Beef Stew
This is a great recipe for a chilly day when you want to hunker in—good, old-fashioned comfort food! You can also leave this to cook (and warm up your kitchen) while you go about your business! We like to have a loaf of crusty bread with our stew, or pair it with dumplings (as seen in the picture).
Ingredients
1 pound stew meat, cut into 1” cubes, patted dry
1 Tblsp. oil
2 cups hot water
1 ½ tsp. salt
⅛ tsp. pepper
2 large potatoes, cut into 1 ½” pieces (about 2 cups)
4 medium carrots, cut into 1” pieces (about 2 cups)
2 medium stalks celery, cut into 1” pieces (about 1 cup)
1 small onion, chopped
½ tsp. browning and seasoning sauce (i.e. Gravy Master or Kitchen Bouquet)
1 tsp. salt
1 beef bouillon cube
1 bay leaf
½ cup cold water
2 Tblsp. flour
Serves 6
Directions
Cook and stir beef in oil in Dutch oven until beef is brown, about 15 minutes. (Don’t crowd the meat in the pan or it will not brown (Cook in 2 batches if necessary). Add hot water, ½ tsp. salt, and the pepper. Heat to boiling, reduce heat, cover and simmer until almost tender, about 2 to 2 ½ hours. (Keep the heat at a simmer, not a boil, or the meat won’t be as tender.)
Stir in the vegetables, bouquet sauce, 1 tsp. salt, bouillon cube and bay leaf. Cover and simmer (again, don't boil) until veggies are tender, about 30 minutes.
Shake ½ cup cold water and flour in tightly covered container to combine; stir gradually into stew. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute.
Simplified Version
1 pound stew meat or London Broil, cut into 1” cubes, patted dry
2-3 Tblsp. flour (enough to coat the meat)
¼ tsp. salt
⅛ tsp. pepper
½ packet onion soup mix
¾ cup beef broth
Combine flour, salt and pepper in a bowl or Ziploc bag. Coat beef pieces in flour. Brown in one tablespoon of oil in a skillet (do it in two batches if necessary—don’t overcrowd your pan). Place browned meat in an oven safe baking dish. Sprinkle with soup mix. Add beef broth and cover dish with foil. Bake in a 350° oven for one hour. Add more broth during cooking as needed. Reduce heat to 325° (add more beef broth if needed). Bake an additional two hours.
Serve over mashed potatoes.
