The Art of Making Perfect Beef Stew

I’ve been cooking for over 25 years now. One of my first dishes was beef stew. It’s taken me many long years to master the taste, but I have done it. Beef stew, meet perfection.

Being the generous cook that I am, I will share with you my particular secrets. Be aware that every tip is worth many gold coins, weedhopper. Haha! OK OK enough horsing around, here’s how I make perfect beef stew:

1. Cut everything into bite-sized cubes EXCEPT the potatoes.
Potatoes get mushy. Nothing’s worse than chowing down on savory stew only to sink your teeth into potato paste. I use white potatoes with their skins. I cross-cut the palm-sized taters and they boil to perfection in the pot.

2. Don’t pre-sear your meat.
I know, I am bucking the trend. Seared meat is so good, yes– at a barbeque! But it dries it out and the cubes usually taste like battle-hardened, wooden dice. A stew is comfort food, it should be smooth and really savory and it shouldn’t take 10,000 chews to eat through it. Save the seared meat for the cookout.

3. Add everything to the pot all at once.
Some fancy cookbooks recommend that you cook only the beef and onions together and, once these are cooked through, add the vegetables for the final hour. I think this type of stew is more of a mish-mash of disjointed flavors where the individual ingredients all keep their individual flavors. Like any good soup or stew, it’s the combination of all the ingredients cooked together that makes a savory, luxuriant, unique flavor. Just for the record, the ingredients in my basic stew are: beef cubes, white onion, white potatoes with skins, carrots (only a few), rutabaga.

4. Don’t add salt to the pot.
Allow the diners to add their own salt at the table. Potatoes absorb salt while they cook, so you’ll wind up adding more and more salt and wondering why the stew doesn’t taste salty! Skip the salt and let everyone add his own, to taste.

5. Use rutabagas or turnips.
I dislike boring old potatoes/onions/beef stew. I like a little panache. Rutabagas add a lovely light-orange color, tons of vitamins, and a peppy tang that bland potatoes don’t give. I usually go half-and-half with the rutabagas and potatoes, adding one huge rutabaga and 8 or 9 palm-sized white potatoes to the big stockpot.

6. Add a teaspoon or two of horseradish sauce.
Notice I said SAUCE. Not plain horseradish! You can certainly add plain horseradish, but don’t add several teaspoons or you will ruin the stew. I use the creamy horseradish sauce, the kind you spread on bread for sandwiches. It really adds some zip to the stew.

7. Add some leftover Ramen seasoning.
My sons love the instant Ramen noodles packages, but I do limit their use of the heavily-seasoned packets. I usually have a ton of them laying around. They are really great for soups! I only use about half a packet for a huge stew.

8. Use beef broth.
I don’t use straight beef broth, too expensive! Instead, I split it with water. For a huge stew that fills a stockpot, I use about 1 cup of broth and water.

9. Don’t overcook!
I allow my stew to boil on the stove in a big stainless steel crockpot. Three or four hours is sufficient to soften all the ingredients and cook the meat. Don’t allow the stew to boil, either. Once the stew starts to simmer, turn it on LOW and cover the pot. Stir it only once or twice throughout the entire cooking time. Let the stew sit for about 20 minutes after cooking, so the flavors can blend.

10. Serve with fresh bread, not crackers.
Crackers, in my opinion, detract from the soothing, smooth stew experience. A hunk of freshly baked Flax Seed Bread is so perfect.

So this is how I make my stew. Try it, try it, you will see! You will like it, I guarantee!

Yam Ham Scalloped Potatoes

As a kid, I hated yams. So I haven’t had yams in over 30 years. I figured I’d try them now. I used to hate onions and peppers as a kid, and now I like them; maybe I’d like yams?

NOPE.

YUK BLEACH YUK! I still hate them.

That’s probably not a very smart way to start out a new recipe post, but I do blog about foods I don’t like. I love to experiment with my foods, and this was one of those experiments in which I did not like the results. However, the Hubs and the boys of the house liked this recipe. Funny! I’m glad they liked it, encouraged, even. Not that I’ll ever make it again…

Anyway, I thought I’d post it here in case one of you readers out there is a yam maniac who can’t get enough of the stuff. Yep, this one’s for you! Me, I’d rather sell used booksthan make this again. But to each his own.

OK enough whining– here it is. Don’t blame me if you don’t like it! You have been warned! lol

Yam Ham Scalloped Potatoes
serves 6-8

2 or 3 large yams, peeled and diced into bite-sized pieces
3-4 cups ham (I use turkey ham), cut into bite-sized pieces
1 large can Cream of Mushroom soup
2-3 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Pepper

Lay the yams and ham into a casserole dish.

Combine the Cream of Mushroom soup, cheese, and pepper; stir well. Pour on top of the yams and ham, and with a spoon, stir up just a little. Cover the dish with foil and place in an oven set to 350 for an hour. Uncover the dish and cook for another half hour.

It was “OK” with fresh bread, shredded cabbage, and carrots. I ate it. But I still didn’t like the yams!

Oops! Quick Fixes, Part 2

Here are some terrific Quick Fixes for those Oops! moments in our kitchens and homes. All these tips use handy things you already have around your home, and are intended to make your kitchen and home chores a little easier and a lot less expensive! I don’t have any super-duper advice on par with Asbestos legislation– these are just tips i have acquired through others, through my own experiments, and from reading other helpful tips and book. Check them out!

Are you a crybaby when peeling onions? Me too! Here’s what I do: Store the onions in the refrigerator. Cool onions aren’t as pungent. Or, you can peel them onion under cool running water. It is also said that cutting off the root end of the onion helps. Also, see my post How to Dice an Onion for a fast way to chop the onions.

Fast baked potatoes: my potatoes take FOREVER to bake in my cheapo radiant electric coil oven. Here’s a unique tip– poke a nail (clean, of course) into each potato. This will reduce the baking time by 15 minutes or so! Another idea is to cut a very thin slice from the end of each potato before baking.

Speaking of potatoes– do yours get mushy when boiled? Add a 1/4 cup white vinegar to the pot while boiling. The vinegar will keep the potatoes firm.

Vinegar is an amazing, amazing liquid! It has so many uses, as a laundry softener, a window-cleaner, and even as a tenderizer for boiling meat. If you soak an older chicken roaster in vinegar for a few hours before cooking, it will greatly improve the taste and tenderness of the tough old bird.

Vinegar is also useful for cleaning the coffeepot– allow a mixture of water and vinegar (4 parts water/1 part vinegar) to go through a complete cycle in your coffeepot. Do it again, with plain water. This is a good technique to do every week or two. Vinegar gets rid of the calcium deposits that buildup inside your coffeepot. It greatly improves the function of your pot and makes the coffee taste a lot fresher!

I’ve got lots more helpful hints coming up in future posts. Stay tuned for more!