Holy Crap, how is it already the first day of Autumn?
I'm telling ya this year is flying by. It might be because of the uncommonly dry and hot summer we experienced in the PNW. The days seriously felt like they bled into each other and at times felt like it was groundhog's day. Summer was a blur of watering plants, eating watermelon, and car trips. I squeezed in one vacation in late July but the rest of the time was work, work, work.
As crazy fast as this year is going by I am super excited that its Autumn. This is my favorite season. Colder days means sweaters and scarves and comfy clothes. It also means hot drinks and stews are on the menu. All things that I love, right along with Halloween and Thanksgiving. I am already binge watching horror movies... Autumn is full of happy memories, beautiful colors, and amazing smells both outside (I love the smell after it rains) and in the kitchen.
My go to fall recipe is Coconut stew.
It was created by accident when I was younger. My father was making a more traditional stew and somehow over seasoned it. Like, super salty and so strong of a flavor the it was not edible, kind of over seasoned. He felt he could fix it and knew adding milk or cream of some sort would calm down the flavors... too bad we were out of both. But we did have a can of coconut milk. And like that, a childhood favorite was born.
9 times out of 10 when I say I'm having stew for dinner, this is exactly what I'm talking about.
It's important to really season this stew and let the meat fully brown so you can get as much flavor as possible before adding in that creamy sweet coconut milk. You want powerful flavors to mellow out with the coconut milk.
*Pictures and Recipe updated November 2018*
A Word on potatoes. Some Paleo dieters don't allow the use of white potatoes. In this case you can still make this recipe just substitute all the potatoes for sweet potatoes. I highly recommend using the Japanese sweet potato (purple skin with white flesh) as a substitute because it is milder in sweetness and will not overwhelm (and over sweeten) the stew.
PrintPaleo Coconut Stew
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Category: Main Course, Soup
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 2 TBS Coconut Oil
- 2 Lbs Stew Beef (Cubed)
- 2 tsp Salt
- 2 tsp Pepper
- 1 Medium Onion (Chopped)
- 3 Large Garlic cloves (Minced)
- 2 tsp Ground Coriander
- 2 tsp Mushroom powder
- 1 tsp Celery Seed
- 1 Large Russet potato (Peeled and diced small)
- 3 Large Russet or Yukon Potatoes (Cleaned and cubed)
- 1 Medium Sweet Potato (Cleaned and cubed)
- 1 Medium Carrot (Peeled and Chopped)
- 1 Large Celery stalk (Chopped)
- 8-10 cups Beef Stock
- 2 Bay Leaves
- 1 Can Coconut milk
Instructions
- Add 1 TBS coconut oil to a stock pot (preferably a cast iron one) Heat the oil over medium heat.
- Once the oil is hot add a handful of stew beef and saute till browned. Remove the browned meat and set aside. Repeat this until all the beef is browned (They will not brown properly if the pot is crowded- proper browning equals better flavor).
- Add the remaining TBS of oil and onion. Saute a few minutes until the onion is starting to become translucent.. Add in the garlic and saute for another minute.
- Add the browned beef, ground coriander, mushroom powder, and celery see and stir them together.
- Add the small potatoes, cubed potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, and celery into the pot and cover with beef stock. Set bay leaves on top and cover with the lid.
- Let this bubble for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. The small potatoes pieces will break down to thicken the stew and the big potatoes should be soft.
- Add the can of coconut milk and taste. Adjust the spices and saltiness as needed.
- You can serve now or let the potatoes and liquid cook down even more if a thicker stew is desired.
Notes
***This stew is naturally thickened with potato. That is why you peel and cut one of the potatoes small. This allows the small pieces to break down faster and thicken the stew while still giving you big chunks of potato in every bite.***
Keywords: Coconut, comfort food, dairy free, Gluten free, Paleo, Potato, Soup, Vegetables
Leave a Reply