Friends, can you tell me what it is that makes your BEEF STEW the best?

Question

Any secret ingredient?
What seasonings?
What ingredients overall?

I guess I am just flat-out asking for your BEST BEEF STEW recipe!!! That would have been simpler, huh? :}

Answer 1

I use:
1 lb Stew meat and cut up small bite size pieces with kitchen shears and brown in cooking oil.
Sliced carrots - I use frozen sliced or baby carrots
Thinly sliced celery - about 3 or 4 stalks
Cut up potatoes
1 whole onion chopped
Add water
I don't use salt - I use beef bullion granules to taste.
Bring to boil and cook on low heat with lid for about 2 hours.

Add parsley before serving.

Serve with Bisquick Biscuits or Corn Bread with jam or honey.

I have never had a formulated recipe for stew. I watched my Granny make it and it was so very good.

I think the beef bullion flavor is what makes it taste so good and also cutting the meat very small.

You can also cook all day in your crock pot.

If you like a thick stew, brown floured meat.

I like mine a little more like soup.

Answer 2

Beef Stew Meat, cut into chunks
Kitchen Bouquet, which is a natural gravy type seasoning
Potatoes
Onions
Carrots (I like baby carrots)
Flour
Oil
1 can of whole kernel corn

Prepare a bowl of flour, add salt, pepper, and garlic powder
Season beef chunks with salt, pepper, and garlic powder
In a bowl put all of the beef chunks, pour kitchen bouquet over them and toss until well coated
Roll each chunck of seasoned beef in kitchen Bouquet, then roll in flour, In a skillet add about 1/2 cup of oil , heat and braise the meat chunks. Braise or sear meat just enough to seal in the flavors
In a Large pot add 2 cans of whole tomatoes, 2 cans of water(use the tomatoe cans) add meat as each piece is finished searing
Add quarter potatoes
Add quartered onions
Add Baby Carrots
Cook until potatoes and carrots are done.
Drain can of corn, then add to pot
Taste, add additional seasoning if needed, probably won't need anything though
Enjoy

The Kitchen Bouquet makes a natural gravy, thats why I roll my meat in it prior to rolling in the flour

You can also add this to a crock pot and cook on slow all day or for about 5 to 6 hours

Answer 3

The ingredient that makes my stew good is the LOVE.
2 pkgs stewing beef
2 chopped onions
6 diced potatoes
2 bay leaves , 1/4 tsp black pepper
6 C of water and 6 pkgs of Bovril powder
simmer beef in water with onions and seasonings for 3 hours.
remove meat from pot and add potatoes and cook for 15 min.
remove potatoes from pot and bring juices to a slow boil. mix up 4 Tbsp of cornstarch in 1cup of cold water and slowly add while stirring with a wire whisk for 5 minutes.
place the meat and potatoes in a small roast pan or large casserole dish and slowly mix in the gravy.
cover with a pastry crust or biscuit mix and cook at 400 degrees F for 20 minutes in a pre-heated oven.. Sometimes I add dumplings on top instead. Serve with a side dish of your fav veggies.
This is my late grammas recipe and she called it "Hot Pot".

Answer 4

This is so interesting as everyone has such good variations. In my family my husband likes tomatoes in everything and that does make a good base for a stew. My girls prefer the brown gravy base either way I add lots of celery, onions carrots and potatoes. I take turns making various ways and will be sure to try some of these everyones sharing.

Answer 5

I refuse to use that nasty stew beef when making beef stew. I add two bay leaves to my meat when simmering it until it's fork tender. That adds great flavor to the meat. I don't use a bunch of seasonings, just bay leaves, & pepper. The veggies I use are potatoes, carrots, celery (for flavor) & onions.

Answer 6

Par-boil your veggies first and use the broth as a base for the stew. Make sure you brown the meat thoroughly, and that it is a tender cut. When browning, use a little sherry, madeira, wine, (or even scotch or whiskey for a less sweet taste) and let it carmalize in the pan with some chopped onions and the meat drippings. These small tricks will work wonders.

Answer 7

Some red wine. I remember having some on the stove when a strictly teetotalling friend came over. She raved about the smell and insisted on a taste. It was so delicious she insisted she must have my recipe. I couldn't tell her it was the red wine that added the flavor and just said it was beef bouillon and making sure the beef was well-browned.

Answer 8

INGREDIENTS


2 beef shanks, meaty, about 1 1/2 to 2 pounds OR 1 lb+ tendered beef stew

3 cups beef broth

1 can (approx. 10.5 ounces) condensed French onion soup

1 envelope beef stew seasoning
4 cups water

1/2 to 3/4 cup sliced celery

2 medium-large quartered onions

2 medium carrots, sliced, about 1 to 1 1/2 cups

2 to 3 medium red-skinned potatoes, peeled and cut in 1/2-inch pieces, about 2 to 2 1/2 cups

1 medium white turnip, cubed, about 1 cup

1/2 cup frozen corn kernels

1/2 cup frozen lima beans or baby limas, optional
'Bunch' of small button mushrooms

1/4 cup red dry wine [like a burgundy or cabernet sauvignon]

1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt or Creole seasoning
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 tablespoons flour mixed with an equal amount of cold water

Answer 9

You know in all my years of cooking I have never made beef stew. The only kind I ahve eaten is Dinty Moore. What makes beef stew different than pot roast? Except for the shape of the meat that is?

Answer 10

My Mom always tossed the beef in salt and pepper and flour and then browned it . At the end of stewing she would make a rue and add it and the stew was moreless in a gravy opposed to broth...everyone seems to love it. I think the veggies you add can make it your very own ...anything goes!