Shank-Style Beef and Tomato Stew
Osso buco dragged off the slow cooker and into one pot: freeze-dried beef, tomato powder, and a long soak instead of a long braise.
- calories
- 610
- weight
- 5 oz
- cal / oz
- 122
- protein
- 38 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 15 min
- total time
- 20 min
- water
- 600 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Alcohol / Esbit
- Backpacking
- Basecamp
- Car camping
- Winter / snow
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Freeze-dried cooked beef | 2 oz | stands in for the shank; canned roast beef works at a trailhead |
|---|---|---|
| Tomato powder | 3 tbsp | replaces canned tomatoes and paste both |
| Beef bouillon | 1 cube or 1 tsp powder | |
| Dried diced carrot | 3 tbsp | |
| Dried diced onion | 2 tbsp | |
| Dried celery flakes | 1 tbsp | |
| Garlic granules | 1 tsp | |
| Dried rosemary and thyme | 1/2 tsp each | crush the rosemary or it stays a twig |
| Instant polenta or mashed potato flakes | 1/3 cup | the thickener and the bed |
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp | |
| Salt and black pepper | to taste | |
| Dried parsley | 1 tsp |
Method
- Boil 600 ml of water. Dump in the beef, vegetables, tomato powder, bouillon, garlic, rosemary, and thyme.
- Simmer on the lowest flame you can hold for ten minutes, stirring now and then so the tomato does not catch on the bottom.
- Cut the heat and let it sit covered for five more. The carrot needs that time; it rehydrates slower than everything else.
- Stir in the polenta or potato flakes a spoonful at a time until it thickens to a stew.
- Pour the oil over, season, and scatter the parsley.
Osso buco is a four-hour braise built on bone marrow and collagen, and neither of those travels. What does travel is the flavor structure underneath: browned beef, tomato reduced hard, a soffritto of onion and celery and carrot, and enough rosemary to cut the sweetness. This rebuilds that with dried parts and fifteen minutes.
Tomato powder is the piece that makes it work. Canned tomatoes are mostly water and glass, and paste is a wet ingredient you cannot carry; the powder gives you the same acid and body at a fraction of the weight, and it thickens as it hydrates. The polenta at the end stands in for the traditional bed of the same, so it is one pot instead of two.
Packing
Everything dry except the oil goes in one bag at home. Crush the bouillon cube before it travels or you will be chasing it around the pot.
Variations
- Swap the beef for a foil pouch of chicken and use chicken bouillon.
- Freeze-dried mushrooms in place of the meat make it vegan, but drop the protein estimate by half.
- A splash of red wine vinegar at the end does what the wine would have.
https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/slow-cooker-osso-buco