Pot Roast Stew

Good Afternoon! Here is another family favorite for ya. My Mom never follows a recipe when she makes this but we sat down after she made it last week and wrote quantities down so we could share it here (thanks Mom!). She's got this soup down to a science! I don't say things are the "best" a lot around here, but this stew really is the best of its kind. Enjoy!

Recipe and preparation for the pot-roast:

3 lb (give or take) rump roast

6 Bay leaves

1 largish yellow onion

1 qt Kitchen Basics Beef Stock, ONLY use 2 cups and refrigerate the rest to use later in the recipe.

Salt and Pepper

Slice yellow onion into disks. Line onion disks on the bottom of your crock-pot. Place roast on top of onion disks, fat side up. Pour in your 2 cups beef stock. Scatter bay leaves in and lastly, season with salt pepper generously. Cook on low for at least 8 hours.

1 hour before roast is done, begin to assemble the soup. Here is the remainder of the ingredients to compile the stew (yield 10-12):

3 qts Kitchen Basics Beef Stock

2 yellow onions, diced

10-12 medium red potatoes, scrubbed and cut lengthwise into 1 inch size pieces (refer to picture)

10 carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/4 - 1/2 inch pieces

1 bag frozen peas

3/4 cup cornstarch

Remaining beef stock that wasn't used in the roast preparation

In an x-large pot, heat 2-3 tbs extra virgin olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and allow to sweat and caramelize for 10-15 minutes, stirring often. Add a little more oil if the onions get too dry and begin to stick. When onions are completely softened, add in all 3 qts of beef stock. Add potato pieces and sliced carrots. Turn heat up to high. Bring to a boil. Boil for 10-15 minutes, then turn heat down to medium (rolling boil). This will help insure that you don't overcook the potatoes and carrots. Take the left-over beef stock from the fridge and pour all of it into a small bowl. Whisk 3/4 cups corn starch vigorously into the small bowl with the beef stock- making sure you combine all bits of cornstarch. The mixture will be the color of creamy caramel. Make sure the soup is still at a rolling boil and while continually stirring the soup, slowly add the cornstarch mixture. The soup will begin to thicken after a minute or two. Allow soup to bubble and thicken for a few minutes. Add frozen peas and stir. While the peas heat through, turn your attention to the pot roast for prepping:

When the roast is done, remove from crock-pot and place on a cutting board. Remove the layer of fat and discard. Using a fork and/or knife gently pull the meat apart into suitable chunks for the stew. You can use a knife if you want to cut the pieces to be more bite size. When finished pulling all the meat, add to the soup and stir to incorporate. Also, add remaining juices from the crock-pot to the stew. Taste and add salt and pepper to your liking-- keep in mind it may not need any at all. Test the potatoes and carrots for doneness, they should be perfect at this point. If they do seem a little firm, cook for a few minutes more.

Serve Pot Roast Stew in bowls with some bread on the side to sop up all the rich gravy. Refrigerate left overs up to a week. To reheat, gently do so over medium-low heat.

image by Kara and Briana

model is Kara

P.S. Thanks Design Mom for linking to the Golden Oreo post! So cool. Checkout the link if you didn't see it. :)