Not a Roast

Well, dinner time rolled around again and I was really not sure what I wanted. I need a little inspiration I guess....so I went to the fridge to see what there was. I decided to use the last bit of beef stew meat and mix it with some veggies and make an Un-Roast. You see, a roast comes from the rear hind quarters of the cow (called the round) and according to the Cattlemans Beef Association the stew meat comes from a part called "other". I don't want to really think about what "other" part that could be....Anyways, its an Un-Roast because I used all the same veggies you would with a roast. But, it's not a stew either since its not going to actually stew...

SO, here's what I did. You might want to share this with someone though because I had a bit too much food.

3/4 cup water
2 beef bouillon cubes
1/4 lb beef stew meat
2 red potatoes, cubed
1/2 cup carrots (I used the bagged ones...easy!)
1/4 cup onion- big chunks!
4 sprigs of parsley, roughly chopped
thyme


1. In a small glass baking dish, combine water and the bouillon cubes. Heat in the microwave for 1 minute and 30 seconds so that you can dissolve the bouillon cubes.
**Before you add the stew meat to the dish, you might want to tenderize it....which means you get to beat the crap out of it :) Stew meat tends to be tough since they expect you to stew it for long lengths of time.
2. Add the beef stew meat and all of the veggies and parsley. Top with thyme. I gave the shaker of thyme a couple decent shakes...not sure how much I used, really.
3. Cook for about 40 minutes at 350. You want the veggies tender and the beef cooked.

The drippings or 'juice' on this is really thin, so this is probably pretty healthy. It's not covered in gravy or thick soupy-ness like a beef stew is. If you want a gravy, take the drippings in the pan and add about a teaspoon of corn starch to 1/4 cup of cold water. When they're mixed, add them to the hot drippings. Keep the drippings cooking over a burner and keep stirring the mixture. Eventually it will thicken and you can have gravy to go with the meal.


This was pretty tasty for a throw together type of meal! If you have anything you want to see made, let me know! I'm looking for new ideas! I think I'm going to make a mushroom and pancetta risotto soon. I had risotto in my fritatta this morning and I really liked it!


Happy cooking, y'all!

Amy