Take Your Peanut Butter and Stew It!

Is there nothing peanut butter can't make better? I am seriously addicted to peanut butter - perhaps to the point of insanity.  When I saw this recipe, my husband thought I was crazy to try it, but I knew it was something more like destiny.  We both ended up loving it!  I've served it up to a variety of people, and only one lonely, sad, pathetic individual hated it.  You know who you are.  Shame on you. 

I pulled this recipe from a South Beach cookbook, but I modified it to reduce the oil and so that I could throw it in my slow cooker.  Using the slow cooker makes the meat melt like butter in your mouth, but if you're craving it in a hurry or don't have a crock pot, just cook the meat all the way through and simmer the ingredients together for twenty minutes.

Peanut Butter Stew
Difficulty: Easy to Medium if you're unfamiliar with browning meats
Time: Expect 15 to 20 for prep, then let it cook in the slow cooker for at least four hours on low.  I tend to do it one hour on high, then let it sit on low for at least another three.  The longest it's ever sat was ten hours, and it was still deliciousness in a pot!
Serves: Four if you have a salad or something similar to accompany it.  I have to say... if I don't put the leftovers up right away, I seem to keep going back until it's gone....

Requires: Crock pot, or follow instructions above for just a big pot

• 1 lb lean steak, about 1 inch thick, cut into cubes (Sirloin or Eye of Round are my picks)
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 tube double concentrated tomato paste (usually found with the sun dried tomatoes, pizza sauce, etc, and it's usually a tube inside of a box)
• 1/2 c peanut butter (freshly ground is the most divine)
• 3 1/2 c water
• 1 tsp red pepper (or to taste for the spice-weaklings out there)
• 2 bay leaves
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Olive Oil or Cooking Spray

1. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and use the wipe-on method with olive oil, or spray it with cooking spray.  Add the onions.  Brown according to taste and then dump them in the crock pot.
   
2. Next, you're going to brown your meat on both sides.  You may need to spray the pan again after the onions.  Two things to this - it only takes about a minute a side (possibly less) to sear the meat at this temp, and you may need to work in batches so you don't overcrowd your pan.  As you sear the meat, move it to the crock pot.
   
3. Next, combine the tomato paste, peanut butter and 1 cup of water in a bowl.  It's easier to do it like this so that when you pour it all together you won't have clumps of tomato and peanut butter swimming about!  Add it to the crock pot.
   
4. Add the remaining ingredients to the crock pot and then stir.  While I do add the red pepper at this point, I hold off on the salt and pepper until it's done, as my experience shows crock pots do weird things to the salinity levels. Throw the lid on for at least four hours, then salt and pepper to taste and enjoy!