The Stew

We haven't addressed the soups/stews recipes in the BCC before, because frankly, my Mom has her own pretty spectacular recipes in that department, tested and proven and handed down for several generations in our family. If you've ever tried her broccoli-cheddar soup, beef stew, potato soup, chicken noodle soup, or chili, you will understand... we don't want to sacrifice any of our favorites on a chilly fall night for the sake of exploring something new. But, we decided yesterday to trust Betty and give her stew a chance in the Spoon Drop Inn.

Old-Fashioned Beef Stew (from p. 398 of the BCC): I think I will call this the "One-Inch-Rule Stew." The recipe says to add: beef cut in 1" pieces, potatoes cut in 1" cubes, carrots cut in 1" slices, and celery sliced in 1" inch pieces.  It also called for a turnip cut in 1" cubes, but Mom did not have a turnip in the house to use. (In fact, I don't think she has ever had a turnip in the house, at least on purpose.) It also adds a green pepper cut in strips and a diced onion, but only because I think it is very hard to find a pepper or onion that you can cut 1" thick.

This stew is different from Mom's traditional beef stew, because hers has a tomato sauce base, and this had a white sauce base, which included flour, salt, pepper, shortening, hot water, beef bouillon cubes, and a bay leaf. It tasted a lot like a roast beef and gravy dinner, served in a bowl with heaps of gravy... which is definitely not a bad thing.

Since we have our big meal for lunch with Dad before he leaves for work, Mom put all the ingredients together on Wednesday night, and then slow-cooked them in the crock pot Thursday morning. We think stew tastes better when all the flavors have had a chance to mingle and get to know each other for a while anyway. :) 

We liked it, and we really think Kevan would like it, too. So it looks like we have a new stew recipe to add to our "favorites" collection!