 |
| Scott Conant. Is he yummylicious or what??!!!!!?? And yes, my husband knows how I feel about him. : ) |
Then I ended up loving the show. Megan, thankfully, will pull herself away from Peppa Pig and watch it with me. I think this has brought out a love of cooking in her. That and baking with her Nana!! : ) So we decided to make a pot of beef stew together. I wanted something simple that I had the ingredients on hand for already. I found a recipe on line that met all our criteria and I thought I'd share it.
It called for 2 lbs. of cubed beef stew meat but I used 3 lbs. and kind of guessed on additional amounts of the other ingredients that needed to be added due to the healthy appetites in our house and left-overs for my honey to take to work.
3 pounds cubed beef stew meat
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
Add oil to large pot (they called for a dutch oven but, truth be told, I don't have one) and stew meat and cook until browned on all sides.
Add four and a half cups of hot water and five tablespoons of beef bouillon granules. You can crumble up five beef bouillons if you don't have the granules. I always keep chicken and beef bouillon granules on hand because they add extra flavor to almost anything.
2 tablespoons dried rosemary
2 tablespoons dried parsley
1/2 tablespoon ground black pepper
Now you add your spices listed above. The only dried rosemary I had on hand was McCormick brand that has been in my cupboard for a while so I added some extra in case it had lost some of its strength. I ended up scooping it all out with a colander type spoon once the stew was finished cooking because it was not something I wanted to eat. Reminded me too much of pine needles. : )
 |
| My sous chef, Miss Megan, hard at work stirring the pot. |
Next you put a lid on it and let everything simmer for an hour.
It's also time for a chocolate milk break!!!
After an hour, stir in:
4 large potatoes peeled and cubed (I used red and I'm thinking I might not peel them next time.)
3 handfuls of baby carrots cut in half
4 stalks of celery
1 large chopped vidalia onion
Next, add 2 heaping tablespoons of cornstarch to 3 tablespoons of cold water, mix and stir into the stew. The recipe didn't call for it but I also added sea salt to taste. I honestly thought it was a bit bland without it. It all depends upon your preference. Cover the pot once again and simmer for 1 hour more.
Voila!!!!! . . .
Add a crusty piece of bread to soak up all that delicious gravy and you have a rib sticking meal for a cold spring (in this case) day!!! It was a huge hit in our house and Jim took the last of it to work again tonight. Minimal work with maximum return!!! : )
Easy peasy!!!! : )
Many blessings for a beautiful Monday ~ Wendy
