Beef Stew

Beef Stew


1 1/2 pounds chuck pot roast
1 cup water
2 teaspoons Kosher salt
1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 can beef broth, divided
1 cup sliced (coined) carrots
2 medium  Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled & 1/4” diced
1 stalk celery,  sliced
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 Bay leaf
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon tomato paste  or 1 tablespoon tomato ketchup



Step One:

Trim the fat from the chuck pot roast as best as possible. There will likely be an elastic silver colored skin on the parts of the meat. This is commonly called silver skin, it is part of the fascia of the muscle. Remove the silver skin with a sharp knife.  Once the roast is fully trimmed cut the roast into 1/2 cubes and reserve. After trimming the cubes will weight around 1 pound




Step Two:

Place the beef cubes in a slow cooker along with 1 cup of water and 1/2 can of beef broth on low for 30 minutes.  Meanwhile add the onion, carrots, potatoes, and celery to a sauce pan along with 1 cup of water and the remaining beef broth. Bring the vegetables to a boil and reduce to a simmer for 15 -20 minutes with the lid ajar. The purpose of this step is to prevent vegetables that are not fully cooked, breaking down the structures in the vegetables requires higher temperatures, however those temperatures would result in tough beef, therefore this preparation blast heats the vegetables so that they are not fully cooked but will be tender. Add the vegetables to the slow cooker and stir in remaining ingredients. Cook on Low for 7 hours.