Pat the meat dry and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper.
Melt a generous amount of healthy cooking fat such aslard,ghee orcoconut oil in a heavy skillet set over high heat.
Add the meat in a single layer, making sure that the pieces do not touch, and cook until brown on all sides. Work in several batches if you have to so you don’t overcrowd the pan. Remove the cooked pieces of meat to a bowl to collect the juices.
Once all the meat has been browned and set aside, lower the heat to medium, add a little more fat to the pan if necessary then throw in the onion and garlic and cook, stirring often, until the onion is fragrant and becomes translucent.
Transfer the meat, onion and garlic to VitaClay slow cooker, add carrots, rutabaga, mushrooms, rosemary and bay leaves
Set Vitaclay on “Soup” setting for 2 to 2.5 hours.
Once your stew is fully cooked and to your liking, ladle about a cup of the cooking liquid into a small saucepan and bring to the boil.
Meanwhile, in a small container, mix tapioca starch and water together. Pour that into the boiling liquid and cook for a minute, whisking constantly, until thickened.
Transfer this thickened sauce back to your VitaClay slow cooker and stir until well incorporated.
Serve immediately.(don't forget to fish out rosemary sprigs and bay leaves)
Note:First time cooking, always check in halfway of cooking to see if there is sufficient liquid inside. It is very hard to generalize how much liquids your stew will yield. If you brown the meat for too long, the liquid from the meat will become less. Therefore, you would need to add extra liquid.
