Nothing fancy like today's Food Network chefs make. One problem I had with it was the bay leaves.
My recipe called for one bay leaf, and because I watched Food Network and saw Ina put in 3 bay leaves. I added 3 to my recipe.The problem was that I wasn't making Ina's fabulous red wine stew. So my stew had a distinct bay leaf flavor. Too much of it. So I will not make this mistake again.
I will say that even though I couldn't remember how it would taste, being a recipe I hadn't made in years, I had no worries. It was delicious. Really good. I should have known, kids only eat what's good. I prepared this dish ahead of time, and put it on the stove the next day without the fuss or mess.
What I liked best about it was that it was a meal in a pot. Everything for a well rounded scrumptious dinner. Spoon it up, add some rolls or dumplings and you are good to go. It keeps well, too. After dinner, I put half of what was left into a quart size Lock and Lock 20-Piece Polypropylene Food-Storage Container Set
and popped it into the freezer.Next time, when there's no time to make dinner, I'll just get my leftover beef stew from the freezer and warm it in the microwave. Dinner will be ready in minutes.
Here's the recipe for my old fashioned beef stew.
How to Make Beef Stew
Traditional or Mexican Stew. You choose. Here are the ingredients.
1 to 2 lbs of beef chuck
(Do not use the grocer's prepared stew meat. The pieces are too small.)
1/4 C flour
1/4 Tsp salt
1/2 Tsp pepper
1/4 C vegetable oil
1/4 C minced garlic (about 2 cloves)
2 small yellow onions (slice and cut in half)
2 medium Idaho potatoes (peeled and cut in cubes)
4 medium carrots
3 stalks of celery (take strings off)
2 C chicken stock
2 C water
1 bay leaf
1 Tsp granulated sugar
1/4 C parsley
1/2 Tsp cayenne peper (optional)
2 avocados - cubed (optional)
I have a big 5-Quart Dutch Oven with Loop Handles that I use for recipes like this. It has a nice fitting cover. Some people call it a stew pot. I've had it for years and years so it's well seasoned. What this means is that it is almost like cooking with a non-stick pan.
I heat the pan up slowly so I have time to make the meat mixture.
I cut my beef into cubes about 1 1/2 to 2 inches thick. Pieces that are too small can disintegrate with a long cooking time. So make your pieces hearty.
I put the flour, salt and pepper in a plastic bag, shake a few times, add the beef pieces and shake until each piece of beef is well coated with my flour mixture.
My pan is usually hot by now, so I add the oil. It gets hot quick! Then I add the onions and stir until they look clear. I add the sugar to the onions. And in a minute or two, I add the minced garlic. Garlic burns fast, so once the garlic goes in, I add the floured meat mixture almost right away. Give it a few seconds at most.
I cook and stir until the meat is nicely seared and browned. It doesn't take long. So don't leave the pot. Just watch and give it a stir like you are folding it over itself.
When the meat is done browning (not cooked through), I add the chicken stock, put on the lid and cook on top of the stove for 90 minutes at the lowest temperature setting.
When the timer goes off, preheat the oven to a slow cook and low 275 - 300 degrees depending on how your oven works. I set mine to 300 because my oven runs a little cool. Then, I add the water, potatoes, carrots and celery.
Give the whole thing a quick stir, put the lid back on the pot and put it on the top rack in the oven for 2 hours. Slow cooking turns the meat into such tender pieces that you can cut it with a fork. Yum!
Tip: Because the meat was browned in the flour mixture, the stock and water turn into this creamy but light gravy. Not too thick, not too soupy. Just right. Double Yum!!
Traditional or Mexican Stew. You choose. Here are the ingredients.
1 to 2 lbs of beef chuck
(Do not use the grocer's prepared stew meat. The pieces are too small.)
1/4 C flour
1/4 Tsp salt
1/2 Tsp pepper
1/4 C vegetable oil
1/4 C minced garlic (about 2 cloves)
2 small yellow onions (slice and cut in half)
2 medium Idaho potatoes (peeled and cut in cubes)
4 medium carrots
3 stalks of celery (take strings off)
2 C chicken stock
2 C water
1 bay leaf
1 Tsp granulated sugar
1/4 C parsley
1/2 Tsp cayenne peper (optional)
2 avocados - cubed (optional)
I have a big 5-Quart Dutch Oven with Loop Handles that I use for recipes like this. It has a nice fitting cover. Some people call it a stew pot. I've had it for years and years so it's well seasoned. What this means is that it is almost like cooking with a non-stick pan. I heat the pan up slowly so I have time to make the meat mixture.
I cut my beef into cubes about 1 1/2 to 2 inches thick. Pieces that are too small can disintegrate with a long cooking time. So make your pieces hearty.
I put the flour, salt and pepper in a plastic bag, shake a few times, add the beef pieces and shake until each piece of beef is well coated with my flour mixture.
My pan is usually hot by now, so I add the oil. It gets hot quick! Then I add the onions and stir until they look clear. I add the sugar to the onions. And in a minute or two, I add the minced garlic. Garlic burns fast, so once the garlic goes in, I add the floured meat mixture almost right away. Give it a few seconds at most.
I cook and stir until the meat is nicely seared and browned. It doesn't take long. So don't leave the pot. Just watch and give it a stir like you are folding it over itself.
When the meat is done browning (not cooked through), I add the chicken stock, put on the lid and cook on top of the stove for 90 minutes at the lowest temperature setting.
When the timer goes off, preheat the oven to a slow cook and low 275 - 300 degrees depending on how your oven works. I set mine to 300 because my oven runs a little cool. Then, I add the water, potatoes, carrots and celery.
Give the whole thing a quick stir, put the lid back on the pot and put it on the top rack in the oven for 2 hours. Slow cooking turns the meat into such tender pieces that you can cut it with a fork. Yum!
Tip: Because the meat was browned in the flour mixture, the stock and water turn into this creamy but light gravy. Not too thick, not too soupy. Just right. Double Yum!!
30 minutes before the stew is ready to serve, I add the parsley. I wanted it mainly for decoration.
I experimented a bit, which is what I like to do. 30 minutes before this kid's favorite beef stew was done, I added a cup of peas, which wasn't part of the original recipe, and that turned out to be wonderful.
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Mexican Stew: I morphed my old traditional recipe a bit and turned it into a slightly Mexican version by adding 1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper and 2 avocados which I cubed -- after the dish is done.
Spice is not for everyone, but this is mild and a real mouth delight if you like Mexican food. You could put the mix of cayenne and avocado pieces in a serving bowl and let your honey or dinner guests add to their plate as they prefer.
Yummy for my tummy.
That's it for today.