Old Fashioned Beef Stew Recipe for Slow Cooker

For those of you of follow chowtimes, I’m sure you’ll know me well enough that I try not to use the oven in summer.  It’s hot enough already and we do not need the extra heat from the oven.  I made this Old Fashioned Beef Stew using the slow cooker.

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I find that this beef stew is slightly on the tangy side.  We are not so fond of tangy meat but I’m ok with tangy dessert.  The next time I’m going to make this again, I will omit the lemon juice.  This is a very hearty meal.

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The main reason I made this beef stew is I found a great deal for eye of round roast at Save-On-Foods.  This 2.6kg piece of meat only cost $11.42.

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 2 pounds lean stew beef
  • 1 onion, quartered
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 2 cups beef broth or bouillon
  • 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice (I think I will omit this next time)
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon paprika
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 6 carrots, cut in pieces
  • 6 medium potatoes, cut into pieces
  • 1/3 cup cold water blended with 3 tablespoons flour for thickening (I find it not necessary)

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Barley Chicken Stew

It’s Mona and my turn to demonstrate in the South Arm Community Kitchen. Mona made a German dish called Barley Chicken Stew for the main dish while I made Malaysian Fruit Rojak for dessert. I had blogged about the Fruit Rojak here.

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The Fruit Rojak was accepted well even though it is a little too spicy for some of the members in the group despite I did not add Thai chili to the dish. The only problem is the confusion of the origin of the dish where I kept hearing people saying Thai or Indonesian when they mentioned about the rojak.

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The Barley Chicken Stew is a very hearty meal and it’s very filing too. It’s a great dish for cold weather.

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Another new member of the kitchen, Jane, brought some corn meal muffin to share with us. Jane was a school teacher for 25 years, teaching cooking in school. We hope she will share with us many of her culinary skills.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup pearl barley, soak in water or broth overnight
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 2 to 3 chicken drumsticks
  • 1 litre chicken broth
  • 150g cream cheese
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 tablespoons chopped chives or green onion and parley each
  • a pinch of tumeric
  • a pinch of chili flakes
  • salt and pepper to taste

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Mona made her own chicken broth with chicken bones and she added tumeric to the chicken broth for colour. Mona also bought organic pearl barley for about $5 per kilo from Galloway which is just 30% more expensive than regular ones. She also brought her own frozen chopped green onion and parsley which she planted in her garden during summer.

Click on Read More for the instructions.

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Beef Stew with Split Peas a la Lime (Gheimeh)

In the Gilmore Park Church Community Kitchen, we had a new member to demonstrate a Persian recipe. Azar is an Iranian and she enjoys the community kitchen as she can learn about food from other cultures and also practice her English. Azar is a beautician and I was told that she does a very good job in threading, an ancient method of hair removal which originated in India and gaining popularity in the Middle and Far East.

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The Beef Stew has a very lemony flavour. The flavour comes from the dried lime which can be found in Persian stores and is relatively cheap. Minoo volunteers to get us some the next time she goes groceries shopping at a Persian store.

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons turmeric powder
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 1 cup split peas
  • 1 lb beef or lamb, cubed
  • 3 dried lime
  • 2 teaspoons lemon powder
  • 3 cups water
  • salt and cinnamon to taste
  • 2 large potatoes, cut into sticks for making fries

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Click on Read More for the instructions.

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Pumpkin and Potato Stew

I usually park at the Minoru Park parking lot when I go to the Caring Place Community Kitchen. It’s just a short walk away. Today, I was greeted by some awesome full bloom cherry blossoms in Minoru Park. It was a breath-taking sight. The cherry blossoms never fail to marvel me.

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There were many people armed with cameras at the Minoru Park. How can I miss out this opportunity.

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I like the fullness of this variety of cherry blossoms. Do you know what is the name of this variety?

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Back to the Community Kitchen, Minoo shared a Pumpkin and Potato Stew along with the Broccoli Salad I blogged earlier. This is such a simple recipe that Zoe helped Minoo to prepare the dish while Minoo ran to the store to get the beans which she missed out in her grocery shopping.

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The Pumpkin and Potato Stew is a one pot meal which is complete with protein, carbohydrate, vitamins and fiber. A good recipe for a lazy day.

Ingredients

  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons oil
  • 3 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 3 to 4 potatoes, peeled and cubed
  • 1/2 teaspoon oregano
  • 1/2 can chopped tomatoes or tomato sauce
  • 1 tomato, chopped (optional if using tomato sauce)
  • 1 can pumpkin puree
  • 1 can of beans (butter beans or Lima beans), rinsed and drained
  • salt, sugar and pepper to taste
  • chili and paprika to taste (optional)

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Click on the link below for the instructions.

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Chicken Stew

This Chicken Stew is Andrea’s grandmother’s recipe. She told us that this recipe has been in the family for a long time. The Chicken Stew is a white sauce stew enriched with red wine. Andrea said she would add in more red wine at the end of the cooking to have a more intense flavour broth.

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Andrea served the Chicken Stew with steamed rice and broccoli. The broth from the Chicken Stew goes very well with steamed rice.

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Ingredients

  • 1 stewing chicken
  • vegetables like onion, tomatoes, cabbage and herbs like parsley, thyme or rosemary for boiling the chicken to make chicken stock
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 3 tablespoons flour
  • 4 cups chicken broth
  • 1/4 cup red wine
  • 1/4 to 1/2 cup of cream
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 10 black peppercorns
  • 3 cloves
  • salt to taste

Click on the link below for the instructions.

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Stewed Pork in Brown Sauce

Winnie kicked off the South Arm Community Kitchen cooking class for the year 2007 with two pork dishes. She made Stewed Pork in Brown Sauce and Stir-fried Pork with Bamboo Shoots.

These pork dishes are very common dishes cook in the home of Chinese families. The gravy from these dishes goes really well with steam rice. Kids can just gobble up the rice with the gravy alone. Make sure you cook extra rice when you make such dishes.

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Winnie also treated us with some abalone to celebrate the start of a new year. Abalone is a kind of shellfish which is served during auspicious celebration like Chinese New Year, Wedding and Birthday. It is an expensive delicacy. Winnie, thank you for your generosity.

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Besides that, Winnie also shared with us some Pizza Pretzels while waiting for the dishes to be cooked.

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Here is the recipe for the Stewed Pork in Brown Sauce.

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs pork (butt or bacon with skin on), cut into 1 1/2 inches pieces
  • 1/4 cup pork rind (optional)
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup garlic cloves
  • 2 star anise
  • 1 cup soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
  • 2 cups water
  • salt to taste

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Click on the link below for the instructions.

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