Snow on the Ground, Beef Stew in my Belly!

Over Thanksgiving weekend I thought about something I used to do frequently in the winter - make a roast in the crock pot & use it for several meals - stew, shepherds pie, and just straight up roast & potatoes. I felt inspired to do it again because it's just SO good and so easy. It was a perfect opportunity to spend the day in the kitchen with the way the weather changed on Sunday. I am fairly sure the rain was horizontal and when it turned into Snow it was just Gross.  I made a Butternut Squash soup for weekday lunches too, but that was nothing to write home about. The Beef on the other hand, well the results this time around were Just AMAZING, and I wanted to write it down so I didn't forget it. I want to repeat this every week for all of winter. Most of this was inspired from previous experience and glimpses of recipes for reminders on basics so I didn't really measure ingredients except for the Biscuits.
I just want to keep eating this and eating this! and the biscuits *drool* It's especially comforting with all this nasty weather we've been having so I hope you enjoy!

Slow Cooker Pot Roast 
1 Roast - 2-3 lbs (we got 3 lbs)
10 cloves of garlic (or more or less depending on your inclination for garlic)
1/2 onion
1 small can crushed tomatoes
favorite dried herbs (rosemary, thyme, oregano)
1 pint cherry tomatoes (because mine were going to go bad if I didn't use them - so Optional)
Sea Salt (I had a grey Irish salt on hand)
3-5 Whole Black Peppercorns (these are Key as they add a nice level of spice to the resulting broth)

I browned the roast on the stove before putting it in the crock pot.
You can cut slits into the roast & stuff it with Garlic (I did this time) or just add the garlic straight to the pot. I Add it whole, but you could mince it if you prefer.
rough chop the onion
add everything to the crock-pot + fill the crushed tomato can with water & add that to the cock-pot.

I cooked the roast on high for 5 hours (could be on low for 8-9) because it was 3lbs. If it's smaller you won't need as much time.

after the roast was done I shredded it & strained the veggies out of the broth. I ended up with about 4 cups of broth (you'll need this for the Stew)
Or, instead of straining the broth you could puree it with an immersion blender. It will quite a bit thicker. Just make sure to pull out any Herb Stems before pureeing.

Beef Stew & Cheddar Biscuits
1(ish) LB of Shredded roast (depends on how meaty you want your stew)
2-3 Carrots (Finely chopped)
1/2 Onion (finely chopped)
2-3 Stalks Celery (finely chopped)
2 Small/Medium Potatoes (Peeled & cut into bite sized pieces)
2 Medium Turnips (Peeled & cut into bite sized pieces)
(I also like to add Parsnips if I had them on hand - which I totally forgot until Just now that I have some in the freezer - or larger chunks of Carrots)
4 Cups Broth
(chicken can sub for the broth from the cock pot, or you can use a Beef Bouillon+water. 4 Cups resulted in a chunky stew with little broth, if you're looking for a brothy-er stew add another cup of liquid)
Bay Leaf
a Few sprigs of Thyme (dried or fresh)
a Splash of Red Wine (or two) You could also sub a Stout (like Guinness) or leave it out the alcohol altogether
2 Tsp Worcestershire Sauce
a Few ounces of Tomato paste (I used the crushed cherry tomatoes from the crock pot to add depth as I didn't want to open a whole can of tomato past for the stew)
1-2 tbsp Olive Oil (I had some leftover bacon fat in the fridge that I save for occasions such as these)
Biscuit Receipt 

In a large pot heat the Oil (I did a mix of Olive oil & Bacon Fat as I didn't want a Strong bacon flavor), add the chopped Onion, Carrot & celery. sauté, stirring until fragrant - (a few minutes),
Add wine & Worcestershire Sauce (it will almost immediately start simmering).
Add the Tomato Paste & Broth - I think the big difference for this batch of stew was using all the broth from the crock pot & using the whole peppercorns in the seasoning. The broth had a wonderful depth and spice that I hadn't been able to achieve before. I also believe browning the roast was necessary here. I did end up adding a bit of Bouillon to the broth as well, but less than 1tbsp as it was all I had in the fridge)
Allow the broth to come to a simmer & add the Herbs, Potatoes & Turnips.
Let this simmer for about 30 minutes or until the vegetables are soft - (remove Bay Leef/herb stems) add the shredded beef to the pot when there's about 5 minutes left on the veggies so that it can re-heat. et voilà!
Some Recipes call to thicken the broth with flour, I opted not to do this as I really didn't want to deal with it & I like it just the same thin or thick.


While the stew is simmering you can make the biscuits - Just remember to Preheat the Oven!

I've made this stew before with Dumplings instead of Biscuits and I was not a fan of the resulting dumplings. I crave that crispiness that you can only get from a Biscuit. So I found a recipe that didn't call for shortening - because let's be honest, the amount required in baked goods like biscuits and pie crusts can be somewhat gross when you think about what you're eating, and I had basically eaten a whole Pie over Thanksgiving weekend. Gotta say, these were delicious & I will be making them again!

Biscuit Receipt  -I only had parsley and some dried rosemary for my herbs, but it worked out just fine. the Cayenne gives them a nice kick!

BTW - total throwback to a Similarly timed post last year (LINK) But I know (deep in my heart) that this version was WAY better than whatever I made last year. After all, I'm always striving to improve