Slow Food at its Most Awesome Yumminess

Blood Orange Beef Stew with Butternut Squash

For someone new to traditional foods, I faced a bit of a sticker shock when I started buying organic vegetables and grass-fed meats. Of course they are healthier, but wow, how they've changed our monthly food budget. One of my strategies for stretching our dollars is buying the least expensive cuts of meat. I've been roasting whole chickens and trying to find good ways to prepare stew meat and chuck roasts. 

I've made beef stew two other times this winter, and I was disappointed both times.  I attempted the Nourishing Traditions recipe for All-day Beef Stew, but I had to make so many changes that I didn't give it a fair try. Instead of marinating the meat overnight, I only had time to marinate it in red wine for a couple of hours. I still need to get a cast iron dutch oven, and I tried to use my crock pot instead. I didn't have time to get the food in the crock-pot until lunch time, so I had to cook it on high. The recipe says to add the vegetables for the last hour. This is not true for a crock pot! The vegetables were still hard after 2 hours. Dinner ended up delayed...again. The stew had good flavor, but the meat was not very tender. 

Since stew meat is affordable, I was determined to find a recipe that worked. I was going to try the All-day stew recipe again, and I even remembered to put the meat in the fridge to thaw a few days ago. Yesterday I was on Pinterest, and I noticed a recipe for blood orange beef stew with butternut squash. Pinterest did not steer me wrong! I've never had blood oranges before, and I'm in love with the color. The juice is a beautiful dark magenta. I used two ceramic casserole dishes with lids, and it worked perfectly. The meat is fall apart tender, and the vegetables were very soft. I loved expanding beyond the traditional winter vegetables of potatoes, carrots, and celery. Curious George said it was, "spicy," and I loved the balanced combinations of flavors--not too sweet, citrusy, or spicy. My littlest one summed it up by saying, "Nummy!" 

The only downside of this recipe is that it is SLOW food. I started around two in the afternoon, and we didn't sit down to eat until 8pm. (I did feed the little ones a big snack at 5 to prevent a mutiny.) My goal was to get the stew in the oven by 3:30pm, and it took me another hour and a half. It was a gorgeous spring day, and we didn't get outside to play until dusk. I did cook three pounds of meat, and the recipe only calls for two, so that took longer to prepare. Still, grating orange peels, juicing oranges, and searing the meat takes a long time. I'm so glad the amazing flavor made it worth it. I'm also excited to have enough left-over to freeze for another meal. 

 

Recipe from ciaoflorentina.com

Blood Orange Beef Stew with Butternut Squash Recipe
( serves 4 )

• 1/4 c olive oil
• 1 small onion -diced
• 5 large garlic cloves -whole
• 2 lb organic Chuck Roast -cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes
• 2 lb organic Butternut Squash cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes
• 4 blood oranges
• 1 large carrot or 2 smaller ones -sliced into 1/2 inch rounds
• 6 thyme sprigs
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes + more to taste
• 3 whole cloves
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper -freshly grated
• 1 1/2 tbs balsamic vinegar
• 2 bay leaves
• nut meg -freshly grated
• 1/4 c Italian parsley -chopped
• 3 tbs all purpose flour
• 3/4 tsp sweet paprika
• 3 cups water -filtered

1. Mix the flour and paprika together in a plastic bag. Season the beef with the sea salt and black pepper and transfer them to the plastic bag. Toss everything together to coat.

2. Heat up 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a cast iron dutch oven over medium flame. Add the garlic cloves and sear until golden on both sides. Transfer to a bowl. Shake any excess flour from the beef and sear each cube for a couple of minutes until golden brown at the edges. Work in batches so you don’t overcrowd the pot and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil in between batches if necessary. Transfer them all to the bowl with the garlic and cover with plastic wrap to keep warm.

3. Add one more tablespoon of olive oil to the pot and saute the onion with a pinch of sea salt until translucent. Add the red pepper flakes and cook one more minute.

4. Meanwhile save two strips of orange peel from the blood oranges and zest the rest and reserve. Squeeze 1 cup of juice from the oranges and add it to the pot together with the balsamic vinegar. Using a silicone spatula make sure to scrape all the brown bits from the bottom. Add the bay leaf, cloves, thyme sprigs and orange peels and allow to simmer for 3 minutes.

5. Add the beef cubes with all the juices and the garlic back to the pot and stir to combine. Add the water and bring to a simmer. Cover with a tight lid and transfer to a 350 F degrees oven. Let it cook for 2 hours.

6. Add the butternut squash and carrots to the pot, give it a good stir, cover tightly with the lid and let cook in the oven for an additional 45 minutes or until the meat and vegetables are tender.
Discard the bay leaf and thyme sprigs and gently stir in 1/2 teaspoon of the reserved orange zest. Serve hot sprinkled with the parsley and a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg and bruschetta.

Tip: Use chuck roast whenever making beef stew, it is one of the most flavorful cuts and the best for cooking slowly in some liquid.

This post is linked back to Sunday School at Butter Believer.