January 13: Beef Stew with Molasses and Raisins

This recipe caught my attention right away. I wasn't sure if I would love or hate beef with molasses and raisins. I made it before church this morning. It took a while to prepare it, so we were unfortunately late for church. Here are the ingredients:

 

First I coated the beef in a flour mixture:

 

Then it was browned in oil on all sides:

 

The beef was removed from the pan and onions were added:

 

After they cooked for 5 minutes, I added diced tomatoes, molasses, beef broth, vinegar, garlic, thyme, celery salt, bay leaf, and salt and pepper. That was brought to a boil and the beef was added to boil 1 minute. Then the whole mixture was put in the crockpot.

 

The stew cooked for 2 1/2 hours on high, then the carrots and parsnips were added and it cooked for one more hour:

 

And we ate it:

 

I cannot tell you how delicious this soup was. It had such a wonderful depth of flavor! The flavors are perfectly balanced and the pepper gives it a nice kick. Parsnips are a little strong to me, not awful, but strong. Maybe next time I would swap them out for potatoes or some other vegetable. This recipe was a bit of trouble, but definitely worth it! It's a keeper.