Beef Stew

Sorta... beef stew without the stew meat, that is.

I had a london broil in the freezer that needed to be used up, and I had a pint jar of leftover pot roast broth.  Hmmmm...

"London Broil isn't very tender... What can I do with it????  Oh!  I know.  I'll soak it in a brine.  That ought to help."

So, evening 1, I took it from the freezer and placed it in the fridge to defrost.

Evening 2, I put it in a gallon size ziplock back with 3 cups of water, 2 T of sea salt, and 2 T of sucanat (this dish took some forethought). The sucanat (or sweetener of your choice), by the way, doesn't tenderize it, that's the job of the salt; the sugar increases caramelization when the meat is cooked.

Let your meat soak in a brine for several hours, at minimum, for best results. I let mine soak for almost 24 hours (from before bed to home from work the next night)!

Evening 3, I made the beef stew-y, pot roast-y, london broil-y sort of thing.

Here's the recipe... that is, a typical beef stew recipe with my current modifications (in parentheses)

2 lbs beef stew meat, cubed (all I had was london broil so I brined it 
over night - 3 cups water, 2 T sea salt, 2 T sucanat)
1-2 T tallow, or high-smoke point oil of your choice
1/4 -1/2 cup flour
1 tsp sea salt
dash pepper
1 1/2 cups beef stock (I used a pint of leftover broth from pot roast)
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
2 potatoes, diced
3 carrots, sliced
1 onion, diced (I skipped the onion this time since it had onion flavor 
from the pot roast broth)
1 stalk celery, sliced

 

(If you brined your beef, pat it dry with paper towel and discard the brine.) Toss the cubed beef in the flour, salt and pepper and brown it quickly in the tallow (don't cook through). Remove the beef and deglaze the skillet (I used my cast iron skillet - oven safe) with the worcestershire sauce and beef stock. Return beef to the skillet and add the remaining ingredients. Cover and place it in the oven at 300 degrees for 1.5 hours. If the sauce is not as thick as you like it, you can thicken it with a little arrowroot powder* (about a teaspoon). Let cool and serve. *Use as you would cornstarch... I avoid cornstarch, however, since most is made from genetically modified corn.

This would be good with a salad and your favorite bread. Mmmm.

 

 

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