Budget Ketovore: Megafauna Stew
I make this stew weekly and have it for dinner whenever I feel lazy and don’t want to cook (like every second day). It is delicious, super easy, fast (but you have to give it time to stew) and only requires 2 ingredients, with fat, salt, pepper and water. And the name, well this is kind of what I think we stewed 30k years ago, maybe minus the pepper.
TOTAL NET CARBS: 2-3
Will need:
1lb (540g) Beef, Lamb or venison (retain blood and excess fat)
4c+ Water
1/2-1+ tsp Salt
1 tsp Pepper
2-3 TBSP Butter or bacon/fat8i drippings
Bunch Any leafy herbs or salads (this can be optional)
1 Onion, chopped (optional)
-Best gently fried golden in the meat drippings and a little fat. Add with the cooked chopped meat.
Tools:
Slotted spoon
Spatula
Stewing pot
Frying pan
Chopping board & knife
How to make it:
1. Take out your meat and let it get room temperature. In your stewing pot, pour in any blood and add any (well-chopped) fat trim and 4+ cups of water. The blood has water-soluble vitamins and the fat has fat-soluble vitamins, plus they enhanse the flavour. Having blood for the stew is why I use steaks that I cut up from the larger cuts you can buy at Costco (I add the blood from the packaging and steak cutting to each freezer bagged steaks {4 steaks a bag}). -Not to plug Costco, but it is noteworthy that they refused to cancel their DEI program.
2. Use any cut of Beef, Lamb, buffalo or venison. You will need about 1 lb. Precut stewing beef is perfectly ok, but here I am using 4, 3oz steaks. Salt and pepper the meat and using butter or fat drippings, fry on med until medium rare. You just want to get some nice browning on the steak for flavour. Set meat aside to rest. Add the steak drippings to your stewing pot using a spatula to get it all.
3. In the garden I found some Arugula that had wintered over and was beginning to flower. I picked enough to get about 3/4 cup of chopped leaves (avoid using woody stalks). You can use any herb or soft lettuce, you like. Parsley or oregano are fantastic, but any combination is delicious as well. I use whatever I have on hand. Add these herbs to your stewing pot.
4. Stir in the herbs and put the stewing pot on the element and bring it to a boil. When boiling, turn down to low and let simmer 10 minutes.
5. Chop the meat into 1 inch cubes. When the herbs have done simmering, add the meat to the pot and add enough water to cover the meat. This water will evaporate as the stew simmers. Simmer for 1-2 hours, depending on the toughness of the meat (add water if it get to low). Steak is done in about 1 hour.
6. After about an hour most of the water has evaporated off. If you want to stew the meat longer, add more water and let it cook down again. You can do this as many times as you need.
7. When your meat is tender, top-up the pot with just enough water to make a broth. Let this cool and put it into the fridge to sit over-night. Now, I have gone and just eaten it right away, but if you can let it sit overnight in the fridge the flavour is really enhanced.
8. Overnighting the stew also allows you to remove any excessive amount of fat. Don’t remove all the fat. Leave a good amount in for flavour and nutrition. I like to keep the excess fat and fry my eggs in it.
9. This stew will keep for well-over a week in the fridge, just in its pot with a lid. It’s great for quick, nutritious meals. I always have a pot in my fridge.
Note: Add a little water each time you reheat the pot, because the stew loses water as it cooks and cools.
-Enjoy, Kim
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