Simple and Delicious Beef Stew in a Crock Pot / Slow Cooker

I just found the easiest, most delicious beef stew recipe for the slow cooker/crock pot. Best part is it made two different meals! I’m not much of a meat eater, actually, but there’s something about slow-cooked beef and pork that makes me absolutely LOVE it. This recipe was so good, so easy, and low cost that it’s going to become an official recipe in the rotation. Which, is like, the highest form of flattery for a recipe.

Ingredients

1 package Stew Meat

2-3 potatoes, chopped

1-2 cups chopped carrots

2 packages French onion soup mix

1 tablespoon beef bouillon

2 tablespoons oil

Directions

Heat oil in a skillet and brown stew meat. Add chopped potatoes and carrots to the crock pot. Top with browned meat. Add soup mix and beef bouillon and as much water as you want. I made mine really brothy because I wasn’t sure how much water I’d need. I added about 6 cups of water. Which paid off for the second recipe (see below). Cook for 8 hours. Serve with crusty bread, or cheesy bread.

 

Night Two Ingredients

Leftover Stew

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons flour

1 cup rice

Night Two Directions

Heat leftover stew and cook up some white or brown rice. When rice is done and stew is hot, melt the butter in a saucepan on medium heat and add flour. Stir together and heat up to make a roux. Slowly add about a cup at a time of stew broth until sauce is thick and creamy. Serve rice on bottom and use a slotted spoon to gather stew pieces and put on top of rice. Generously smother with your homemade gravy.

Making the roux

 

 

Ladel-ing some broth to add to the roux. Yes, I totally made up that word.

 

 

Home made gravy!

 

 

I thought the first night was good. This was even better. YUM!

And, since it’s Halloween, one of my favorite times of the year, here’s a picture of my fun crazy boys:

 

{Guest Post} Chicken Tortilla Soup

My friend Heather lives in beautiful Montana. I love stalking her on Instagram because she posts amazing photos of the land she lives on; her cute, fluffy doggie; knitted caps and sweaters she just seems to whip up; her adorable baby boy, and lately she's been tempting me with food. Gurrrl, I need to live next door to you! Of course she also has a cool blog with a cool name, Cooking All The Thyme, where you can enjoy more of her recipes and beautiful creations (seriously, you're gonna die over the knitted baby stuff). Basically, she is awesome, even more so that she agreed to guest post her Chicken Tortilla Soup after I drooled over her photo and asked her to do so. Thank you Instagram and thank you Heather!

Heather writes: 

During the fall and winter months you can often find me cooking up big pots of soup or stew.  I think it’s one of the best ways to enjoy, or sometimes just help tolerate, the cold, rain, and snow.  I always like to make a big pot and have dinner made for a few nights, and maybe freeze some for later too.  My hubby and I recently made my Chicken Tortilla Soup, and it was so good that right after it was gone we cooked up another pot of it.  Missy spotted my food pics of it on Instagram and let me know it was soup and stew month and invited me to guest post.  I’m delighted!

This Chicken Tortilla Soup is one of my top favorites.  But then I think I say that about every soup or stew, there are way too many favorites!  I made this a couple years ago, after just writing a list of ingredients that I knew I wanted to use and decided on the order of how I wanted to layer in the flavors.  It turned out awesome so I put it on my (much neglected since having a baby) blog, Cooking all the Thyme.

This time I made it the same as it’s written on there except with a little more southwestern style, adding red bell pepper, black beans, and corn.  I love that you can get creative with different vegetables and things you want to add in.  Give it a little kick with some jalapeno  or leave it out and have it mild.  I also love that there’s not a lot of prepping since most of what you need is canned or frozen, so it is quick and easy to put together.  Always nice when you don’t have to be a human food processor for an hour before cooking!

Garnish it with the tortilla chips, cheddar, and scallions if so desired, and you feel like you’re having a big Mexican night kind of dinner but on the lighter side.  It’s flavorful and heartwarming, and like all soups I think, even better on the second or third day after all the flavors marry.  Enjoy!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

1/2-1 yellow onion, chopped
4-5 garlic cloves, minced
1-2 jalapeno or serrano peppers, finely chopped (for more heat, use the seeds)
2-3 celery stalks, chopped
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 lb cooked chicken, cubed or shredded
2 t. chili powder
1-2 t. cumin
pinch of s+p
1/4 c. AP flour
1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes with the juice
1/4 c. enchilada sauce, medium or hot (optional)
3-4 quarts chicken stock and/or vegetable broth (I like a combination)
2 (14.5 oz) cans black beans, drained
1 (14.5 oz) can pinto beans, drained
1 (4 oz) can diced green chilies, drained
1 1/2 c. frozen corn
handful fresh cilantro and/or parsley, chopped

Garnish:
tortilla chips (a must!)
cheddar cheese, grated
green onions, sliced

If chicken is not cooked yet, cut about 1 lb chicken breasts into bite size pieces, heat olive oil in large soup pot and sauté chicken just until cooked.  Set aside in a bowl and return empty pot to stove.]  Cover the bottom of the large soup pot with olive oil and heat over med.-high.  Sauté onion until translucent but not brown, add in garlic and jalapeño and cook for a couple minutes, then add celery and red pepper to sauté another 4-5 minutes.  Stir in cooked chicken, cumin, chili powder, pinch of kosher salt and pepper, and dried parsley if you don’t have fresh, stir it all up.  Sprinkle the flour onto the mixture, stir and cook for 3-5 minutes to cook out the raw flour taste.  Pour in diced tomatoes, enchilada sauce, and 3-4 qts. chicken/vegetable stock, stir and let it heat up to a simmer.  Stir in the beans (drained and rinsed), diced green chilies, and frozen corn.  If using fresh herbs, add them in and salt and pepper to taste.  Let simmer (not boil!) for about a half an hour, if you can wait that long.  Dish up into bowls and sprinkle with crushed tortilla chips, cheese, and scallions.  Enjoy!

Thai Carrot Soup Party

One thing I love about soup month is that you really can’t screw up the ingredient measurements since it all gets blended together. Plus I got a book over the holidays with quick bread recipes that have become super easy, and a perfect addition to our soup nights. More on that later...

We went to a soup party over the holidays which was a brilliant idea! They had four different soups with toppings specific to each soup. (We love taco night for the same reason because you can customize your meal to your taste preference.) The big winner of the soup party was a Thai Carrot Soup, which both adults and children loved.

Inspired by the winner, I picked two recipes on the internet and put together my own version of it. I would love to try it again with coconut milk but I thought I’d go with this one to begin with.

Thai Carrot Soup

3 cloves of garlic
1 small onion
1 inch of ginger
4 cups of vegetable broth (or chicken)
cumin
Lemongrass
7-10 carrots
Fresh Cilantro

(Adult version: red pepper flakes or the Thai garlic red pepper sauce, fish sauce, soy sauce, lime juice, and cilantro blended in)

In a large stir-fry pot add garlic, onion, ginger, and lemon grass. Add the carrots and stir-fry for a couple of minutes then add half of the veggie broth. Simmer for 15-20 minutes until the carrots are soft. (Add spices at this point if you don’t have picky children.)

Now transfer everything to the blender or food processor. Add the rest of the veggie broth if you can or stir it in when you transfer it back to the pot.

Easy, right? Then I had some fun purple Thai rice, little pieces of cooked chicken, cilantro, grilled mushrooms, red pepper flakes out on the table so you could customize it to your tastes. Plus I threw some dough into the oven and you have a dinner party even when your husband is out of town on a boys' weekend.

Cream of Potato Broccoli Cheese Soup

Ok, here’s the thing: I LOVE any kind of soup that has the word ‘creamed’ in it. But I feel like that word kinda gets a bad rap. I mean, just because it says ‘creamed’ doesn’t necessarily mean there’s actual cream in it, right? In my definition, a creamed soup simply speaks to the texture. It means it’s like, creamy, in like the sense that it’s all soft and the ingredients are like, creamed together. Are you following me? What I’m basically trying to tell you is that there is no cream in this creamed soup. It is semi-good for you. Sorry. But I swear you won’t miss the cream in it. I swear. Try it. Ok?

This is one of my very favorite recipes that I made up all by myself, so I’m particularly proud of it. It is so simple, has really great and healthy ingredients and also allows you to play with some yummy (and possibly unhealthy) toppings. And you can put it in a bread bowl too. I mean, really.

Cream of Potato Broccoli Cheese Soup

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon butter
1 leek, chopped
4 potatoes, peeled and cut coarsely
1 head (or bag) of fresh broccoli cut coarsely
1 head of cauliflower cut coarsely
6 cups of vegetable broth
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese (reserve for the end)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions
In a large pot, melt butter and throw in chopped leeks. 

Add a healthy pinch of sea salt and pepper. Cook leeks in butter for a few minutes (the smell will intoxicate you; it is sweeter and more subtle than an onion) .... 

...and then add potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower and vegetable broth.

Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for an hour.

After soup has simmered, cream it, baby.  I’ve been making creamed soup ever since I got this little beauty for my wedding seven years ago. It's like a hand-held blender. Just stick it into the pot turn it on. Magic. Creamed soup in a jiffy. Or creamed mashed potatoes. Or, whatever. If you don’t have one of these, though, it’s ok. A hand-held mixer would do. You could even mash it all up by hand with a potato masher if you were either desperate or happen to be a college student.

 After soup is creamed, add cheddar cheese a little at a time and melt.

I like this soup in a bread bowl. To do it like I do, buy mini sourdough bowls from the store, cut the top at a diagonal all the way around, and then push in the sides with your fingers. Bake at 350 degrees for 7-10 minutes just until warm.

Serve soup topped with your favorite garnishes – I love bacon and green onions. I also think Kale Chips would be good on top, for those of you who are vegetarian, in which case shield your eyes from the bacon-food-porn below.

We had our friends Kiersten and Michael over for dinner and they made a super yummy salad to go along with it. It had tomatoes, edamame, feta and corn. Yum.

I will be mad at you if you don't try this because I just won't understand why you wouldn't eat something so delicious that also happens to not have cream in it.

- Amber

Old-Fashioned Chicken and Dumplings

When Amber announced January was soup and stew month, I turned to my Cook’s Illustrated Soups Stews & Chilis cookbook. I sat next to Curtis on the couch, watching the Seahawks smash the Redskins, and browsed through the pages until I found a recipe that sounded delicious and didn’t require a trip to the grocery store.

I found a recipe for Chicken and Dumplings that could be easily be adapted for a simple and satisfying Sunday dinner. I love chicken pot pie but have never made nor had chicken and dumplings. The verdict (from both Curtis and me) is that this is really delicious, but I think I was expecting the “dumplings” to be more like biscuits or a chicken pot pie crust. Once I got over this and embraced what dumplings are, it was pretty darn good. I tripled the recipe so we’d have enough to share with our frozen dinner club.

The original recipe calls for roasting chicken thighs, which I’m sure is amazing, but I followed Missy (Easy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup) and Megan’s (Easy Pho) lead and took a shortcut and just boiled and shredded chicken breasts. It also calls for celery which I didn’t have on hand, so I threw in a sweet potato instead. It was perfect Sunday comfort food after a busy fun-filled weekend with the Beauties in Bellingham!

Old-Fashioned Chicken and Dumplings
Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated Soups Stews & Chilis

Note: The recipe specifically says NOT to substitute boneless, skinless chicken breasts or to use low-fat milk for the dumplings – I did both and it turned out just fine! 

STEW
2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded (I boiled from frozen for about 20 minutes and they pulled apart perfectly and were nice and moist.)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 celery ribs, sliced ¼ inch thick (I didn’t have any, so I threw in a peeled and chopped sweet potato)
1 medium onion, minced
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves or ¼ teaspoon dried
1/3 cup flour
¼ cup dry sherry (I buy the cheap stuff from Trader Joe’s and keep it on hand for cooking)
4 ½ cups chicken broth
4 carrots, peeled and sliced ¼ inch thick
2 bay leaves
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup frozen corn
3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves

DUMPLINGS
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk (I used 1%)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter

DIRECTIONS 
1. Boil and shred chicken breasts (this takes about 20 minutes).
2. Heat oil and butter in a soup pot or Dutch oven. Add the celery (or sweet potato), onion, and ¼ teaspoon salt and cook until the vegetables are softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in the thyme and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Slowly whisk in the sherry, scraping up any browned bits.
3. Gradually whisk in the broth, smoothing out any lumps. Stir in the carrots, bay leaves, and shredded chicken.
4. Stir in the peas, corn and parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste. (At this point the stew can be refrigerated for up to 3 days; reheat over medium low heat.)
5. FOR THE DUMPLINGS: Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl (I used my kitchen aid mixer). Microwave the milk and butter until the mixture is warm and add it to the flour mixture.
6. Return the stew to a simmer. Drop golf ball size dumplings into the stew, leaving about ¼ inch of space around each dumpling. Cover, reduce to a gentle simmer, and book until the dumplings have doubled in size, 15 to 18 minutes. Serve.

Cocktail Hour in Bellingham courtesy of Kirsten - Recipes coming to Thirsty Thursday soon! 

Easy Phò

Yummy Final Product

The Beauties were lucky enough to get together last weekend and do what we do best: eat & drink! We were especially celebrating this Beauty and soon to be mama!

Beautiful Ems

Since I am in a month of retirement, after the weekend I got to go to Emily's to keep celebrating and I made dinner for her and Curtis since they both had to work. I love noodle soup and one of my very favorites is Phò.  Phò is a Vietnamese noodle soup but my favorite part is all the fresh herbs and condiments that dress it up. The biggest problem with finding a recipe that qualified as easy since they all seem to include strange cuts of meat (oxtail anyone?) and it takes hours to make the broth. Even in retirement, I don't have the patience to spend four hours making broth. But I was not deterred! There had to be a cheater way that is just as good and I think I found it!  This was yummy, easy, and a perfect meal on a cold winter night in the Northwest with some of my favorite people & furry friends.  You can also make it vegetarian very easily.  

You can find the original recipe here.

Ingredients in Cheesecloth

Easy Pho

Ingredients:

2 Boxes Beef Broth (could use Chicken or Vegetarian)
1/2 Tsp Anise
1/2 Cinnamon Stick
2 Whole Cloves
1 Tsp black peppercorns
1  slice fresh ginger root
1 T white sugar
1 T fish sauce

1 package cooked Udon Noodles (you can find in the fresh/veggie section usually)

2 packages thinly sliced pork (you could use chicken or mushrooms)

Toppings:

Sriracha
Hoisin Sauce
Chopped green onion
Chopped fresh cilantro
Chopped fresh basil
Bean Sprouts
Limes, quartered

Put anise, cinnamon, cloves, peppercorns, and ginger root in cheesecloth and tie up.  Side note: We had an adventure with this. Emily had the cheesecloth but we had to do a little searching for tying it.  I probably wouldn't have even had cheesecloth but I found these at Bed, Bath, & Beyond.  If I had a kitchen, I would get some for mine.

Emily doesn't it know it yet but I bought her some!

Simmer spices in the two boxes of broth for 1 hour. Add meat of choice and simmer for 1/2 hour. The udon noodles need to be warmed up or put in boiling water for just a few minutes. If you are more of a Missy cook (aka cheater), and like we did you can put the broth and meat on top of noodles and then microwave for a minute.   Add condiments and enjoy!   The longest part of this meal is the chopping.

Slow Cooker Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Yay for Stew and Soup month! Also known as "Stewp Month" (probably to no one but me).

Of course I loved this assignment because it meant I didn't have to do much: 1) Find recipe on Pinterest where I already have/can substitute/or cheat most of the ingredients, 2) Raid pantry and refrigerator for those ingredients, and 3) Dump it in a slow cooker.

That's exactly what happened. So this recipe is adapted from another one I found and changed quite a bit to meet my desire not to go to the grocery store...

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Ingredients:

2 cups water
1 14-ounce can chicken broth
1 10.75-ounce can of Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup
3/4 cup wild rice, rinsed and drained
1/2 teaspoon herbs de provence
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons minced garlic
Chopped onion as desired
3 cups shredded chicken (from a Rotisserie chicken)

Directions:

Combine chicken, water, broth, condensed soup, rice, herbs, and pepper in a slow cooker.
Cover the slow cooker and cook on low for 7 hours or on high for 4 hours.

Cook's Notes: Since I don't miss an opportunity to cut corners, I bought the pre-sliced fresh rotisserie chicken from Trader Joe's. I also dumped in the frozen rice medley packet from TJ's instead of using wild rice.

The downside: Kelly says it looks a little too close to our cat's wet food...and he's right.

This was easy and delicious (despite what the photo above looks like)! I loved the consistency and chunkiness of the chicken and rice together. I gotta have a little chunk in my soup. It actually exceeded my taste expectations and I'm sure I'll make it again.

To go right along with Stewp Month, check out No-Stress Beef Stew, also ridiculously easy, and Split-Pea Soup, also made chunky for a little sum'in to bite on.

Enjoy!

2013 Challenge: Food Themes!

A new year, a new challenge

Wow. We at Beauties and the Feast can hardly believe we’re about to kick off our third year of food blogging. With nearly 220 posts and over 57,000 page views, we couldn’t have imagined having more fun while so many people tuned in to read about our culinary successes, disasters and life reflections.

We’ve had a new challenge each year. Our first was for each of us to claim a month and post a recipe, and have each one of us follow the recipe and post about the results. The second year we went Iron Chef style and chose an ingredient of the month, which challenged us to use something in a creative and delicious way. This year we’ve got a new challenge and we can’t wait for your participation.

In 2013 we’ll each be choosing a food theme in the beginning of the month. This way, we promise you’ll still have at least 4 new recipes (hopefully 6!) and hope that you’ll join in on the fun by sending your recipes to us, or volunteering for a guest-post!

January's Food Theme

Photo courtesty of allthingschristmas.com

So to kick off January, the month of freezing weather, frosty window panes and weekend days spent indoors curled up in a warm blankie, I’m choosing to proclaim the month of January Soup & Stew month! Also, I just got a brand new dutch oven for Christmas that I can't wait to use.

Thank you to all of you who read about, comment on and try our recipes! We really enjoy your participation and inspiration.

Happy 2013!

Love,
Megan, Emily, Rachel, Jolie, Missy and Amber