What's Cooking Wednesday - Perfect Winter Beef Stew

That's a pretty bold claim right there. The perfect winter beef stew. They could have said a really great winter beef stew. Or a very enjoyable winter beef stew. Or even a tasty winter beef stew. Maybe it was the title that made me want to make this perfect stew. Or maybe it was just because Grandma Linda gave me a package of stewing beef. Now I've never made beef stew before. Not to my recollection anyway. If I have it was in no way memorable. I think the main reason I've never made it is because it seemed like it would be something rather complicated to make (which is also how I feel about chili). Funny how a free package of frozen beef can change your perception.



Perfect Winter Beef Stew

3/4 cup Zesty Italian dressing
2 lb stewing beef
6 slices of bacon
1 lrg onion, chopped
3 cups sliced mushrooms
3 cups sliced carrots
4 cups potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks
1 can (19 oz) Alymer Accents Petite Cut Original Tomatoes, undrained
1 can (10 oz) Beef Broth

Trim excess fat from meat and cut into 1 inch chunks using a sharp knife. Place dressing and beef in a large resealable bag. Refrigerate 30 minutes to marinate.

Cook bacon in a large pot on medium heat for 5 minutes or until crisp. Remove from pot and drain excess fat.

Add onion and mushrooms to pot; cook on med-high heat for 10 minutes or until softened. Remove beef from marinade; discard marinade. Add beef, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes with their liquid, broth and bacon to the pot.

Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to low and cover. Simmer for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Uncover and conitnue to simmer for another 15 minutes or until meat is tender and sauce is thickened, stirring occasionally.


Recipe Notes: Well it turns out beef stew is a lot easier than I thought it would be. Who knew? I can't think of anything I would change here. Although I stray from the recipe a tad and didn't peel my potatoes. I also cut them into little chunks because I really don't care for large pieces of potatoes in my stew. To save yourself a step, when you purchase your stewing beef (if you don't have plans to make stew right away) place the meat and the dressing into a ziploc bag and then freeze it. The meat will marinate while it thaws. I was pretty sure that Michael wasn't going to like it, but turns out after 10 years of marriage you can still learn something new about your spouse. He even requested in be "put into rotation". 4/5