Beef, It's What's for Dinner

Easiest Ever Beef and Potato Stew

• 2 (10.5 oz) cans condensed French onion soup

• 1 cup water

• 1/4 cup tomato paste

• 2 1/2 T instant tapioca

• 1 t dried thyme

• 1 1/2 pounds small Yukon Gold potatoes (or cut into 1 inch pieces)

• 1/2 pound baby carrots

• 3 pounds stew meat, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces

• 2 cups frozen peas

Whisk soup, water, tomato paste, tapioca and thyme together in a slow cooker; stir in potatoes and carrots. Season beef with salt and pepper and stir into slow cooker. Cover and cook 8-10 hours on low or 6-7 hours on high.

Using a large spoon, skim excess fat from surface of stew.  Stir in peas and let sit until heated through, about 5 minutes. Feel free to add green beans in addition to or instead of peas.  Raw carrots could go in an hour before the end.  The photo includes some roasted carrots that we added at the end.  Really good!

If the stew is a little thick, add a little extra hot broth at the end. 

Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve. 

This recipe is comically simple and very good.  You will not have to wash many dishes because the prep is so easy.  

Usually beef stew recipes call for browning the beef before adding it to the stew pot.  That adds flavor but makes a mess.  Thanks to the onion soup and tomato paste, this tastes just as good without browning.  The lovely and gracious Pete's Mate gives this recipe two thumbs up!

Beef Barley Soup (photo below)

• 2 lb of beef, see below for some options and more detail

• 3 T olive oil

• 1 ½ cups chopped carrots

• 1 cup chopped celery (optional – I hate that devil weed but use it if you don't)

• 1 large yellow onion, chopped

• 1 green or red pepper (or both, especially if you leave out the celery), cut into half-inch pieces

• 8 ounces of mushrooms, cleaned and chopped into half-inch or smaller pieces

• 3 T tomato paste

• 3-4 cloves garlic, chopped

• 1 14 ounce can diced tomatoes

• 2 cartons (32 ounces each) of low sodium chicken or beef broth

• 1 T low-sodium soy sauce

• 2 t Worstercherstershiester sauce

• ½ t dried rosemary (or 2 t fresh, minced)

• ½ t dried thyme (or 2 t fresh, minced)

• ½ cup dry red wine

• 2-3 bay leaves

• Salt and FGP

• 1 cup peraly barley

• 3 T minced fresh parsley

Brown the beef in a large pot.  Work in batches because there is too much to brown at one time.  Before cooking, use a paper towel to dry all the meat, them season with salt and pepper.  Heat 1 T oil in the pot (medium-high) and add a portion of the beef, leaving space between all the pieces.  Cook for 3 minutes until one side is browned, turn and cook 2-3 minutes more to brown most of the other sides.  Transfer browned beef and juices to a bowl, add another T of oil to the big pot and do another batch of beef.  Repeat until all is browned and set aside with juices.

Add another T oil to the (now empty) pot, heat and add onions, devil weed and carrots.  Sautee for 3 minutes until onions are soft.  Add peppers and cook 2 more minutes. Add garlic and tomato paste and cook another minute.

Pour broth, soy sauce, worst sauce, bay leaves, rosemary and thyme into pot.  Add beef, with juices, and bring to a boil.  Lower heat, cover and simmer for 60 minutes.

Microwave chopped mushrooms for 4 minutes so that juice is released, pour off juices.  Add mushrooms, red wine and barley, cover and simmer for 45-60 minutes more.

Remove bay leaves, stir in parsley and serve.  

You have some options for the beef. Whatever cut you choose, trim all excess fat and connective tissue, and cut into chunks no larger than ¾ inch.

Chuck or arm roast will be flavorful and tender, with more of the internal connective tissue that adds a silkiness to soup or stew.  Use that if you don’t mind starting with a big piece of meat and making it smaller.

Sirloin steak will cost more but deliver both flavor and tenderness.

Round steak will be lean and have a chewey texture, even after cooking a long time.  

If you can find a tri-tip roast, that can be great.  Lots of flavor and tender but not soft.  

Stew meat from a grocer can work but that is often variable in tenderness and texture. No two packages are the same but slow cooking tends to even differences out so it can be OK.

Orange Teriyaki Beef Stew for something a little different

• 2 lb boneless chuck roast or stew meat, cut in 1 inch chunks

• 1 T Chinese five-spice powder

• ½ t salt

• 1 T canola oil

• 4 oz fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, sliced (approx. 1 ½ cups)

• 12 oz bok choy, sliced cross-wise, green and white portions separated

• 1 T grated fresh ginger

• 3 garlic cloves, minced

• ½ t crushed red pepper

• 2 cups reduced sodium beef broth

• 1 cup orange juice

• 6 T reduced sodium teriyaki sauce

• 2 T reduced sodium soy sauce

• 3-5 sliced green onions

• 1 navel orange, peeled and sliced

• Hot cooked rice (optional)

Toss beef with five-spice powder and salt.  Heat oil in sauté pan with medium-high heat and sear beef, in batches, until browned all over (5-8 minutes per batch).  Place browned beef chunks in crock pot.  After removing beef, add ginger, garlic, crushed red pepper and mushrooms to sauté pan and cook for 2 minutes.  Add broth, heat to boiling, scraping bottom of pan to remove attached brown bits.  Add mixture to crock pot, then add orange juice, teriyaki sauce, soy sauce and white bok choy chunks and cook on high for 4 hours or until beef is tender.

Add green bok choy for last five minutes of cooking.

Serve in bowls over rice, garnish with green onions and orange slices.

This is different from your typical beef, potatoes and carrots beef stew but it is a great change of pace.  Give it a try some winter day when you are feeling a little frisky.  Feel free to add chopped red peppers or sliced carrots after cooking for 2 hours or snow peas when the green bok choy goes in.  

You’re gonna like this!