This winter, so far, has been more than a little unusual. It’s been strange to be in New England looking at weather maps and watching everywhere from Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C., and even the deep south get inches upon inches of snow as we sit here looking at bare earth and brown trees. But I can’t complain too much, as the roads have been perfectly clear! And, hey, it’s still cold, so perfect beef stew weather.
This recipe from Paula Deen has been my go to beef stew recipe for a while, and I think it’s great because it’s pretty hands off. I usually get the beef simmering, cut up the vegetables to add later (wait to cut the potatoes), and then go do whatever for an hour and a half. I have found that I need about twice the liquid called for in the recipe because the two cups originally called for boil almost completely away by the time I add the vegetables. This may be my stove (ick, electric), so you may find that you need to do this, too, or you may find that there’s no need. Instead of water, I use beef stock for added flavor — Kitchen Basics is my favorite brand. And I add extra veggies, too, because I was finding that we’d run out of veggies well before the beef. The recipe calls for Worcestershire sauce, which does typically contain high fructose corn syrup, but you can leave it out if you’re not comfortable with it and use liquid aminos, instead, to add flavor.
adapted from Paula Deen
Ingredients
2 lbs. stew beef, cubed
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
4 cups beef stock
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce (or liquid aminos)
1 clove garlic, peeled and lightly smashed
2 bay leaves
1 medium onion, sliced
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. sweetener (xylitol, sugar, etc.)
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. paprika
a dash of ground allspice
4 large carrots, chopped
4 ribs celery, chopped
2 Yukon Gold or new potatoes, cut into large chunks
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
1/4 cup water
Instructions
1. Add vegetable oil to a large Dutch oven and brown the meat over medium high heat.
2. Add 2 cups of the beef stock, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, bay leaves, onion, salt, sugar, pepper, paprika, and allspice. Cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours.
3. Remove the bay leaves and garlic clove, and add remaining beef stock, carrots, celery, and potatoes. Cover and simmer for another 30-45 minutes.
4. To thicken the gravy, remove 1 cup of hot liquid. In a separate small bowl, combine the cornstarch and 1/4 cup of water and stir until smooth. Mix with the hot liquid and return the mixture to the pot. Stir and cook until bubbly and thickened.
Posted in Food, Gluten Free, Main Dishes, Soups | 4 Comments »
Ummmm, I can smell that stew from here. It’s a favorite around my house. Sometimes we make it with dumplings on top, and sometimes we have it over rice. I also like to add cabbage to it.
Thanks for sharing
posted: February 17th, 2010 at 1:31 amThis looks great!
posted: March 14th, 2010 at 2:21 amThis looks so yummy! I’ve been fantasizing about beef stew for a while now. I need to just make some!
posted: March 23rd, 2010 at 2:00 amWooooooooow!!! This looks heavenly. I’m making this for dinner tonight.
posted: June 14th, 2011 at 1:37 pm