This is a crockpot recipe, adapted from a recipe for Mongolian mixed meat stew. I made it a few weeks ago. It's tasty, meaty, but not greasy. Once again, Claire suggested the title. She asked me if Mongolian stew had camel. I'm not sure what makes this recipe Mongolian.
This went nicely in my five and half quart crockpot. It provides about 8 servings, served with rice or noodles as a side dish. Some bread on the side is nice too, for dipping up the juices. It won't go as far served alone. The easiest way to stretch this recipe would be to add more potatoes and carrots.
The main preparation is cutting meat and vegetables. The meat is chicken and beef. The vegetables are potatoes, onion, baby carrots.
The recipe called for 3 pounds of regular chicken thighs which come with the skin on and the bones in. I bought a dozen thighs, about 1.8 k. The chicken thighs have to be skinned and cut into one inch cubes. I discard the skin and the bones. I might through the bones in to the stew and remove them after cooking. I might add a little favour. A time saving option would be to use skinless, boneless thighs - but probably only about two pounds or 1 k. The recipe called for a pound of lean stew beef, cut into one inch cubes. I bought a braising quality steak and trimmed out fat and sinew as I cut it.
The recipe called for 2 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into half inch cubes. I use Yukon gold, scrubbed. I don't bother peeling a thin peeled potato. I used one medium yellow (regular cooking) onion chopped to quarter inch pieces and a cup of baby carrots. I cut the carrots in half lengthwise to ensure they cooked completely. As I said, I think the potatoes and carrots could be increased without affecting the flavour of the dish.
The other step in preparation involves making about a half cup of chicken broth with hot water and chicken bouillon cubes, and then mixing in some spices. The original recipe called for a quarter cup of A-1 Steak sauce. I left that out and improvised. I used a couple tablespoons of red wine vinegar, a half teaspoon of onion power, a half teaspoon of garlic powder, a half teaspoon of paprika, a sprinkle of cayenne.
Then, the original recipe also called for a teaspoon of sugar, half a teaspoon of ground black pepper, a teaspoon of salt. I skipped the salt, used the recommended sugar and used the pepper mill generously.
The meat, vegetables and spiced broth go into the cooker. Add a can (I used a 14 oz can) of stewed tomatoes. Stir well, set crockpot to low and cook for 8 or nine hours.
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