COUNTRY COOKER BEEF STEW

Country Cooker Beef Stew image

Spending so much time outside in the gardens and maintaining a busy business on our small hobby farm, sometimes we need some hearty sustenance! This beef stew is not only a wonderful main dish for dinner, but the leftovers re-warmed for next day's lunch are pretty satisfying too! You can use a store-bought seasoning salt or...

Provided by Cindy DeVore

Categories Beef

Time 2h5m

Number Of Ingredients 18

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Ingredients

1 loaf sourdough bread, warmed and sliced
4 Tbsp organic olive oil
3 lb beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch pieces (preferably grass-fed beef)
1 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp seasoning salt (i use a mix of sea salt, garlic salt, onion powder, black pepper, dried oregano & red crushed pepper)
1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
3 Tbsp organic butter
1 lb organic mushrooms, sliced thick
2 c organic yellow onions, roughly chopped
2 c organic carrots, sliced
1 Tbsp garlic, finely chopped
4 Tbsp flour
4 1/2 c beef stock
4 Tbsp tomato paste
1 sprig(s) fresh rosemary
1/4 tsp ground allspice
2 large potatoes (organic), cut into 1 inch pieces
1 1/2 c frozen organic green peas, thawed

Steps:

1. Wrap a loaf of sourdough bread in foil and place in oven at 175 degrees to warm while making stew.
2. Cut mushrooms into thick slices. Carrots should be cut into 1/4-inch thick slices.
3. Cut up potatoes into 1 to 2-inch chunks.
4. In a Dutch oven over medium heat, add olive oil and enough beef cubes to cover the bottom of the pot. Season the beef in the pot with the kosher salt, your seasoning salt mixture and black pepper.
5. Use tongs to turn and brown the beef on all sides. Remove browned beef from pot and place on plate to set aside. Continue process until all beef is browned. (Add additional olive oil during browning if needed.)
6. Reduce heat to medium-low and add the butter to the pot. Stir in mushrooms and cook until browned. Add onions and carrots, and saute until the onions are softened.
7. Add garlic, and saute for about 1 minute. Sprinkle flour over all the vegetables and stir it into the mixture. Add the beef stock, tomato paste, rosemary, ground allspice, potatoes and beef. Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to a low simmer. Cover the pot, and cook for 1 hour. Check simmer level and stir occasionally while cooking.
8. Remove lid, and continue to simmer pot for another 15 minutes. Pierce a few potatoes with a fork to ensure they are done. Potatoes should be very tender and slip easily off the fork. Remove bread from oven, and cut into thick slices.
9. In a separate dish, microwave the peas for 2 minutes to warm them. Remove rosemary stem from stew, and stir in warmed peas. Remove from heat. Ladle stew into bowls, and serve with slices of warm sourdough bread and butter.