Recipe of the week -- Bratwurst Stew

I love easy dinners. Especially ones that take only a few minutes to put together and then you can forget about them. Slow cookers are great for that. Mine really gets a workout around here and on busy days it's a life saver.

This week I made a family favorite. I don't make it often, but when I do, there is rarely any left over.

Bratwurst Stew

4 medium potatoes, cubed
2 medium carrots, coarsely chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
1 cup chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 lb. fresh bratwurst links, cut into 1 inch pieces
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 cups half and half cream
3 tbls. cornstarch
2 tbls. cold water

In a 5 quart slow cooker, combine the potatoes, carrots, celery, onion and garlic. Top with bratwurst slices. In a small bowl, combine the broth, salt, basil and pepper; pour over bratwurst and veggies. Cover and cook on low for 7 hours. Stir in cream. In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and water until smooth; stir into stew. Cover and cook on high for 30 minutes.


The beauty of this stew is you can chop the veggies into large chunks. Everything comes out so tender at the end that you can use your spoon to cut them in half in your bowl if they are too large too eat. It's a really nice "rustic" looking stew when complete.