Mischievous Cooking

So, it is well known around these parts that a.) my Husband DOES NOT eat beef stew or anything that resembles it and b.) red meat doesn't cross our threshold pretty much... ever. Well, we made an exception and it was DELICIOUS. So delicious in fact that I have NO PICTURES to document the beefy goodness that was Pampered Chef's Moroccan Beef Stew from their "More Weekday Dinners - Done!" Collection. We've already tried a few of the other recipes from this collection and our favorites thus far are the Lemon Pepper Chicken Divan, Fiesta Chili Mac, Orange Chicken Lo Mein, and our FAVORITE favorite (which is another shocker since it's not Chicken) are the Shredded Pork Tostadas. We seriously could have eaten them till we exploded. We still need to try the Thai Chicken and Vegetable Skillet as well as the Barbecue Pork Shepherd's Pie... We'll get back to you on those! Without further ado, here's the Moroccan Beef Stew recipe! You'll have to buy your own collection to get the rest of them!

Moroccan Beef Stew

• 1 Medium Onion
• 1 Large Russet Potato, peeled
• 2 Medium Carrots, peeled
• 1 lb boneless sirloin steak, about 3/4" thick
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp coarsley ground black pepper
• 3 tbsp *Moroccan Rub, divided
• 1 can (14.5 oz) beef broth
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• 3 garlic cloves, pressed
• 1 can (15 oz) garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can (14.5 oz) petite diced tomatoes with garlic and onion, undrained
• 1 medium zucchini

1. Coarsely chop onion. Dice potato and carrots; set aside. Cut steak into 3/4" cubes. Combine steak, oil, salt, black pepper and 1 tbsp of the rub in a large bowl. Heat an additional 1 tbsp oil in a 12" skillet 1-3 minutes or until shimmering. Add steak; cook 3-4 minutes on each side or until slightly browned. Remove from skillet. The only reason you're getting up close and personal shots are because I *TOTALLY* wasn't planning on blogging this meal until I started mixing up the spice and OMGDROOL. So, yah... needless to say my counters were FILTHY... by my standards at least.
2. Whisk broth, remaining rub, cornstarch and garlic in same bowl. Pour into skillet; add beans, tomatoes, onion, potato and carrots. Bring to a simmer; reduce heat to medium. Cover; cook 13-15 minutes or until tender. See? My veggies TOTALLY simmered!
3. Meanwhile, dice zucchini. See that pretty green knife? That would TOTALLY be Pampered Chef's Santoku Knife. That baby is my new lover... I honest to God have to clean it at least twice a day, because OBVIOUSLY peanut butter and jelly needs some ninja like cutlery involved when it comes to slicing it into triangles. I mean, just LOOK at the mad skillz it has when it comes to slicing zucchini... LOOK!
   
4. Add zucchini and steak. Cook, covered, 3-4 minutes or until zucchini is tender.

*A few side notes, in place of the Moroccan Rub, 1 1/2 tbsp paprika, 1 1/2 tsp curry powder, 1 tsp sugar, 3/4 tsp each ground cumin and ground ginger, 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon and 1/4 tsp chili powder can be used. Combine and use 1 tbsp on the steak and the remaining 2 tbsp in the sauce. I also served this with some garlic loaf I picked up from Kroger's Deli. It's one of them fancy "whole garlic" loaves with literally a whole head of roasted garlic baked into the loaf. Better believe I slather it in butter and add MORE garlic on top... I could eat that as a meal all by itself. Aaaaaaaand, this is why I'm fat!

My Husband? The non stew eater? He dipped out on us about halfway through prepping to go get fast food and then he hid upstairs so the kids wouldn't find him out. He claimed that he eats 99% of my meals even if he's not a fan of a particular meat/spice/etc. to show the kids they have to try everything once. I let him slide, but I was still a little peeved... But that's ok, because my Dad TOTALLY came over and ate some and my Grandfather noshed on it as well. The consensus? Totally a keeper recipe wise. As for the kids? I convinced them to eat at least as many bites of "hamburger" (suckers...) as they were years old. The Princess ended up eating twice as much "hamburger" as I asked her too, but of COURSE no vegetables because hello! Vegetables are healthy! The Princess doesn't do healthy (which is why she gets a big ole' sippy cup full of Carnation Instant Breakfast WITH her cereal in the mornings and her vitamins every day at lunch.) Stinky took a bit more convincing. He ate all 3 bites of "hamburger" that I asked him to and a few bites of vegetables but ended up chugging a cup of milk afterwords because he was still hungry. Gee, child, I can't imagine for the life of my why you'd still be hungry! And no, as a matter of fact I *didn't* get a picture of the final product because, seriously? Have you BEEN around my children when they're hungry? Next time, I promise. :)

Both kids are going through growth spurts right now (yay, me!) I have been to Kroger, I kid you not, at least 4 times to restock our pantry with snacks and fruit. I shudder to think of their teenage years. I will have to go sell my soul or something just to keep them fed. Any suggestions? Seriously. The Princess's hands are rivaling mine in size right now and I'm scared people!