Mark’s World Famous Dutch Oven Beef Stew

Dutch oven recipe used for Boy Scouts that can be adapted to a crock pot recipe

• Ready In: 1 hr 30 mins
• Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 3  tablespoons  cooking oil
• 1  large onion
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2 teaspoon pepper
• 2 1⁄2 lbs  pre-cut  stew meat or 2 1⁄2 lbs beef, chunks
• 5  carrots
• 1⁄2 tablespoon flour
• 5  medium potatoes
• 2 (7/8ounce) packages  brown gravy mix
• 1 (8 ounce) can  tomato soup
• 1 (8 ounce) can beef broth
• 1 (10 ounce) package  refrigerated buttermilk biscuits

Directions

1. This Dutch oven recipe can take a couple of hours if you start with raw food. So these directions have you doing some cooking at home before the outing.
2. Beforehand: Peel and slice onion. Grease a large frying pan with margarine or cooking oil. Sauté beef and onion until beef is brown and onions are clear. Drain fat off. Let cool. Place in plastic freezer bag and freeze overnight.
3. Peel potatoes and cut into about 1 inch cubes. Peel carrots and cut into 1/2 inch sections.
4. Place potatoes and carrots in microwave oven and cook for about 3 minutes. [Don't put too many in at once.] Let cool, then place in plastic bags and freeze overnight.
5. On the morning of the outing remove these from the freezer and place in a cooler or wrap in several layers of newspaper. Keep out of direct sunlight. Everything will be thawed and ready to go by cooking time.
6. Ready to cook: Fire up 4 lb. bag of "instant" briquettes. Grease Dutch oven, bottom and sides. Add in beef, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, tomato soup, beef broth, onion, carrots, and potatoes. Add water [hot better than cold] to just cover the beef, stir. Place oven on coals - 15 underneath and 10 on top. Check after about 20 minutes. Add water if the water has cooked off.
7. Put 2 packages of powdered brown gravy mix, and 1/2 Tablespoon of Wondera (or flour) into a bowl. Skim off some of the hot juices, add to bowl and stir. Stir mixture into Dutch oven, and cover surface with biscuit dough. Cook uncovered for about 10 more minutes. Be sure stew is not sticking to the bottom; if so, remove the briquettes from underneath the Dutch oven. Make sure lid clears the top of the biscuits by at least 1 inch. If there isn’t enough clearance, remove some of the liquid. Recover and cook another 10 minutes. Meal is done when carrots and potatoes are tender. Let cool for a bit, then salt and pepper to taste. Serve it up!