Country Beef Stew

h2Chef’s Note:/h2
pCall it beef stew, Boeuf Bourguignon, Beef Forestier or potted meat, this is a simple recipe for the tougher cuts of meat that turns into one of the richest and most delicious recipes you will ever eat. You can cook it in the oven, on the stove or in a crock pot. For those of you that will not cook with wine, you can get a very delicious cooking sauce using extra tomato paste, more beef stock and ¼ tsp. orange zest. For those of you that think you HATE mushrooms, this is not a dish for you./p
h2Ingredients/h2
ol
li1 1/2 lbs. lean beef (eye round, sirloin etc.)/li
liSalt and pepper to taste and your physician’s guidance/li
li3 tbsp. salt pork cut into small dice (you may substitute oil or duck fat)/li
li2 medium onions, peeled/li
li1 medium carrot, chopped very finely/li
li2-3 large cloves of garlic, grated or finely minced/li
li1 cup dry red wine (Cabernet, Merlot, Chianti, Burgundy)/li
li1 cup low sodium beef stock/li
li1 bay leaf/li
li2 tsp. Herbs de Provence/li
li1 tsp. Dijon mustard/li
li2 tbsp. tomato paste/li
li2 tbsp. chopped parsley/li
li½ lb. mushrooms, cut into wedges/li
li3 tbsp. mushroom juice (from reconstituted dry mushrooms)b*Optional/b/li
/ol
h2Preparation:/h2
ol
liCut the meat into 2 inch cubes. Dry on paper towels./li
liSalt and pepper the meat./li
liMelt the salt pork in a Dutch oven pot until the fat is dissolved and the meat bits start to turn crispy. Remove the meat bits for later./li
pbNote: You can use 2 TBSP. of oil or duck fat for this part of the recipe./b/p
liBrown the meat in two batches. This will take about 8-10 minutes per batch. Remove meat from the pot./li
liCut the onions into 8 wedges each. Reserve ¼ of the wedges for use at the end of the recipe./li
liSauté the remaining wedges in the fat until lightly golden./li
liAdd the chopped carrot and cook for one minute more./li
liAdd the garlic and bay leaf and cook for 30 seconds./li
liAdd the wine and beef stock and bring to a boil./li
liAdd the meat back into the pot./li
liAdd the herbs (EXCEPT THE PARSLEY), mustard, browned pork bits, and tomato paste./li
liYou can cook on the stove at a low heat for 2 -1/2 hours, in the oven at 325° for 2- ½ hours or in a crock pot according to brand directions./li
liAdd the mushrooms and cook for 30 minutes more./li
liAdd the remaining onion wedges and parsley./li
liAllow to cool and STRONGLY suggest refrigerating over-night. This way you can remove excess fat before reheating and serving./li
/ol
pbNote: The usual serving suggestion for this dish would be buttered noodles. I choose to use either “riced” cauliflower or spaghetti squash to keep this a lower carbohydrate meal./b/p
h2Nutrition Information:/h2
pRecipe Serves: 4-6br /
Net carbohydrates: 4-6 g/p
pciteSource: a href="http://www.thedecadentdiabetic.com/"Ward Alper, the Decadent Diabetic/a/cite/p
p class="small-note"In the event you find this recipe inappropriate for diabetics, please a href="http://www.informationaboutdiabetes.com/content/main/about-contact"contact us/a and we will review your suggestions./p