Columbian Beef and Sweet Potato Stew

SJG3483's Note:

This is a hearty stew for a cold day. It has an exotics South American flavor.

• Total Time: 8 hrs 15 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 8 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• 1 lb cut-upstew meat or 1 lb beef boneless beef chuck roast
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• 1 ½ teaspoons olive oil or 1 ½ teaspoons vegetable oil
• 3 cups peeled sweet potatoes , cut in 1 inch pieces (can substitute squash)
• 2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic
• 1 dry bay leaf
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 large onion , cut into eighths
• 1 (28 ounce) can Italian-style tomatoes , with juices
• 8 dried apricots , cut in half
• chopped fresh parsley

Directions:

1. Remove excess fat from beef.
2. Cut beef into 1-inch pieces and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Heat oil in 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat.
4. Cook beef in oil about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until brown.
5. Mix beef and remaining ingredients except apricots and parsley in 4- 5 quart crockpot.
6. Cover and cook on low 8 hours or until beef is tender.
7. Stir in apricots.
8. Cover and cook on low about 15 minutes or until apricots are softened.
9. Discard bay leaf and cinnamon stick.
10. Sprinkle stew with parsley.

Reviews

[WarmFeather]

yummy! I didnt have cinammon sticks so I used ground, only thing I did differently was to coat the meat with flour and brown it, then I sauted the sweet potato and onion together first also. Warm Pumpkin bread complimented this stew perfectly.

[Chef #518588]

I tried this and it was great. The only thing I did differently was I coated the meat with a flour/cayenne mixture prior to browning. If possible I would recommend using the cinnamon stick which gives a very different flavor than ground cinnamon.

[dragonbaby]

The sweet potatos were a nice change from 'regular' stew. My husband doesn't like apricots, so when he got a bit of one he wasn't too please, but he enjoyed it otherwise. I didn't have cinnamon stick, so I just added ground cinnamon instead.