden beneath all the ice cream. I also managed to find one can of stewed tomatoes in the back of the cupboard, so I decided to try a variation on a recipe I adore.
I stuck the pot roast in the slow cooker and chunked up the few potatoes on top of that. I added half an onion I had in the fridge, diced, along with some spices, steak sauce (no worcestershire to be found!), 1/4-1/2 cup of red wine, the can of stewed tomatoes, and six tablespoons of tapioca. I cooked it on high for about 6 hours, and it came out pretty well. A little soupier than my regular beef stew recipe, but I liked it, and my husband had seconds.
By the way, I'm still looking for a few more cold-weather recipes from the readers. Send 'em my way if you've got 'em!
Here's the original recipe, which is nice if you have the ingredients :)
Layered Herby Stew
(Elizabeth Richards, Rapid City, SD)
Makes 8 servings
2.5 lbs. lean beef chuck, cubed
1 medium to large onion, cut in 1-inch pieces
8-12 small red potatoes or potato chunks
4-6 carrots, cut in 1-inch pieces
2 large ribs celery, cut in 1-inch pieces
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup red wine, or water
3 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/8 tsp. allspice
1/4 tsp. dried marjoram
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
2 bay leaves
6 Tbsp. minute tapioca (use only 5 Tbsp. if using water instead of wine)
28-oz. can of diced tomatoes (I use the Italian-seasoned)
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
* Layer all ingredients except parsley in slow cooker in order given.
* Cover. Cook on High 6 hours.
* Immediately before serving, garnish with parsley.
Now, I have to admit, I skip the carrots, celery and parsley. I don't like the first two all that much, and I don't like buying a bunch of parsley for just one dish. I also add a little bit more on most of the spices, along with a dash of steak sauce if I'm in the mood. But it's one of my husband's favorite dishes, and it's a great company dish -- put it on in the morning, then serve with your favorite bread on the side.
Comments (1)
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Parsley is so easy to grow in a pot or outside, and the nice thing is that you have it all winter! It's a biennial so you need to replant it every year, since it bolts the second year. I didn't replant my parsley last year and I found that I really missed having the fresh stuff during the winter for stews and soups. This year I planted too much, but it's nice to have all that green in the garden in December.
Posted on December 22, 2005 9:03 AM