* This series of posts was inspired by the desire to create a home filled with love, and memories to count for. I’m no chef, just a busy woman desperate to cook decent, tasty and healthy meals for her well-deserved hungry husband.
Cliff has a way of disguising his cravings, more out of love for me than anything else. He knows that if he gives me the slightest inkling of what he enjoys eating, I would make it happen on the table. I have learnt, that the power of observation reaps far greater returns than any amount of time spent interrogating a tight-lipped husband determined to (in Cliff’s own words) “teach my wife how to rest”.
So it was over dinner at a café when I saw him busily slurping up a beef stew and saw how much he enjoyed it, that inspired my own quest to make my own healthy and hearty beef stew.
Cooking up this meal was fun, colorful and relaxing. It does require more ingredients and a bit more time, but cooking up a generous pot on a Sunday afternoon to last you through the week certainly still puts this up as a quick-meal winner for the hungry husband. Besides, you can do other things while your slow cooker simmers away- just remember to check on it every once in a while! Don’t expect any exacting measurements here- this stew was all about feel and guess-timates! While most recipes would suggest for you to just throw everything into the slow cooker, I find that pan-frying certain ingredients before stewing them gives an added body of flavor to your stew. So here goes:
Pile em’ up!
1. Buttered garlic and onions first!
Tip: Pan-frying your garlic and onions beforehand with some butter will take this stew a long way.
Be generous with the garlic, they give this stew a fragrant aroma:
In Cliff’s words when he walked into the house,
“There won’t be no vampires visiting this home tonight!”
2. Now the seared beef cubes!
I had them marinated in Worcestershire sauce (this is optional, you can use soy sauce too) and grounded black pepper for an hour,
then coated them with corn starch before lightly pan-frying them over medium heat.
(Don’t worry if they’re not fully cooked, what you want is for these 1 to 2 inch juice-cubes to have that slightly charred texture.
The slow cooker will take care of cooking their insides thoroughly.)
Now, in they go too!
What’s a stew without yellow potatoes, orange carrots and lime-green celery?
Now, these, you don’t need to pan-fry. Just toss em’ in!
Don’t forget the whole black peppercorns for that added kick!
And now, for the Secret Sauce!
A large bottle of spaghetti sauce, some tomato ketchup or chilli,
a squeeze of Worcestershire sauce (if you have any, not compulsory),
some leftover soup stock,
and a couple of tablespoons of corn starch to thicken it!
I don’t have a formula for this-my taste-buds were the judge!
It’s lovely just to see how organically all the flavours come together.
Tip:Don’t go crazy with the stock- remember, all the juices from your vegetables will add volume to your stew, so just a cup or two will do.
Too sour? Add a little brown sugar.
Too bland? Add more black peppercorns or spaghetti sauce.
Too watery? A few spoonfuls of cornstarch should do the trick.
Have fun!
After 5 hours bubbling in a slow cooker under low heat,
… It was served with a side of fresh salad and toasted olive bread…
… A special treat, no doubt, for the hungry husband who had spent all afternoon cleaning the house and ironing his clothes.
My greatest reward?
To see him tuck into this with greater satisfaction than the stew he had had at the restaurant.
Heartiest healthy beef stew for the Hungry Husband.
All your nutrition in one pot.
Love.