Economical Beef Stew...

JinxTheCat's Note:

...but with no comprimise on the taste! This is a lovely stew that I make all the time, as it happens I'm posting this as I cook it - a great winter warmer. Originally it was just my basic recipe, how mama used to make it, but after seeing various combinations over the years, I've changed it slightly and now I don't think it get's any better. I use "casserole steak" for this and it's beautiful, and reasonably priced. You can use more expensive steak or cheaper cuts of beef, but this is already a lovely dish that is made at a very low cost. I add homemade cheese & chive dumplings (I'll post my recipe after I have posted this one) and put them into the stew 30 minutes before the meal is ready. Serves 4 - half the recipe for 2, half again for 1.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 10 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 800 g beef , Cubed
• 1 ½ liters beef stock
• 2 onions
• 4 garlic cloves
• 6 celery ribs
• 6 carrots
• 6 potatoes
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• ½ teaspoon ground allspice
• 12 -15 homemade cheese & chive dumplings (optional)

Directions:

1. Fairly straightforward recipe, pre-heat oven to gas mark 5, or 190 C - I think around 350!
2. Chop Beef into cubes if necessary; add to the pot & cover with Stock.
3. Chop Onions, Celery, Carrots & Potato; add to the pot.
4. Crush Garlic, Chop Thyme & Oregano; add to the pot.
5. Stir in half a teaspoon of all spice and give the whole contents of the pot a good stir.
6. Cook in the middle of the oven for 30 minutes.
7. Prepare your dumplings while this is doing - see my other recipe.
8. After 30 minutes, remove from the oven and put the dumplings on the top of the stew, puch them in gently so half of each is 'hidden' - they will sink into the stew.
9. Cook again for another 20 minutes. After the 20 minutes, check the stew is not too dry (dumplings suck a lot of moisture up and so you may want to add another cup of boiling water). Once you have done that, or dodn't need to, cook for a final ten minutes.
10. Serve. Either alone or with some fresh bread -- mmm.

Reviews

[Coasty]

This was a very simple and tasty stew, I used gravy beef and cooked it for 2 hours cutting the carrots and celery into large pieces and adding the potatoes an hour into the cooking time. I made the dumplings as well. This was made for PAC Spring 2010