Crockpot stew

I have been doing a lot of cooking this morning; trying to get lots of things done before I head back to work on Monday. I have had a lot of fun with my last two weeks off, but it's back to the grind pretty quick here.

My veggie CSA arrived on Wednesday and so I thought a nice, rich beef stew would be a good way to use up all those root veggies I got. I have the meat on low in the crock pot now and it's really creating a wonderful smell in the kitchen. Here is my crock pot beef stew recipe for anyone who wants to give it a whirl.

1 lb beef stew meat
1/2 bottle of red wine (the better the wine, the better the gravy!)
32 ounces beef broth (or homemade stock would be even better!)
1 package sliced mushrooms
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
pinch red chili flakes (more if you like it spicy)
salt and pepper
1/4 cup flour
2 bay leaves
2 whole garlic cloves
1 onion coarsely chopped
1 tblsp worcestshire

There are many different schools of thought as to how to put this together. Jamie Oliver said he used to brown his meat, garlic, and onions before cooking as he thought that brought out more flavor. After doing it both ways though he came to find it really made no difference. I would agree, and even take it a step further and say that most of your flavor gets left in your browning pan when you do it that way. Do dredge the meat in the flour though as it will act as a thickener in your stew as is cooks. After dredging the meat in flour add it to the crock pot with all of the other ingredients above.

The other change that I am making to most crockpot stew recipes is that I am not adding all the veggies at the same time I put the meat in. If there is one thing I can't stand it's soggy, mushy veggies. So put the meat in as indicated above and let it cook on low for 4 hours. Note that I did add the mushrooms as I wanted some of that mushroomy flavor to be taken on by the meat.

After 4 hours add the following veggies:

1 bunch diced carrots
2 or 3 potatoes cubed
1 leek chopped
1 sweet potato chopped (optional)

Feel free to add whatever veggies suit your taste. I am adding the leeks, carrots and sweet potatoes because they came in my CSA this week. Just don't add too many veggies as your pot will become too crowded and they won't cook properly. Let them cook for another 4 hours on low, or if you need things done more quickly you can move your crockpot to high when you put the veggies in. Keep an eye too that you still have plenty of liquid in your pot; you don't want your beautiful stew to dry out! Add more broth and/or wine as necessary.
Adjust your seasonings and serve

I also tried my hand at making cheese crackers today. I wanted to find another use for my new Atlas pasta machine and it's the perfect tool to make thin and crispy cheese crackers. I really wanted a recipe made without butter, but olive oil instead. The crackers I made are good, and the pasta machine works like a dream, but the crackers were just not cheesy enough. This is a great recipe though and next time I will make sure I use a very sharp cheddar, and more of it. Here is the recipe I came up with, tweak it and tell me what you come up with!

3/4 c whole wheat flour
2/3 c all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
4 tblsps extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup sour cream
2 cups tightly packed cheddar cheese
1/4 tightly packed grated parmeasan cheese
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 375 and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Sift the flours, salt and sugar together. Add remaining ingredients to the
flour mixture. When dough pulls away from the sides and forms a ball dump out onto floured surface. Divide dough into 2 equal balls, wrap in plastic wrap and let rest for 15 minutes.

Cut each ball in half and form a small rectangle with each half. Flour the rectangle and run it through pasta machine on 0 setting. Flour and fold dough and run through one more time. Change setting to 1, flour and run through, repeat this through setting 3. I found setting 3 about as high as I could go before it got too thin. I then used a very small cookie cutter and laid out my cracker shapes on the parchment paper. I baked these crackers for 12 minutes at 375. You should try them for 8 to 12 minutes as my oven tends to run hot. My son ate them up quickly, almost 1/2 are gone already. I thought they were good, but needed a bit more cheese flavor.

That's what I've been up to today. Hope you are having a good one too!