Monday, October 8, 2012

Beef Stew

Yesterday was going to be a very busy day.  What a delight to pull out Beef Stew from the freezer and put it in my crock-pot to simmer all day.  Truth be told, I figured this out Saturday night, and let the stew defrost overnight so that it would be ready to cook on Sunday.  All I had to do to prepare Sunday dinner was bake some biscuits which I served with softened butter and Rilee's homemade plum jam.  YUM!

My variation of Beef Stew:

2 pounds beef stew meat
6 cups water
5 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks
5 medium carrots, peeled and cut into large chunks or mini-carrots right from the bag
1 medium onion, chopped coarsely
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1-2 bay leaves

To enjoy later:  Put all ingredients into a 14-cup lidded container.  My favorite is Rubbermaid.  Label it Beef Stew and freeze.

To enjoy tonight:  Simmer for about 3 hours or slow-cook in a crock-pot for 10 hours.  Remove the bay leaves before serving.

To thicken the juices, combine 3 tablespoons cornstarch with 1/2 cup cold water until smooth.  Stir into stew and bring to a boil cooking for 2 minutes until thickened.  This is best done outside of the crock-pot.  (I usually skip this step.)

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