Weeknight Dinners: Slow-Cooked Beef Stew

Jennifer Downing is featured in the Mompreneur Directory and offers cooking classes and experiences through her business Nourish. She shared this recipe for Slow-Cooked Beef Stew, which seems like a perfect meal for the stretch of cold, gray weather that is in front of us. It requires five hours of cooking time, though, so if you can't get it started by about noon, you can cook it the night before and reheat.

SLOW-COOKED BEEF STEW

Ingredients:

• 2½ pound lean beef stew meat, cut into 1-1 ½” cubes
• 12 oz. baby carrots
• 1 pound baby red potatoes cut into ¼s or ½s if large
• 2 medium turnips, peeled & cut into ¾” cubes
• 4 small onions, peeled & quartered
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 t. celery seeds
• 1 t. dry thyme
• 2 t. salt
• 2 t. freshly ground black pepper
• 2½ cups V-8 juice
• ½ cup dry red wine
• 1 T. Dijon mustard
• 2 T. brown sugar
• 3½ T. tapioca

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 275 degrees.

In a large Dutch oven combine the beef with all the vegetables. Season with salt and pepper.

Whisk together the V-8, wine, Dijon mustard, brown sugar, garlic, celery seeds, thyme. When thoroughly combined whisk tapioca into liquid, being sure to incorporate well. Add this mixture to the seasoned beef & vegetable stirring well to blend.

Cover the Dutch oven lightly with foil and cook 5 hours without peeking or disturbing. Serve at once, or refrigerate overnight and reheat the next day.

Makes 6 servings.