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Posts Tagged ‘Kendra Bailey Morris’

Today’s recipe is another great slow cooker recipe from The Southern Slow Cooker cookbook by Kendra Bailey Morris.  This dish doesn’t need much of an introduction because the flavor speaks for itself.  I made it on a cool and rainy Sunday and it was perfect comfort food!  This and a pan of cornbread is all you need for a hearty and healthy meal.

Aunt Barbara's Beef Stew

1 cup coarsely chopped onion

4 carrots, peeled and cut into 1 1/2 inch slices

2 large potatoes, peeled & cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes

1 1/2 pounds boneless beef stew meat, cut into 1 inch pieces

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1 tbsp. olive oil

3 1/2 cups beef broth, low sodium

15 oz. can no salt added diced tomatoes

2 tbsp. tomato paste

1 tbsp. Worcestshire sauce

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 bay leaves

1/2 tsp. sugar

2 tsp. Italian seasoning

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Spray the inside of your slow cooker with nonstick spray.  Layer the onions, carrots, and potatoes in the cooker.  In a large zip top bag, combine the stew meat, flour, salt and pepper. Shake to coat the meat then discard the excess flour.

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Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the olive oil and stew meat to the pan.  Brown the meat well on all sides, then transfer the meat to the slow cooker. 

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Add the beef broth to the hot skillet and scrape all of the leftover bits from the bottom of the pan.  Pour this over the meat and vegetables in the slow cooker. 

Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, bay leaves, sugar and Italian seasoning.  Stir everything together.  Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours, until the meat is tender and the stew is thick. 

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Uncover, remove the bay leaves and season with salt and pepper to your taste.  This is great served with hot cornbread or even garlic bread.

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I LOVE books, especially cookbooks!  I try not to buy too many or my collection would take over the house, but when a fellow Southern Food Blogger asked if anyone would like to review her new cookbook, I jumped at the chance.  I am now a proud owner of “The Southern Slow Cooker” by Kendra Bailey Morris and it is a wonderful book. 

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See all of those little pink tabs at the top? Those are the recipes I have marked to try.  There are several!!  The book begins with a little history of Southern cooking and the integration of the slow cooker along with a few other “essential kitchen tools”.  Then the real fun begins with all of the recipes. Did you know that you could “bake” a cake in a the slow cooker?  Well, you sure can.

Since we are beef lovers around here, it made sense to start with the Rustic Pot Roast with Bacon, Garlic and Rosemary recipe.  Wow, the flavor of this dish is amazing.  I will admit that there were a couple of ingredients that I forgot so I had to make a little adjustment.  I am listing the original recipe below and my “adjustments” are listed next to the ingredients.  This is definitely a keeper! I am not going to clog up this post with a lot of “how-to” photos because this recipe is fairly self-explanatory.

rusticpotroast

2 slices bacon

3 to 4 lb. boneless chuck roast, trimmed of excess fat (I used a 2 lb. roast.)

Salt & black pepper

1 1/2 tsp. olive oil

1 cup beef broth, low sodium

2 onions, chopped

1 stalk celery, chopped (I forgot the celery so I used carrots instead.)

2 russet or baking potatoes, peeled & chopped

5 cloves garlic, smashed

1 14oz. can diced tomatoes with juice

1 tbsp. tomato paste

2 sprigs rosemary, plus more to garnish (Didn’t have any rosemary.)

Spray the inside of the slow cooker with cooking spray. Heat a large pan on the stovetop over medium-high heat.  Add the bacon and cook until crispy, about 5 minutes.  Drain on paper towels.  Pour off all but 1 teaspoon of the bacon drippings.

Sprinkle the beef with salt & pepper on both sides.  Add the olive oil to the pan with the drippings.  Brown the beef on all sides to form a crust.  This takes about 6 to 8 minutes total.  Transfer the meat to the slow cooker and then, over medium high heat, deglaze the pan with the beef broth, scraping up the bits on the bottom of the pan.  Pour this over the meat in the slow cooker.

Add the onions, celery (carrots), potatoes, garlic, tomatoes, tomato paste and rosemary (didn’t use) to the slow cooker.  Finally add the cooked bacon.  Stir well, nestling the vegetables and rosemary in the broth.  Cover and cook on low for at least 7 hours and up to 8 hours. (I was running a little short on time so I cooked mine on high for 5 to 6 hours.)  This is where I stopped since I did need to leave, but below is the continuation of the original recipe.

Transfer the meat to a platter and turn the slow cooker to high.  Leave the cooker uncovered and continue cooking the sauce for 45 minutes, or until it has thickened some.  Return the meat to the slow cooker and continue to cook uncovered on high for another 15 to 30 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened a bit more.

Remove the rosemary sprigs and discard.  Season the sauce with additional salt & pepper, if needed.  Plate the beef on a large platter and spoon the potatoes and sauce around and over the beef.  Garnish with additional rosemary sprigs.  Save any extra sauce for bread dipping.

This was so tasty! If you are looking for a slow cooker cookbook that has more that just your usual “toss it in and forget it” recipes, this is it! 

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1. I tried something for the very first time last week.  I took entries to the Kentucky State Fair for the culinary and photography competitions: an Italian cream cake, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate pecan fudge & a nature photo. The results should be published in the next day or two and I can’t wait to see if I place in any of the contests.

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2. You really need to read this post over at Southern Plate.  Christy has some awesome recipes on her site, but she has started a journal/devotion page that is just as good.  This really touched me so go read it as soon as you are done here.  You won’t be disappointed. Trust me!

3. For my 40th birthday last month, my sweet co-workers gave me a gift certificate for a manicure/pedicure and I finally took the time to use it this week.  Aaahhh, bliss!

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4. One of my fellow Southern Food Bloggers has a new book!  Kendra Bailey Morris wrote the awesome “The Southern Slow Cooker Cookbook” and I received a complimentary copy in the mail this week to review.  The photography is gorgeous and the recipes look divine.  I can’t wait to try a few! Click here to purchase one for yourself. Here is the link to Ms. Morris’ blog, Fatback & Foie Gras and here is the link to her Facebook page and the FB page for her book.

5. Finally, C & I have a weakness for office supplies.  I know, it’s weird but we both love new notebooks and pens and, well, you get the idea.  Staples is having an awesome sale this week so we are hoping to get there today or tomorrow and stock up.  It’s the small things in life that makes us happy.

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