The Gluten-Free Homemaker

The other day I was in the kitchen when a heard a noise coming from one of my cabinets. I was pretty sure we didn't have mice, but what could it be? I opened the door cautiously. Imagine my surprise when I heard the noise again and realized it was my crockpot! Yes, she was crying out for attention. You see, I have been very guilty of crockpot neglect. I didn't just forget to get her out after the hot summer months were over. She's been neglected for a long time.

I do have an excuse. There's been a new love in my life--my pressure cooker. He's very sleek and handsome and cooks meals in minutes rather than hours. But my poor crockpot. It's not as if she's totally useless. I pulled her out of the cabinet and gave it some thought. Then I remembered there is one thing my pressure cooker is not good at. One thing that we like to eat and my crockpot is great at. One thing that I happened to have the ingredients for. Beef stew!

My pressure cooker is not good at making beef stew because the vegetables cook way to quickly. In a crockpot, the vegetables cook slowly. So slowly they need to be cut small and/or thin. I set to work making beef stew, and boy was my crock pot happy! She proudly sat on my counter all afternoon and as expected, produced a fine pot of beef stew by dinner time.

The recipe follows, but before I get to that I want to mention a crockpot tip that some of you might not know. When cooking potatoes in the crockpot, cut them up and swish them around in a bowl of water that has about 1 tsp. cream of tartar added to it. This prevent the potatoes from turning brown. Drain the water and add the potatoes to the recipe as normal.


Gluten-Free Crockpot Beef Stew

Ingredients:
2 lbs. stew meat, cubed
1/4 c. rice flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
3 large carrots, thinly sliced
4 medium potatoes, diced
1 onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, sliced
1 1/2 c. beef broth

Instructions:
Place the meat in the crock pot. Sprinkle the flour, salt, and pepper over top and stir to coat the meat. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Cover and cook on low 10 hours or high 4-6 hours. Stir and remove the bay leaf before serving.

Notes:

• I like my onions well cooked, so I saute them in a skillet for a bit before adding them to the stew.
• Some newer crock pots (including mine) run hotter than the old ones on low setting. If that's the case with yours, 10 hours will be too long. I cooked mine on high for 4 hours.
• The amounts of meat and vegetables can be varied according to your taste.

For more crock pot recipes visit Smockity Frocks.  For more great recipes and ideas check out Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays.

Labels: beef, main dish recipes