Elevated crock pot beef stew
*You will have a good amount of butternut squash left, so make this dish when you plan to make something else with butternut squash in the same week.
This is one of my fall/winter favorite meals! It may sound like a lot of steps, but I promise with practice, you’ll whip this up in no time. If you’d like to get this started before work, I highly recommend pre chopping all your veggies the night before. I would also butterfly your chuck roast so you don’t use sharp things when first waking up.
Ingredients:
Whole beef chuck roast
3-5 large Carrots
1 Yellow onion
4-5 pieces of Celery
3-4 Garlic cloves
1-1 1/2 cups of butternut squash (whole or pre skinned and diced)
1/2-3/4 cup Frozen peas
Bone broth (any kind)
Red wine (Cabernet sauvignon)
Fresh rosemary, thyme and sage (grocery stores usually sell a multipack named “savory” or something of the like.
Dried rosemary, thyme, and sage
Salt, pepper and garlic powder*
Directions:
Cut your onion into 4 equal pieces, ditch the skins, then slice thinly (about 1/8 inch thick). Rinse celery, slice once length wise in the middle, then chop about the same thickness as the onion. Chop up 3 large garlic cloves. Rinse and shave your carrots. Chop each end off, then cut length wise in half. Chop the about 1/8-1/4 inch thick. If you went for pre skinned and diced butternut squash, take out about 1-1/2 cups, and chop so all pieces are about 1 inch by 1 inch thick. If you went for a whole squash, use a peeler to get skin off, then cut of the ends. Dice the narrow side into 1 inch by 1 inch pieces. You will use about 1-1/2 cups. Keep your fresh herbs on the stalk! We will be doing something with them later.
Put 1/4 of your onions and celery evenly at the bottom of your crock pot. Place the rest of the chopped veggies in a large bowl and give it a quick stir. (remember to add frozen peas! About a 1/2-3/4 cup)
Butterfly your chuck roast with a large , sharp, knife. (if you have never done this, look up a how to video on Youtube) Sprinkle salt, pepper, and garlic powder all over your 2 pieces of meat. Then pat on a sprinkle of rosemary, thyme, and sage. Now we’re ready to sear the sides of the meat before adding to crock pot. Heat up olive oil in a cast iron pan on high heat. (if you don’t have one, it’s ok! A regular pan will do) Wait till it feels hot when you hover your hand over the pan. Carefully add meat. If the temp is right, it should make a lovely loud ‘sizzle’ sound when the meat touches the oiled pan. Check before you flip and make sure there is a nice brown crust. (should take ~2-4 minutes) This flavor is a huge game changer!
Once your chuck roast is browned, add to crock pot. Then pour veggies around and on top. Add your bone broth and a hearty dollop of cabernet sauvignon. Hint, make sure liquid either gets close to covering or just barely covers the meat and veggies. Tie your fresh herbs together with some hemp and gently place on top of meat and veggies. (if you don’t have hemp, that’s ok! You can use a thyme stock to wrap around and tie to hold your herb bouquet together)
Cook on low for 6 1/2-8 hours. Use tongs to take off herb bouquet. Use a ladle to scoop some of the liquid into a bowl. Sift a little flower (or corn starch if you’re GF) and whisk really good so there’s no chunks. (remember, you can always add more!) Pour your thickened mixture into the crock pot and gently stir. Repeat if you want a thicker stew.
Enjoy!!
