I want one for Christmas. That's how you can make things like this have a thicker broth, blend up some of the taters and veggies.

Oh and the sweet potatoes were good in it. They went well with the spicy cinnamon.

I was concerned as I'm usually not a cinnamon in a savory dish kinda girl, but I really like it in this dish.

I? have an immersion blender, didn't think to swoosh up a potato or two. Mom always did drop bisquick stuff into the stew and that usually dropped enough flour into it to thicken it up a bit.

I thought the cinnamon would go well with the sweet potatoes. I am going to make it next week when DH goes on his golf trip. I usually make crock-pot roast when he is gone because he prefers a thicker version.

In my beef stew recipe I made last Sunday, it calls for 2 tbsp. brown sugar, which I thought very odd when I first saw it, but it's delish.

Samboobree, brought to life by Arkie

The pictures pushed me over the edge. I tried to resist but I'm going to have to make stew. Darn it, the weather is perfect for it and the craving is BAD.

Verdict: de-freaking-licious.

My apartment smells wonderful, and I am in the process of enjoying a much-needed bowl of stew (it is ridic. stew weather here).

Some modifications, of course.

I dredged the beef in flour and browned it first, and rather than baby carrots, cut up big carrots.

Also, I have a relatively small crock pot, so less stock was used.

At the last minute, I added tapioca powder for thickening purposes.

No bulgur around the house, but, hey, a baguette!

THANK YOU BREEZUS!

Because this is closer to how I look...

Your's looks yummy with the thicker broth.

I prefer a thicker stew - seems more hearty and filling, I suppose. Such was the case with last night's dinner. Made mopping up all the sauce just wonderful with the baguette.

Tapioca powder is a godsend. I use it in almost every stew or curry I made.

Because this is closer to how I look...

I've never tried tapioca powder. How does it compare to cornstarch or flour for thickening?

I prefer it greatly, unless I'm making a roux. But given the amount of grease provided by the beef, I didn't think a roux was necessary.

Because this is closer to how I look...

I've never used Tapioca or cornstarch.

When I make my beef stew, my recipe calls for 1/3 cup of flour at the beginning. Then with an hour to go, I take 1/4 cup flour and 1/4 cup water, mix those together to make a paste and put it into the stew, turn the heat up to high for the last hour.

Samboobree, brought to life by Arkie

My in-laws decided to visit yesterday, so I threw the roast I had into the crock pot and used this recipe. Because I had visitors and was rushed to serve, I forgot to take a picture!

My comments, given that I'm not a big beef roast/beef stew fan, are below. It got thumbs up from my in-laws and Chris seemed to enjoy it. I enjoyed it about as well as I enjoy any beef stew/roast, but it was fun to have something with some sweeter spices.

What I liked
The cinnamon and cumin addition and the ease of both making this and cleaning up was great.

What I tweaked
I used a whole roast, more cinnamon, onions instead of green onions, and browned my roast first. I also added cornstarch/water at the end to thicken it.

Would I make it again?
Maybe not this specific recipe, but the basic idea I'd do again. It made me want to start adding cinnamon and cumin to stew/roast sometimes. I didn't love the allspice part, so would probably not add that again.

Other notes
I made acorn squash with a recipe in Real Simple this month. It was a recipe for butternut squash, but I had an acorn. From memory, it's basically roasting squash and shallots in the oven with olive oil, salt and pepper (375 for about an hour). Boil some apple cider until reduced, add apple cider vinegar and parsley. Pour over squash. I added a dash of maple syrup, but probably shouldn't have in retrospect. I should have added a few chunks of whole apples.

Thanks for hosting this week, Breezy!

-A Tribetastic Creation

I have this in the crock pot today. It smelled amazing instantly - I can't wait for the cooking smells to fill up the house.

This recipe came at a perfect time for me. My kids have colds and I pulled an all-nighter last night to get some work finished since my prospects of doing it during the day are nil. I love not having to think about dinner now that the stew is crocking.

A few hacks:

I forgot green onions. Actually, I haven't been to the store so I didn't really forget them so much as I just don't have any. I used a yellow sweet onion.

I didn't quite have two pounds of stew meat, so I increased the potatoes and carrots to compensate. I might have over compensated - the crock pot is very full.

I can't find my red pepper flakes so I crushed up two dried chile piquins with the mortar and pestle and threw those in instead.

I used one 28-oz can of diced tomatoes because I didn't feel like chopping up the couple of fresh tomatoes I have left. Because I used canned tomatoes, I reduced the amount of salt I put in.

Can't wait to eat!

Cake Haiku. Motion by Snidget/Shrunken down by Moonbaby/Ice Cat legal-sized.

Here's my photo:

It was delicious. Mr. Fro, who doesn't really care much either way for beef stew, thought it was very flavorful and enjoyed it. My daughter even ventured a bite.

As it turned out I did over-do it with the potatoes and carrots and as a result, 6 hours on high was not enough, so I had to finish it up on the stove. Next time I'll just get the crock pot started earlier.

Thanks, Breezy!

Cake Haiku. Motion by Snidget/Shrunken down by Moonbaby/Ice Cat legal-sized.

Been to the store and have all the ingredients. I think I'm going to wait for company this weekend. I have to pick her up in Tulsa on Friday so this would be a no-stress meal to come home to. But all the reviews makes me want to throw this in the crock now!

AnAgmanHalloweenoriginal2009

Perfect for company because the great smell will fill the house.

-A Tribetastic Creation

Company came down with the flu, so no TX peep at my house this weekend. Since it's rainy and gray and icky out today I decided today was a great day to throw this in. My house is starting to smell yummy.

I'm adding roasted parsnips, carrots and fennel after it cooks, because I have a bowl of them in the fridge that's yelling "use me, use me!".

House is smelling wonderful and my tummy is growling!

It turned out wonderful. Rob's not a stew person and he went back for seconds.

I thickened it with a little tapioca - ala Slicey - and put it over some brown rice. Made some cornbread and it was great. I did added the roasted veggies that I had left over from another meal. I have to say I liked the roasted carrots much better than the ones I just threw in the crock. I didn't have alot of roasted fennel left so I just heated it and put it on top.

I would make this again!

I threw some cinnamon in a pot of boiling water and my house smells great! We're having leftover Chinese food. Again, I'm enjoying the pictures.

DH works late Tuesdays, so this will be perfect for him.

LAST EDITED ON 10-21-09 AT 02:13 AM (EST)

That was seriously really good. Some changes I made
*added celery and mushrooms, no reason, just 'cos.
*added 1/2 tsp ground cayenne instead of the red pepper flakes (next time I will add more, I am a fan of spicy, but not everyone here is)
*used 3 potatos instead of 2
* omitted the salt and used sodium reduced beef broth (we are not big cooking with salt people
* added some corn starch as thickener
* made cheesy herb biscuits to sop up the extra stew juices
Served it with a cold beer (Keith's premium white)
YUMMMMMM!

Some things I might try next time
*substitute the lamb (great idea Starshine!) for the beef
*up the cayenne pepper and add some cocoa
*try sweet potatoes and /or turnips (esp. if I up the cayenne)

Considering DH is unconscious on the couch after having a couple of bowls, I would say he is a also a fan.

Woke up to snow on the ground, so this went into the crockpot. It's the first time we've tried cinnamon with savory. Hope the kids will enjoy...they're not usually too picky.

Courtesy of the very talented ARnutz