Comfy & Cozy Twist on Beef Stew

written by

Jared Frye

posted on

January 24, 2023

I thought I would share a recipe we’ve made a few times now and it’s been fantastic every time.

We host Christmas Eve dinner at our house every year and this year I decided to add in this stew recipe for something a little different….and it was a huge hit! Everyone who tried it loved it!

This Cranberry Cider Braised Beef stew recipe originated from the Half-Baked Harvest blog….if you still haven’t checked out her stuff you really should, great food and drink recipes! Check out her original recipe here.

But of course, in typical style I’ve made a few adjustments to the original recipe to better suit our tastes. I put my version of the recipe below!

This is a great crockpot recipe so you can set it and forget it – and is sure to warm everyone up with the cold, wet weather we’re having!

Cranberry Cider Braised Beef Stew

3 pounds C&F Farms Stew Beef (you could also use a chuck or your other favorite roast cubed)

Salt and black pepper

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

3 shallots, thinly sliced

6 carrots, chopped

2 cups apple cider

1 cup dry red wine

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 tablespoon brown sugar

4 sprigs of fresh thyme

2 dried bay leaves

2 cups fresh cranberries (I only used about half this many, so adjust according to your personal taste)

2 cloves garlic, smashed

1-1/2 cups grits (the original recipe calls for polenta which also works but grits was easier for me to find!)

Instructions

Season the beef with salt and pepper. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet, sear the beef on both sides. Remove the beef and transfer to the slow cooker.

To the slow cooker, add the shallots and carrots. Add the cider, wine, balsamic vinegar, tomato paste, brown sugar (or honey), thyme, and bay leaves. Season with salt and pepper, gently stir to combine. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. During the last 2 hours of cooking, add the cranberries.

To make the grits. Heat the butter, garlic, and rosemary in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook until the garlic is golden and the rosemary is crisp and "fried", about 3 minutes. Remove the rosemary and reserve. To the pan, add 4 cups water and bring to a boil. Slowly whisk in the grits, stirring until the grits are soft and thick, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

To serve, remove the thyme and bay leaves from the stew. Serve the stew and gravy over the grits. Top with crisped rosemary. Enjoy!

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Why is Our Meat Frozen?

One thing that I’ve heard from folks at the various venues before and was mentioned a couple of times in the survey was our meat being frozen instead of thawed. So, let’s dig into that a little more this week and explain some of the logistics of our operation and compare that to the meat you could (because you don’t right?!) buy ‘thawed’ at the grocery store. We’ve talked previously about food labeling laws and the loopholes that exist to allow imported meat to be labeled as “Product of the USA” – and if you missed those emails, I made them into blog posts so you can find them here. But the key to that is that a lot of meat is being imported into the US. According to a report done by Reuters in early November the US is on track to import a record 3.7 billion pounds of beef by the end of 2023….and if trends continue that will reach 4.2 billion pounds in 2024! And that’s just the beef! Now, is that meat in the grocery store really fresh? Australia is one of the largest suppliers of beef to the United States, a journey that takes anywhere from 4-6 weeks depending on the port of entry to the US. I did some digging online and depending on which import company you look at some claim to be ‘wet aging’ the beef in large containers kept extremely cold during the journey and others will freeze the large primal cuts of meat and pack them tightly into those containers and let the crammed in meat help to keep it all frozen until arrival. Once in the states whether frozen or not, that meat is taken out and then processed down into the final cuts of steaks, roasts, and ground that you would get at the grocery store. Then is has to been shipped to a distribution center that then ships it out to grocery stores across the country. I mean if you like well travel meat, there ya go! That ground beef has seen some things! And all of those steps are done without freezing the meat? I don’t think so! That’s anywhere from 8-10 weeks from slaughter to showing up in the meat case at the grocery store. And you have no idea where it came from? Our process is a little shorter…just a little! For instance, as this message hits your inbox we’re on our way to the processor to drop off another load of cows. That same day those animals will be cut into large primal sections and then hung in a cooler for 14 days to dry age. And if you’re curious about dry aging, check out this link (Dry Aged Beef: What Is It and How Does It Work? – Robb Report) it’s one of the best explanations I’ve read about the process. On the 14th day those primal cuts are taken out, all the ‘aged’ meat on the outside is trimmed off and the large cuts are then cut down into individual steaks, roasts, etc. Once everything is cut, it is packaged, loaded into boxes and placed into one of their large walk-in freezers. We receive a call that day or the next that it’s ready to pickup – we’ll drive down and get the product and bring it back to the farm ready to sell to all of you! So, when you’re buying from us or another similar local farm you are truly getting some of the freshest meat possible! If we were to keep all the meat unfrozen we would need to get it sold extremely quickly…1 cow will typically produce over 400 pounds of fresh meat. Let’s just say on average a pound of beef is good for 3 days when kept in the typical fridge, we would need to get rid of all 400 plus pounds in less than a week! And as much as I wish we were selling 300-400 pounds every 3 or 4 days….well we’re not there quite yet! We really are trying our best to get all of you the freshest, highest quality meats we possibly can. And while several of you commented in the survey that while you wish you could get thawed out meat, you also said, it’s more important that you know where it came from and how it was raised. Hopefully that helps you some with knowing why our meats are available how they are, and while that may not be exactly what you had in mind it’s one of the freshest options available when buying individual cuts! As always thank you for reading and continuing on this journey with us! Jared