April 26: Crock Pot Beef Stew

Paul and I both had a late night on Tuesday, so we busted out our faithful crock pot. We had a sirloin beef roast that Paul bought a few weeks ago and tossed in the freezer. I prepped the ingredients in the morning before I left for work in the morning, and it was done by the time I got home. I had pulled out the beef roast the night before and had it defrost in the temperature-controlled drawer of the fridge overnight.

I peeled and chopped three russet potatoes, about five carrots and a yellow onion. These ingredients were tossed in the crock pot, along with 4 cups of beef broth. I cut some rosemary and parsley off our plants, and added in some fresh thyme as well.  The roast was nestled in among the other ingredients. It was still a little frozen when I tossed it in.

So pretty! And raw.

I left the roast cooking on low for about 10 hours (it was a very long day). Paul arrived home before I did, and said he was greeted with the aroma of the herbs and the cooked meat. Even thought the beef roast was a little frozen when I put it in, it cooked completely through in the hours it was in the crock pot.

There is nothing like coming home to an easy, pre-cooked dinner. Crock pot, I have missed you. 

I wasn't sure if we'd need to pull the entire roast out and cut it up, but the meat fell apart into several pieces, so it was easy to serve.

Paul's nice plating. Impressive, buddy.

We served the stew with a little of the beef broth from the crock pot and some crusty bread. I always debate whether or not to peel the potatoes, but I think peeling them for this particular meal was the right choice. I imagine the skins may have separated from the potatoes and turned out chewy. The meat had taken on a litle of the taste of the herbs, and the vegetables were nice and soft.