Cooking with Coke!

I have heard of other people cooking with Coke before, but I have never tried it myself. Until now. When I told my family that I was going to be making a recipe using Coca Cola, I got a variety of strange looks. I assured them that it would be tasty and that “lots of people do it!”. I figured if nothing else, it will make for interesting conversation at our dinner table, while enjoying our meal made with coke, along with a nice cold glass of coke! Since my kids are not young’uns anymore, their beverage is their choice. For me, Diet Coke is my beverage of choice.

I never really thought of visiting My Coke Rewards for anything other than submitting my points and entering sweepstakes, but I learned that they have an extensive recipe section. Some of the recipes have even been created by from Chefs G. Garvin and Ingrid Hoffmann!

Coca Cola Beef Stew

There are some fantastic meal ideas and other fun things to do on My Coke Rewards/Meals website. You can create a shareable cookbook of your family’s all-time favorite recipes, you can read and share tips on how to get kids, pre-teens and teens involved in the kitchen, or you can simply browse for new recipe ideas. Oh – and you can even watch videos for some of the recipes too, if you need a bit of extra help, or just like watching others cook

I was asked to create one of the dishes featured on the website (or create my own). I decided to make the Coca Cola Beef Stew, since my family loves stews. The preparation was really easy, and I loved that I could start it ahead of time and not have to worry about dinner later in the day when I am tired.

COCA COLA BEEF STEW

(Recipe Courtesy of Ingrid Hoffmann)
Prep time: 15 min.
Cook time: 1 hour 20 min.

INGREDIENTS
1 3lb. beef chuck roast, excess fat trimmed and cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 lb. yucca, peeled, halved, and cut into 1-inch pieces (I used fingerling potatoes instead)
3 carrots, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
1 large fennel bulb, trimmed and thinly sliced (I omitted this)
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 14.5 oz. can stewed tomatoes
1 12 oz. can Coca-Cola
1 1/2 cups water
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp. paprika
3/4 tsp. dried oregano
Chopped parsley for garnish

PREPARATION
Sprinkle the beef with 1/2 tsp. salt and the pepper. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the beef
and cook, in batches, turning occasionally, until browned, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Add the yucca, carrots, fennel, and onion to the Dutch oven and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender, about 8 minutes. Return the beef to the Dutch oven. Add the tomatoes, cola, water, garlic, paprika, oregano, and the remaining 1/4 tsp. salt; bring to a boil.

Transfer the stew to the oven and bake, covered, stirring occasionally, until the meat is fork-tender, about 1 hour.

I changed the recipe a little bit, to suit my family’s tastes. I omitted the fennel bulb, and also chose to use fingerling potatoes in place of the yucca.

What did my family think about my version of the Coca Cola Beef Stew? They liked it. They really liked it! I served it with garlic bread and voila – a quick, simple and tasty meal. I will definitely be adding this to the family favorites section of my recipe book.  I am anxious to try other recipes using coke as well.  It’s a fun way to mix things up a bit, and definitely a new way to add a twist on some old favorites!

Have you ever cooked with Coca Cola?

*Compensation was provided by Coca-Cola, but Coca-Cola is not a sponsor, administrator, or involved in any other way with this post. All opinions expressed are my own and not those of Coca-Cola.