Cozy Beef Stew

Submitted by Kendra PeloJoaquin

"I put this on the stove, and sit in front of the fireplace, and enjoy the cool and rainy Seattle Winter. It is hot and salty and rich. This recipe makes an enormous soup. I generally eat some and then freeze the rest."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 25mins
• Ingredients: 16
• Serves: 20

ingredients

• 3 lbs select steak
• flour
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 5 small carrots or 3 large carrots
• 1 medium turnip
• 1 large yellow onion
• 0.5 (12 ounce) bottle dark beer (porter or stout are best, Attention Folks who don't cook with Booze Beer is NOT a NECESSARY INGREDIE)
• 5 cups grain (I use a combination of Millet, Bulgar, Buckwheat or Barley...nice hearty grains that take a long tim)
• 1 gallon beef bouillon
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• salt
• pepper
• thyme
• sage
• catsup
• 2 bay leaves

directions

1. Cube the steak, removing the fat if you like a"leaner" meal.
2. Chop the onion.I usually cut it into large chunks because the onion will sit in boiling water for a long time.
3. Saute the Onion in 1 tbs of butter.When it is done, dump it into the biggest stock pot you got.
4. While the onions cook, dredge the cubed meat in flour with a little salt, cracked pepper, sage and thyme in it.
5. Fry the steak quickly in the rest of the butter.You want to brown the meat slightly on all sides.
6. This is when I add the beer.It adds some sugar, so if you don't want to add beer use some other sweetener.More carrots, or some molasses works well.
7. Pour a gallon of beef boullion into the big old stock pot.(I use beef boullion paste with boiling water. You can use cubes, or cans.) Add to the water 1 carrot.Heat the water on high until it's boiling.
8. Chop (into sizable pieces) the turnip, and carrots.
9. When the water boils, in go the veggies, some pepper, a couple of tablespoons of catsup, the can of tomatoes, thyme, bay leaves and the grain.
10. When the soup boils again, turn it down and let it simmer for at least an hour.
11. I like to add some freshly pressed garlic right before I serve it, not everyone does.
12. I also like to serve it with a crouton on top.(Put the soup into oven proof bowls with a thick slice of hearty bread on top of each, w/ cheese on top. Heat the bowls in the oven until the bread is toasted and the cheese is melty.).

Reviews

[sugarpea]

I can't say enough good things about this stew! It's delicious!!I divided this by five and used my intuition and taste buds on some of the quantities. At the end of one and a half hours I had a beautifully thickened stew, seasoned perfectly without any additions and loaded with cooked but firm vegetables. I skipped the beer and used half an apple for the sugar and added a rutabaga and a potato to the vegetable mix. I didn't find the large amount of grain (barley was my choice) at all overwhelming. I used a bit more than a quart of beef stock and 12 ounces of beef. Hope this helps anyone who doesn't need stew for 20. Thanks for a great stew!