Cooking for Single Men – Swole Beef Stew [paleo] [meathead]

(I’m trying out a new recipe format any feed back one you like better is much appreciated)

In the ever arduous task the modern man faces to lose weight and get swole he ends up staring down the barrel of the protein supplement gun. For most beginners there’s little choice, you’re faced with the handful of major brands that can be bought at grocery stores and 7-11. As you stay on this path you slowly begin to educate yourself as to what else is out there. You begin to realize there’s lots of options and that they all offer different advantages and disadvantages.

A few weeks ago Sebastian at Danger and Play threw a new type of protein at me. It comes from a small American based company called True Nutrition. Now the one thing that struck me about the products that TN offers is that they’ve broken out of the traditional mold and started offering not only meat based protein supplements, but savory supplements with their line of protein soups.

Now Sebastian said he would order the French Onion flavor and just mix it with water and eat it as is. With 26g of protein per 8oz serving it couldn’t get any simpler to lift heavy shit then go home and enjoy a bowl of soup. As a chef, however, my mind begin firing up about how I could take TNs protein broths and with a small bit of know-how turn them into a full meal with minimal effort and maximum flavor.

Hardware

A large pot(or why not use a Cast Iron Skillet like me)

Software

One medium onion (color is irrelevant)
Three ribs of celery
One package of frozen mixed vegetables (I used the one containing carrots, peas, green beans, corn, and lima beans)
One flank steak
Three servings of True Nutrition Protein Beef Broth
One tablespoon of Worcestershire Sauce
One tablespoon of red wine vinegar
One teaspoon of dried rosemary
One teaspoon of dried thyme
One teaspoon of Sriracha

Do Work!

First thing is first, get your pan hot, put it over medium high heat and let it sit while you finish the prep
Start by cutting up your meat, celery, and onion. Simply slice the celery and medium dice the onion. I chose flank steak for a few reasons, the first is that its easy to cut up. Simple cut it into 1/2 strips, cutting with the grain then cut the strips into cubes.
Add your meat to your pan and spread it out evenly. Dont worry about browning it (though if you want to just add the meat in batches, browning one batch then removing it, rinse and repeat) just get it cooking. We want to render out some fat and cook out some of the moisture.
While the meat is cooking mix your three scoops of TN beef broth with 32oz of water. Thats 8oz more then what the TN directions call for but thats because the liquid will reduce as it cooks. Once the powder is fully dissolved add in the Worcestershire Sauce, Sriracha, and vinegar.
After the meat has cooked down a bit add in the celery and onion and a teaspoon of salt. Stir in the vegetables, turn the heat to high and let it cook for 5-10 minutes until you start to smell veggies and meat caramelizing and starting to brown and there’s no moisture left in the pan.
Once the veggies and meat have cooked down sufficiently add in your broth mixture, frozen vegetables, and dried herbs.
Turn the heat to medium-low and let this simmer for about 1.5-2 hours, or until the meat is tender. Check it ever 30 minutes or so and make sure it hasn’t cooked down to far. Add water as needed.
Once the meat is tender turn the heat to medium and cook the stew till you’ve only have about 80z of liquid left. This will give it a nice stewlike consistency without using any starches to thicken.

What you’ve got now is three manly servings of a protein fortified beef stew both with an additional 23 grams more protein per serving then if you used traditional ready to serve beef stock. No more are the body builders, powerlifters, and gym rats relegated to consuming pint after pint of unsatisfying fruity shakes.