Imagine this if you will…
A brutally cold night outside. Snowflakes swirling, wind howling and you inside with your sweetheart and the dog.
The fireplace is roaring, she is holding you tight and a romantic movie is on the DVR.
Yeah sure, I imagine that too, but I don’t have a fireplace or a dog, the DVD player is broken and I don’t have a sweetheart since Ursula left me for that Bolivian squash pro.
So what do you do? Don’t open up a can of stew, make a beef stew that will last until the thaw.
First, look in the cupboards down below and shove aside the fondue maker, the espresso machine, bread maker and the Yakuza 2000 smoothie maker. Ah...there it is. The crockpot.
Not only is this stew tasty, it is colorful as well. I used tri-colored mini bell peppers, organic rainbow carrots, (Yes you heard me, these carrots come in more colors than a bag of Skittles.), and heirloom mini potatoes, which are purplish in color.
Get started on the prep work the night before.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 Lbs. Stew Meat. Top Round, any cut you prefer, it will become tender in the crock pot
- 1 Cup whole mini bell peppers. Trimmed and seeded
- 1 Cup Organic Rainbow Carrots
- 1 Cup Heirloom Potatoes, Halved into Bite size pieces.
- 2 Onions, Quartered
- 1 Cup Bourbon
- 1 Bay Leaf
- 1 Rib Celery, Cut into Bite sized chunks
- 1 Clove Garlic, Smashed
- 2-3 Tbs. Beef Base
- 3-4 Tbs. Flour
Directions
- 1Brown the stew meat in a pan. Season and let rest. Can be kept in fridge overnight.
- 2In the morning toss the stew meat in the crock pot with the rest of the stuff except the flour. Add the bourbon
- 3Pour enough water in the crockpot until the water line is just above the stuff in the crockpot. Turn on low and go about your day.
- 4When you get home around five o'clockish Stir in the flour to thicken it up. If you feel you need more liquid add some.
- 5This stew should be about ready but you don't need to eat it right away. Just keep it on low until ready.
- 6This stew is even better the next day.
- 7Stay warm my friends.
