Beef Stew with Star Anise

Coat a large skillet with coconut oil and brown stew meat. Remove meat. Handful by handful, add leeks, carrots and cubed squash to the hot fat and juices and cook until they brown a little. Don't skip the browning as this is where the deep flavor comes from.

From this point, you can either use a pressure cooker (30 minutes) or cook it stove top (more like 2 hours).

If using a pressure cooker, add 2 cups of broth, lime juice, star anise, cinnamon stick, tomatoes, lemongrass stalks and meat. Bring to 15 PSI and cook for 30 minutes. Natural release. Steam the vegetables in the remaining broth. Combine the meat and vegetables, and salt to taste.  

If cooking stove top, combine the meat and broth, tomatoes, lemongrass stalks, star anise, cinnamon, and lime juice and simmer, covered for 1.5 hours. Add more broth if needed. Add the browned vegetables and cook, uncovered for another half hour. Remove lemongrass stalks and add salt to taste.  (Recipe♦175)