Old Fashioned Beef Stew

This stew and I go way back!  I’ve made it for years and there is never a drop left.  I always serve it with a batch of homemade biscuits, and that combination is the perfect comfort food.  Though it is a time consuming recipe because of the amount of time the stew meat needs to simmer, you can simmer the meat the night before, then refrigerate, so that when you get home from work, all you have to do is add the vegetables and cook them until tender.  There are no fancy ingredients here, just simple basic items that are easy to have on hand, but oh so good!

Ingredients:

2 lbs. cubed stew meat (I like to use the super-trim if I can find it.  There’s not as much fat and the individual pieces are smaller)

oil

2 cups water

1 teaspoon Worchestershire sauce

1 clove garlic

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

1 or 2 bay leaves

1 teaspoon sugar

1 Tablespoon salt

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon pepper

dash of ground allspice

6 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks (halve large pieces lengthwise)

4-6 small to medium red potatoes, peeled and quartered (I prefer to use red potatoes because they will hold their shape when cooked)

1 14 oz. can beef broth

3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/3 cup water

Directions:

In a large heavy pot, brown the stew meat in a little oil.  It’s not necessary to cook it thoroughly, this is just to add color.

Stir and cook til meat has browned.

Add next 8 ingredients:  Worchestershire, garlic, bay leaves, salt, sugar, paprika, pepper, and allspice. Then add 2 cups of water, then onions.

You may be tempted to omit the onions if you are not a big fan, but they are important to this recipe.  Don’t worry about the onion being overpowering.  This mixture will simmer for two hours and the onions will all but disappear.  They add a great flavor, so don’t leave them out.  I promise you won’t notice them at all when you get it all finished.  Just trust me on this one!

Place a lid over this mixture and simmer on low for at least 2 hours.  Don’t skimp on the time, it will take two hours to cook the meat until tender.

After two hours or so, the stew meat will be very tender and look like this.  Remove the bay leaves and discard.

Add the quartered potatoes and the chunks of carrot.

Add one can beef broth just to increase the amount of liquid.

Stir and cover with a lid and cook until the potatoes and carrots are fork tender.  It will take about 30 minutes or so.

When the vegetables are done, thicken the stew by stirring the 3 Tablespoons of flour into 1/3 cup of water.   Stir the flour water mixture with a fork until combined, then pour it into the boiling stew.  It will help if you can pour it through a small strainer to catch any lumps.

Continue to stir and heat just until the stew is thickened, a couple of minutes or so.  Ladle into bowls and enjoy a satisfying stew, perfect for a snowy winter night!  (See?  No onions!)