Beef Stew aka Irish Stew

For March's post I'm sharing my beef stew recipe also known as good old Irish stew.  Stew is such a great recipe that is fairly easy especially if you throw everything in a crock pot and just let it cook all day, plus it's so versatile.  Years ago, when my daughters were little I made a tomato basted stew with a lot of vegetables, and browned stew meat in it which I grew up on.  We were eating at a favorite restaurant and they served this wonderfully thick beef stew with a rich beef broth and just potatoes.  My family loved it so I figured out how to do it myself at home.  Now per their request this is the only type of stew I make.  I still make my tomato basted vegetable soup from time to time but don't add beef to it. The secret to really thick and rich stew is to cook the beef by itself first and then add the potatoes and vegetables in later.  I almost always cook mine in my crock pot for at least 8 hours before adding vegetables.  I put the meat in, add seasonings, 1 chopped onion, minced garlic and 2 packages of beef gravy mix and water and let it cook until the beef falls apart.  I really like cabbage in my stew and found my family doesn't object if I cut it small enough and make sure it cooks down.  I always add chopped sweet peppers and sometimes carrots but try to limit the amount of vegetables I add. When I made stew earlier this month after the beef had cooked for about 4 hours, I added chopped cabbage and kale letting them cook for the remaining 4 hours which worked great.  We weren't going to eat the stew until the next day, so I added the potatoes in the crock pot in the morning and the stew was ready to eat at lunch.  Another secret I have for thickening stew (also soups) is adding instant mashed potato flakes when it's boiling at the end until it's the desired thickness. We love to eat ours topped with shredded cheddar cheese.

 

beef stew with carrots and potatoes

Here's the recipe:

Beef Stew aka Irish Stew

1 onion sliced
2 cloves garlic
2 bay leaves
seasoned salt and pepper
steak seasoning and marinade
Worcestershire sauce
2 to 3 lbs. beef, any roast like cut
2 packages beef gravy mix



 In crock pot cook meat with 1 to 2 cups water on high 8 hours until
tender.  I usually make meat ahead of time then put together with vegetables. This makes the meat more tender and the stew thicker.





Add to cooked beef in broth

1/2 to 1 c carrots, chopped
6 to 8 med potatoes, chopped
1/2 c sweet peppers, chopped

beef stew with red cabbage

2 T sofrito

1 jar beef or veggie broth

1 to 2 c water as needed

1/2 to 1 c chopped cabbage

1/2 to 1 c chopped kale

 1 t each seasoned salt and pepper

 1/2 t turmeric

1 t parsley

Cook all together for 30 min to 1 hour until vegetables are tender and

stew is thickened.  Can also thicken with instant mashed potato flakes.

Enjoy,
Bamah



Yummy bowl of stew topped with shredded cheese