Use a slow cooker :)  We actually have ours going right now with stew.

Hi Carolla,

We use a slow cooker.

If the meet we are adding is not leftover from some previous roast we tend to braise the meat (we may or may not dredge it in flour).

Liquid levels are also important.  All meat should be below the surface of any liquid in order to cook well.  Not enough liquid and the meat will dry out.

Grace and peace to you.

John

slow cooker and wine! Really it is a tenderizer as well as flavour enhancer-If it's not good enough to drink It's not good enough to cook with!

Tabitha, I often use wines that I don't like, or that have been left opened for quite sometime.  I've heard if you don't want to drink it don't cook with it, but I find even the bad wines make the meat tasty!

I will use the leftovers from the fridge but will not use a wine I don't like! We can differ on this!

Use chicken.

So - slow cooker recommended - do you think it's possible to cook it too long?  

And 'stewing by immersion' - LOL - sorry, couldn't resist - and wine is good - for the cook and the recipe!  

I think when I've seen slow cooker recipes, the hardest veggies go at the bottom, layering up to the meat on top - maybe insufficient coverage has been an issue.   Do you then thicken or reduce the liquid before serving? 

Does anyone have some good Crockpot (slow cooker) recipes for Diabetics?

I miss stews and slow cooked meals, my grandfather use to make them all the time.

*Peace*    ~ ~

Wolfie

Carolla, I also do the meat first.  Potatoes second.  Sounds like I layer the veggies like you otherwise.

Wolfie, is there too much sugar to add a cup of wine?  I use chicken breasts frequently too.  Just toss in veggies you like (chickpeas might be good to use instead of potatoes), the wine, whatever spices you like.  No recipe needed :)

Skinnytaste has a crockpot section:

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2007/07/crock-pot-recipes.html

She includes nutritional info, along with weight watcher's points.

Thanks @ chemgal....

That link has some very interesting recipes... gotta try some of them out for sure!

*Peace*    ~ ~

Wolfie

Carolla, I've also done the stew, including the meat, in a roaster in the oven.

I brown the meat first, usually tossed in flour, and then put it in a roaster and cover he meat with water.  I let that cook a bit and then I add potatoes and veggies (usually celery, carrots, onions, and sometimes corn (canned) and canned tomatoes).

Slow cooker definately, or a slow roasting in a smoker, followed by a slow cooker.

If you don't ahve a lot of time, you can sear the meat, then cook it in a pressure cooker. That will half the time it needs to be in the slow cooker, and give you really tender end product.

I always add the meat first to the crockpot with veggies on top. My preferred method actually skips the crockpot, but with tender meat. I put the meat cubed in a pan with or without bones and some water. Simmer until the meat is tender. The water becomes, yes, the beef broth (no cans or boxes for me and it means NO salt, not just "reduced salt" from the are-you-kidding-me ridiculous amount of salt in packages). Then, I just add my veggies and thicken some broth or not... add some tomatoes for vegetable soup...

4 hr stew.Raw meat, raw whole potatoes, raw whole carrots, raw onions. A few frozen peas. Sprinkle with minute tapioca, pour over a tin of beef consomme or I have made some with water and oxo. put in oven 300 for 4 hours. don.t peek. yum Tapiocca thickens but if not thick enough gravy for your taste thicken with flour and water. Salt and pepper to taste. I have put dumplings in at end.

mmmm, crazyheart, and an "ooh la-la" for the ease

I do it like crazy heart. It can all be raw and in the oven at the same time. Don't use lousy wine, use one you like to drink.

I also use tapioca for thickening.

My recipe calls it "afternoon nap stew"

I generally use a medium cut of beef and I find it better to buy a roast and cut it up myself. I think it is cheaper and it lets you decide o the size if the pieces.

I have put it on in the morning and cooked it all day.

Occasionally if it isn't quite thick enough broth I add a bit of cornstarch mixed with water and heat it on stove.

Freezes well but remove the potatoes first. I don't find they freeze very well,get kind of grainy

mmmm ... tapioca for thickening - I've not heard of that before - good for the gluten free folks & I will give it a try.  I generally use corn starch for the same reason.   

It is 'stew season' now isn't it - windy & rainy & cold - so good to have the aroma of comforting food wafting throughout the house. 

Corn soup tonight

You missed snowy Carolla :)

I don't usually thicken my stews.  Sometimes I used the slow cooker packaged stuff though, I think it has some flour or corn startch in it already.  Other times I do it all myself.

I did chemgal - can't even entertain that thought just yet - although I do realize IT is coming!!

Yes SG -the season for homemade soups too ... so yummy!  I have a carrot & ginger recipe that's a favourite. 

What kind of tapioca?  What does it look like?  Does it come in a package?

It's here - HERE!  lol  Hopefully it will warm up for the trick or treaters.  We didn't get as much snow as some areas did.

You can buy boxes of tapioca, usually in the same area as flour and yeast. The current box I have is from Club House and is cream coloured.

minute tapoca- not the eyeballs lol

unless you're making Halloween stew & need the eyeballs! 

Slow cooker.

Or else I simmer it over low heat but hot enough so the liquid is bubbling for 2-3 hours before adding the other ingredients.  As others have mentioned wine helps (I often use about 1 cup of fairly dry red wine in the broth) and make sure the meat is completely covered in the cooking liquid.

A flavoursome stock's important: apple juice is a cheap one, a bottle of premier wine is a very expensive one. The acidity seems to help. But use a generous amount of liquid and reduce it slowly but dramatically (to no more than a third of the original volume.)

And a beef stock (50:50 with apple juice) helps to intensify the favour. I try to get bones cheaply: sometimes they're around very cheaply. When I have a bunch, I boil them with garlic, onion, black peppercorns and Worcestershire sauce, and then strain off and reduce the the liquid by about half. The broth freezes well and's very useful.  othinmg beats homemade stock: commercial stock it tends to be rendered abattoir rubbish, thin and artifiially coloured and intensified. (Of course, you can use the last of the veges from your garden for stock too at this time of the year.)

Braising the meat, hot with the beef fat (or some bacon if the cut's too lean), helps a lot. Dust it with flour and ground black pepper first.

Then using veges that complement the beef is good: parsnips and other root veges, onions, carrots, garlic, any amount of parsley, celery…

And, finally, I slice the meat quite thinly across the grain. It's easilest when the meat is still partly frozen. It releases the flavour into the liquid and I find it lets you use half the amount of meat, which is healthy as well as economical.

Then slow cook. That can mean a low oven… or, if you have a thick cast iron pot, a low element can do the job.  A special slow cooker's a luxury, not a necessity.

Crusty homemade bread rolls help spin the stew out a bit… torn and used to sponge up the juices, they can make a stew that's even a bit sparse come across like a feast! 

Today I had a great soup with sweet potatoes, carrots and moose.

Moose stew - that sounds interesting SG!

Thanks Mike for the details - appreciated!  I will be taking to the kitchen Thursday to make a big pot of wonderfulness for our Women's Retreat friday evening meal.  I think I'll also make some pop-overs - they are excellent with stew :-) 

When does a stew become a soup, or vice versa?

I think usually 'stew' is the term used when you thicken the broth with flour, corn starch, coarsely ground grains or what-have-you so it is gravy-like.  

Usually my family calls my soups 'stoup' because I typically make it really thick with barley and red lentils and sometimes quinoa but I don't actually add flour or starch to make the broth into a 'gravy'.

chemgal - your question & rowan's reply is reminding me of that old hearty soup commercial where there was argument over whether to eat it with a fork or a spoon.   That's probably the distinction for me - with fork = stew; with a spoon = soup; unless of course you only use one utensil for everything!

I made this stew last night. It was delicious!

I usually make 'clear out the crisper' soup - it tends to have the bits of all the leftover veggies that are still good. So usually carrots, potatoes, rutabaga, onion and celery for sure and then frequently some combination of cabbage/bok-choy/suey-choy, brussles sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, zucchini and/or yam.  I almost always use tinned beef broth and sometimes stew meat or ground beef (or tinned chicken broth and left over roast chicken or turkey) and usually both red lentils and pearl barley.  Seasoning: salt, pepper, thyme, marjoram, bay leaf and sage.

Another good thick 'winter' soup popular in my family is corn chowder: fry 1 lb of bacon until crisp and brown 1 ham steak (diced),drain and set aside. Chop 1 good sized onion and brown in the bacon fat, set aside.  Drain off the fat from the pot. Grate 4-5 large potatoes (peeled) cover in water and simmer until soft. Add in 2 cans cream corn, 2-3 cans milk, the bacon, ham and the onion. Bring back to a low boil. Add about 1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese and pepper to taste (usually is salty enough from the ham and bacon). Serve with fresh bread or tea-biscuits.  If you want it cheesier add a few globs of cheese-whiz.

waterfall, glad you liked it.       rowan, I forget what SG calls hers but it has something to do with a pail and all the left overs. maybe she will come and tell us.

I like using the cast iron dutch oven for stews. We got it for camping at the suggestion of Witch a few years ago and love it. I often put some tomato paste in with some water and let it simmer. I've cooked on the fire, on the stove and in the oven. Last night I had to put it in earlier than normal, so put it on low heat and let it go. It turned out to be in the oven for three hours and was awesome. To quote my grandmother, it was so tender you didn't need a tooth in your head to chew it.

Yummie.

Low and slow in a big old pot is how I learned to cook stew.  Beef, potatoes, carrots and onions.  Protien and root veg.  And salt and pepper.

Also beer.

Also making a light rue.

Guess that is Irish stew :)

Yum redhead! I'll have to try that version. (It is late here after a long day.....remind me what a rue is....)

Given that my chunk of Alberta is under a heavy snowfall warning today I think I'll drag a package of bacon out of the freezer and do corn  chowder today.