I have always thought of stew as classic American fare, but it really originated in Ireland, after the potato famine I believe. Lamb (or more commonly amongst the poor, mutton and even young goat) was the meat most commonly used. All they put in the pot with the meat was potatoes and, if they had them, onions. Further additions to the pot have evolved over time, like parsley, turnips, celery and even barley! But since I’ve always thought of it as American classic food due to the many Irish immigrants into America early on in its history, I chose to include it in our foray through American classic foods, even though truly from our heavy Irish heritage.
Though I made this batch of stew with lean beef sirloin (what I had in my freezer this week), but I usually use beef chuck. I have even used used beef shank for stew. Your choice of beef cut will not change the nutritional info below much at all. In mine, I usually use rutabaga for the potato stand-in. Rutabagas are very similar to potatoes both flavor and texture but are considerably yellower in color. They (and carrots) are a starchy vegetable, therefore this dish is not suitable until the starchy veggie rung of the OWL carb re-introduction ladder. If you’re still in Atkins Phase 1 Induction, substitute turnip or red radishes for your stew ‘potatoes’.
INGREDIENTS:
1½ lb. lean beef sirloin or chuck cut into 2-3″ pieces
¼ c. Carbalose flour or sifted CarbQuik (2 T. consumed & calculated below) (use oat fiber for lower carbs)
Dash salt and coarse black pepper
2 T. coconut or olive oil
1 large stalk celery, cut 1″ pieces
1 large carrot, cut 1″ pieces
3 oz. onion, cut 1″ pieces
8 oz. rutabaga, peeled, cut in 1½” pieces
3 c. water (or enough to just cover pot contents)
DIRECTIONS: Heat oil in a non-stick stew pot or very large, deep skillet. Mix flour or oat fiber, salt and pepper on a paper plate and dredge surface of meat. Save extra flour for thickening at the end, if needed. Place meat into hot pan and brown thoroughly on the first side. Turn and brown the second side. Place cut up rutabaga around the meat. Pour water over the meat. 3 c. water should about cover the meat and rutabaga, but add more if it does not. Bring liquid to a boil and then lower heat, cover and simmer 30 minutes. Lift lid after 30 minutes, add carrots and onion evenly to the top, replace lid and simmer just until they are tender, but not falling totally apart, which is not so visually appealing. That will be about 15-20 minutes max. The flour will naturally thicken the liquid. However, if not thick enough for your liking, dust in a bit of the leftover flour or s sprinkle of xanthan gum, stir and simmer. Repeat in a few minutes with more flour/xanthan gum to your desired thickness. You can either serve all the meat and veggies on a platter with the beef juices in a separate serving bowl (what I usually do so I can dip just the amount of pot gravy I like over mine), or you can serve it all in one serving dish. Your call there.
NUTRITIONAL INFO: Makes 5 servings, each contains:
257 cals, 50.6g fat, 7.94g carbs, 2.62g fiber, 5.32g NET CARBS, 31.3g protein, 142 mg sodium
Buttoni's Low-Carb Recipes 