Mushroom Stew
1 medium onion, finely minced
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
2-4 large potatoes, scrubbed and sliced into eighths
2 carrots, chopped
1 (8 ounce) basket sliced button mushrooms
3 portobello mushrooms, chopped
2 bay leaves
1 (8 ounce) can salt-free tomato sauce
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 tablespoons vegan Worcestershire sauce
3/4 teaspoon thyme
5 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca
1 teaspoon black pepper, divided
1 (10 ounce) bag frozen peas
1. Line the bottom of slow cooker with the onions. Add the garlic on top of the onions, but be sure the layer of onions is thick enough for the garlic not to fall through and touch the cooker liner.
2. Add potatoes and carrots. Add the mushrooms to the top of the other vegetables. Add the bay leaves. At this point, mix the tomato sauce, water, Worcestershire, thyme, tapioca, and 1/2 the pepper in bowl. Stir well and pour over veggies.
3. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. At the end of that time, stir cooker contents; add peas and the remaining black pepper. If you want to serve this right away, let the peas cook for 5-15 minutes.
4. Should you choose to store the stew instead of eating it right away, add the peas after you've poured the stew into a container. The frozen peas will help you cool down a little faster than if you added them during the cooking time.
SO HOW'D IT GO?
Holy unseasoned, batman! There's like zero salt in this stew. I used broth instead of water. It was still way under seasoned. A very healthy shake of salt improved it a lot. The other problem I had was that the tapioca solidified into a lumpy mass on the top of the dish while it was cooking in the crock-pot.
In the future I would definately increase all the seasonings, use broth instead of water and stir in the tapioca so that it doesn't congeal on top. Other than that, its a pretty solid recipy. Since none of these problems is really interupting my enjoyment, I still give it high marks.
I must try this one. Sounds really Yummy♥
This was deffinetly a good stew, not my favorite but I still will make it in the future.
Oops! I forgot to mention that since I had so much liquid I chopped up more potatoes and carrots to accommodate it. Just eyeballed it, really. I think next time I'll put in different veggies and pasta instead of the potato. I'm sure that'd be good as well! :)
I made this yesterday and it received rave reviews. The boyfriend even demanded it be put into the supper rotation. :) I did have to change it up a bit though. I used a 28 oz. can of organic no salt crushed tomatoes and enough water until it looked right for the time I'd be cooking it. I also used one basket of baby bellas and half a basket of white mushrooms. I also added roughly 1-2 teaspoons of salt and pinch more pepper. This was VERY good. I'm always looking for good Crockpot recipes and this exceeded my expectations, thank you! :)
I changed the recipe a little I added broccoli and cauliflower. I also added 4 oz more of the tomato sauce and 8oz more of the water. I think it turned out well. the picture doesn't do my stew justice.
I just made this on the stovetop and I didn't think it needed any thickener...besides I like to mash the potatoes into the broth. :) It is good, though since I used a cup of pasta sauce (holiday weekend, forgot to buy plain) it came out kind of sweet and I added some hot sauce to give it a little more kick...but go easy. Also because it was pasta sauce I had to be careful the potatoes didn't stick to the pan.
Someday I'll make it in the crockpot and it'll be gorgeous-er yet.
thanks for the replies regarding tapioca/thickeners :)
i ended up just making a variation of this stew, without a thickener because i decided i didn't wait it thick anyway. i cut up an onion, a few peeled potatoes, and tons of cremini, regualar and portabello mushrooms. i did it all in a veg broth with some yummy spices, garlic and a cup of peas at the very end. it's FANTASTIC!! so thanks for the inspiration ;)
have a good one!!
Lenorre
If you're going to thicken with cornstarch or flour, it might be best to do this after it's done, on the stove. There's a thread re:this recipe on the Q&A page and I mentioned I will probably make it on the stove; ibsenskid recommends using flour to thicken in that case. The tapioca will respond better to crockpot cooking (no lumps).
hey, was just wondering if i'd be able to leave out the tapioca?
Lenorre-- I was wondering the same thing. I'm pretty sure the tapioca is for the purpose of thickening. According to this site-- http://www.foodsubs.com/ThickenStarch.html you could probably use arrowroot or flour or cornstarch in place of it. The quantities may differ a bit, though. For example, if you're going to use cornstarch you should only use about half as much.
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