Stew
Serves: 6
This is beef stew the way I am my family like it. Lots of potatos and carrots, with thick beefy gravy.
10 2/3 ounces beef stew meat
1 1/2 tablespoons oil
2/3 large onion coursely chopped
1 1/3 cups chopped celery (about 1/2 a small head)
10 2/3 ounces mini peeled carrots
5 1/3 medium potatoes
1 1/3 teaspoons minced garlic
5 1/3 cups water
Beef bouillon to taste
Pepper to taste
2 1/2 tablespoons cold water
1/4 cup cornstarch
Add oil to a large pot. Dice stew meat if not already diced. Turn heat on under pot and allow to heat, then add meat, stiring to brown all sides. When meat is browned, add garlic, onions, and peper. Stir for a couple minutes, then add water, celery (for best taste, make sure you get lots of leaves in the celery as you chop it!), and bouillon. Cook on high heat until water boils again. Taste broth and add any salt or spices desired. This mixture may be simmered covered on low heat for as long as an hour to tenderize meat. Replace any water boiled out. After at least 10 minutes of simmering, add carrots. Dice potatos to about 1/2 inch chunks and add. Simmer for an additional 20 minutes until both carrots and potatos are cooked through (I taste them to see). Put cornstarch in cup or small bowl and add cold water until a thin liquid is obtained and all cornstarch is desolved. Increase pot heat to high. Stew will only thicken at a boil so add corstarch mixture slowly while stiring. Once desired thickness is reached, remove pot from heat. It is often best to let stew sit and cool for about 10 minutes before serving.
An great way to serve stew is to obtain large rolls or small bread loaves and cut the top off, remove most of contents, and use as a stew bowl! Serve removed bread on the side to dunk!
Recipe formatted with the Cook'n Cookbook Software from DVO Enterprises.