Another recipe in the Meals to Freeze series.

I cooked up a batch of beef stew for my dad. Once it was cooled I added it and two biscuits to individual freezer containers.  I used my instant pot, but I’ve listed instructions for stovetop, slow cooker, and the electric pressure cooker.

Bourbon Beef Stew

• 1 lb chuck roast
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/4 cup bourbon, whiskey, or wine (more as desired)
• 1 small yellow onion, peeled and cut into large chunks
• 4 carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 rutabaga or parsnip, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 4 medium potatoes, scrubbed well and cut into large chunks
• 1 bay leaf
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1/4 cup flour

skillet, Dutch oven, electric pressure cooker or slow cooker

Trim fat from chuck roast and cut into 1-inch pieces. Heat oil in skillet, add beef, and quickly brown on all sides. Reduce heat, add garlic, and saute for 1 minute. Add beef and garlic to Dutch oven or slow cooker. Deglaze skillet and add liquid to the beef mixture.

Add bourbon, vegetables, bay leaf and then add enough water to cover everything.

For stovetop, bring to a low boil and stir occasionally. Once it begins to bubble, reduce heat to medium-low cover and cook for 1 hour (longer will give you more flavor – reduce heat to low after 1 hour).  Stir occasionally. Thicken (instructions below) in the last 10 minutes.

For Slow Cooker – cover and cook on low for 8 hours. Then add the thickening sauce (instructions below) and cook on high, uncovered, until thickened.

For Electric Pressure Cooker: I sauteed the beef in the pressure cooker on the saute setting, along with the onions, and then added the remaining ingredients. I used the soup/stew feature to pressure cook for 20 minutes. Thicken (instructions below) and then used the slow-cooker feature to let it cook for the rest of the day, though that is optional

To thicken, heat 1 tbsp of butter and 1/4  cup flour in skillet, stirring constantly until the flour is golden. Slowly whisk in about 1/2 cup broth from the stew until smooth. Whisk mixture into the stew, bring to a low boil, stirring constantly until stew is thickened. Reduced heat and let simmer 10 minutes and serve.

Once it was cooled, I packaged it in individual freezer/microwave containers.

 

Buttermilk Biscuits:

• 2 cups flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• 4 tbsp powdered buttermilk
• 1/3 cup shortening
• ¾ cup milk (or water)
• 2 tbsp melted butter to brush on formed biscuits

Mix dry ingredients, make a center hole in the dry ingredients and add in shortening and milk. Blend together, then knead 10-12 strokes on a floured surface, roll out to ½” thick, cut into 8-10 biscuits or make a pan biscuit (pictured at top).

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