Wet Wednesday

It was supposed to rain today, so this time I brought a rain jacket. Hmmm... must be so, as I watched the beautiful full moon get swallowed up by clouds in just the short drive to work.

I went back home at lunchtime. I had thawed out the final remaining package of last fall's meat (stewing beef) last night and want to get the crock pot going (I didn't have time this morning).

Before I got started on the stew, I put a container of my clam chowder soup I also thawed out last night in a saucepan on the back burner to warm up for my lunch. I am using my smaller round slow cooker, not the big oval one, BTW, so I am adjusting the ingredient amounts accordingly.

As some of you may remember, my personal beef stew is quite complex and takes a while. So, I just pulled a recipe off of the Internet that sounded good for this one. I did notice that most slow cooker beef stew recipes call for putting the meat into the slow cooker as is. I'm sorry, but I couldn't make myself do that! So, I put a tablespoon of Canola oil in my skillet on high. I put some flour, salt, fresh black pepper and garlic powder in a big baggie. I turned the pan down to medium and, working in three batches, I coated the meat with the flour mix and seared all sides of each piece.

Here are the ingredients and the order that everything went into the pot: I peeled and sliced two long carrots. Then I diced up (roughly the same size as the meat, which I had originally cut to more uniform pieces) four big Yukon Gold potatoes. I added the seared meat next. I put in one cup of beef broth, one clove of garlic I minced, a bay leaf, a teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce and a teaspoon of paprika. I didn't add the salt and pepper the recipe called for because there was salt and pepper in the flour and I will taste test it and adjust as needed when I get home, anyway.

I added two medium onions, peeled and quartered, one rib of sliced celery and, my own touch, some Cremini mushrooms, also quartered. I turned the slow cooker on high and should be able to eat after 6:00 PM!

I fixed a bowl of soup and tore off another hunk of the rustic Italian bread for my lunch (that bread was delicious, by the way, and is disappearing fast!). I watched some of the noon hour news and then headed back to work.

It rained off and on all afternoon, so cutting the grass tonight is off. When I got out of the car in the garage after work, I could smell the stew. I took off the lid and discovered I had almost no broth left. So, I added about 1/2 cup more of beef broth and stirred, then taste-tested.

Hmmm... Definitely needs more salt and pepper and something else is missing... I got it! Thyme! So I added about a teaspoon of dried thyme (too wet to go outside and fetch fresh), more salt and pepper, stirred it up and turned the slow cooker to warm (the newer ones have a "warm" setting). Moved on to cat treats, checking mail and changed clothing.

I started the Wednesday night laundry and then relaxed for a bit. Then a got a bowl of the stew and a hunk of bread. It looks so good I took a picture for you and posted it (and, it tasted better than it looked!)

I ate the bowl watching some taped TV. I must confess that, after hanging up the laundry, I got another bowlful and more bread! I put the leftovers in the fridge and watched TV until I went to bed at 11:00 PM.