[compulut]

I was craving beef yesterday, and thinking of a new way to prepare it, when I noticed the volume of members from across the pond. (It's also cold over here today, in large portions of the north.) So I came up with the following and found it to be fantastic! Wait until you see the nutrional profile - it may be the best one that I've posted to date!

.25 C Unbleached All Purpose Flour
1.5 t Onion Powder
1.5 t Garlic Powder
1 t Fresh Ground Black Pepper
.5 t Sea Salt
.5 t Mustard Powder
.5 t Chilli Powder
.25 t Cayenne Pepper
.25 t Ground White Pepper
.25 t Curry Powder
.125 t Ground Cumin

2 Lbs Very Lean Beef for Stew (1" cubes)
2 T Olive Oil
1 t Chilli Oil

1 White onion, peeled & sliced thin

3 Cloves Garlic, minced
1 T Fresh Rosemary, chopped fine
1 T Fresh Basil, Chiffonade (just chop fine if you want)

5 C Beef Stock, Low Sodium (preferably home made)
1 can RoTel (Diced tomatoes & green chillis in liquid)

2 C White mushrooms, sliced

2 C Carrots, cubed
1 t Ground Cinnamon
.25 t Ground Nutmeg

1 C Lentils (raw)

1 C Seedless Raisins

1) Combine the flour with the spices in first set of ingredients in a 1 gallon zip-loc bag - shake around to mix well.

2) Heat the oils in a large, heavy Stock/Soup pot or dutch oven over med-high heat

3) Dump 1lb of the beef into the ziplock & shake around to coat well. One cube at a time, shake off the extra flour & place the beef cubes in single layer into heated oil. Do not crowd - use more than one batch if needed. As soon as all pieces are placed, begin turning them in the same order you placed them. You want to sear all sides of the cubes, and they will go quite quickly. Once all sides are seared, remove to the inverted pot lid.

4) Repeat with the second pound of beef cubes. You may need to add more olive oil for the second batch, depending on the amount of fat that rendered off of the first batch. With very lean beef, you won't render much. There will be some of the flour mixture remaining, just discard it.

5) Once all of the cubes are browned on all sides, reduce the heat to medium and dump in the onion slices. Sweat the onions, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. If you need additional liquid, cover the cubes on the inverted lid and pour the juices into the pot. In the meantime, you can mince the garlic & chop the herbs.

6) Once the onions are translucent, add the garlic, rosemary, basil & mushrooms. Stir to combine. Continue stirring occassionally, until the mushrooms are limp, the herbs are wilted & you can smell the garlic carmelizing.

7) Return the beef chunks to the pot & add enough of the beef stock to mostly cover the mixture (1-2 cups). Increas heat & stir constantly until you approach a boil. Then reduce heat, cover & let simmer for at least one hour until the beef becomes much more tender. Stir occasionally, ensuring that the liquid doesn't run dry. Add more of the stock if need be to make sure that the beef cubes remain mostly covered. This is a good time to cube the carrots & season them with the cinnamon & nutmeg. You can also measure out your lentils and raisins.

8) Add the remaining stock, the can of Rotel & the seasoned carrots, stir, cover & simmer for 20 minutes.

9) Add the lentils, stir, cover & simmer for 20 minutes.

10) Add the raisins, stir, cover & simmer for 20 minutes.

11) Remove lid, remove from heat, stir & let cool some before serving.


This dish yields 8 servings (about 400g each).
Cool completely before storing remainder. Covered, the stew will last about 4 days in the fridge. It will last for months in the freezer, but be sure to get any air out of the storage conainers to avoid freezer burn.

Now, the breakdown per serving:

Calories = 385
Prot = 51g!
Carb = 22g (fiber = 9g, sugars = 5g)
Fat = 10g (sat = 3g, tran = 0g)

Of note, in addition to a good source of dietary fiber, this dish provides 100% or more of 7 different essential vitamins and minerals (based on a 2000 calorie/day diet). Nutrient dense, it also boasts a nearly complete amino acid profile (94 out of 100), a low glycemic load and is very filling. It's even got a little Yin and Yang going on, challenging the palate with the juxtaposition of the sweetness of the carrots and raisins with the spicyness of the chillis.

I'm rating this a bull's eye on the delicious and nutritious target.

[lil_big_junior]

i'll make that nxt w\e
thx for that bro

[cook82]

i will try that its nice cause i can make a bunch at once and save it, you could even freeze it and have it whenever you want. Do you think a crock pot could be used as a substitute?

[compulut]

Originally Posted by cook82

i will try that its nice cause i can make a bunch at once and save it, you could even freeze it and have it whenever you want. Do you think a crock pot could be used as a substitute?

I don't usually use slow cookers - I've often wondered why. In the case of this recipe, it's not required, because once the beef is browned, it only requires 2 hours of additional cooking. At worst, your beef would come out like shreds instead of chunks. I'm not sure what sort of impact this would have on nutrition, if any.

As for freezing, I do that with just about everything. You'll notice that the recipes tend to come online in spurts. I take a few days to cook a lot, freezing everything in serving sized portions, then I don't have to cook for awhile.

I have these cheap little containers, that come in different sizes. I have a very good kitchen scale, and once things are cooked & cooled, I divvy everything up & pop in freezer. That way, a delicious nutricious meal is only a couple of minutes away due to the modern wonders of microwaves! I also use snack, sandwich, quart & gallon sized freezer bags for the same purpose.

Now, here's where it gets scary: look in my freezer, and it's jam packed with perfectly sized portions of all of these foods that I cook. Look in my food journal, and the quantities of things that I eat are meticulously recorded, by date and time. (My supplements too!) I even record my sleep & water consumption so that I can monitor what's going wrong/right.

I'm a freak.

You guys can relate though!