I have so many cookbooks that invariably a book I really like gets pushed to the bottom of the pile, and later I rediscover it. That's exactly what happened when I made this Garlic Lover's Crockpot Beef Stew with Olives, Capers, and Tomatoes, inspired by a recipe from The Olive and the Caper, a book about Greek Cooking written by Susanna Hoffman. The inspiring recipe calls for 100 cloves of garlic, and although I used less than that, this is a stew for people who really like the flavor of slow-cooked garlic. If you've never had garlic that's been cooked for a long time, it's sweet and delicious, and this stew smelled amazing while it was cooking.
Besides the garlic, there are Kalamata Olives, capers, bay leaves, Greek Oregano, and a touch of red-wine vinegar adding a lot of flavor to the tomato-based stew. I cooked this on high for a little over four hours, but if you're looking for something that can cook on low all day, this recipe would be perfect for that. I do recommend browning the beef, which you can do the night before and keep it in a container in the fridge overnight, just in case daylight savings time is making your mornings a little more rushed than usual!
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