Beef Stew

Sometimes when the weather is rainy or cold and you want something substantial to warm you up and fill you up, a bowl of beef stew is just the thing.  You can let it cook on the stove top for a couple of hours, filling the house with wonderful aromas and when it's time for dinner the anticipation of spooning a mouthful of the delicious meat and vegetables from the bowl into your tummy delights all your senses.  And you won't have all those artificial preservatives in this meal.  Let's get started.

1 pound of beef, (you don't need anything expensive since the meat is going to stew and get tender)
3 - 4 carrots
3 stalks of celery
3 potatoes
1 onion
1 Anaheim pepper
1 cup peas
2 Tabs oil
4 Tabs flour
salt / pepper / garlic powder / onion powder / chili powder / cumin / dried rosemary / oregano /  parsley

 On a plate, (or pie tin), place your flour, and about 1 teas each of salt, pepper, chili pepper, cumin, garlic powder, and onion powder,  (you want to get some good seasonings on your meat).

 Next cut up your beef into 1/2 inch size pieces, (or bite size).  Now coat your meat with the flour mixture.

In a dutch oven pot, heat 2 Tabs oil over medium heat and add the flour coated beef.

Cook the beef until it has a nice brown outer crust, and the inside is no longer pink, (about 5 - 7 minutes).  Make sure you scrape the bottom of the pan to get all the bits of wonderful brown flavor up off the pan.

 Add 4 cups of water and make sure to give the meat a good stir.  Add in more of your seasonings, (1 Tabs each of rosemary, oregano, garlic powder, and parsley).  Cover the pot and let the meat cook for about 45 minutes over medium-low heat until tender.

While the meat is cooking, now is the time to chop your vegetables.  Cut your carrots into 1/2 inch size pieces.

Cut the celery into 1/2 inch pieces

 Chop up the onion

Slice the Anaheim pepper into 1/4 inch slices.  (I add the Anaheim pepper for flavor, but it's not necessary to add it if you don't want it in your stew - it add flavor not heat).

Cut the potatoes into bite size pieces, (about 1/4 inch size).

 I usually put these vegetables into a container, so that when I'm ready for them I can add them all at once.

It has now been 45 minutes, (the meat is tender), and you will notice that the water has reduced down about 1/2 and we already have a nice rich brown broth.

Add 3 more cups of water and your chopped vegetables.  Stir everything well to mix up the beef and vegetables.

Cover the pot and cook for one hour until the vegetables are tender.  Make sure to stir the stew about every 20 minutes.

Once the carrots and potatoes are cooked, add  the 1 cup of peas.  Stir the stew well and continue cooking for another 20 minutes, to cook the peas.

And now you have a wonderful pot of beef stew ready to feed 6 - 8 people.

 I'm going to serve this with a slice of homemade cornbread and a fresh green salad.  Yummy!!  You could also make this stew with pork or venison - both of those are good choices.

Let me know how your stew turned out.