Cast Iron Dutch Oven Beef Stew w/Video

Do you remember coming in from the cold and your Momma would have made a beef stew?  You would be sliding down the hill on your toboggan for hours.  As you got older, you would be playing street hockey.

The street lights came on and you knew you had to go home.  As you walked in the door, the aroma would hit you first.  You would be sitting at the table, dangling your feet. Trying to take that first bite, but watch out!  It's HOT!  Now you burnt your tongue.

But you would continue to eat it and the warmth would spread.  Your toes are tingling from the cold leaving your feet.

Ingredients

1 pound of beef, cubed
Salt & Pepper and about a 1/3 cup of flour
3 to 4 Potatoes, cubed
3 to 4 Carrots, cut up
2 onions, diced
3 to 4 stalks of celery, diced

Gravy

1/3 cup of flour
1/3 cup of butter
1 box of vegetable broth
1 tablespoon of Kitchen Bouquet or Beef Concentrate

Stuff you will need

Cast Iron Dutch Oven
1 x 3 litre pot
Cutting board
Knife
Whisk
Stiring spoon

Directions

Cube the potatoes and cut up your carrots.  Then put them on to boil.

Cut the beef into bite sized chunks.  If you have any fat on your beef, cut it off and put it aside.

In a bowl with the salt, pepper and flour, toss them about to get the beef covered.

Heat up your Cast Iron Dutch Oven on medium heat.  Once the Dutch Oven is hot (you will see smoke coming out of the pot), put in the fat that you saved earlier.  Render out as much fat as you can.  This stuff is really tasty.  Remove from the pot, let it cool.  Feed it to the dog, the sea gulls, or throw it out to the feral cats to eat.

Now add put a few tablespoons of butter.  Fry up the beef till browned on all sides.  Remove from the Dutch Oven.

Put another tablespoon of butter and fry up the onions and celery.  Till they are cooked.  No more than about 10 minutes.  Remove them from the Dutch Oven.

Put in the 1/3 cup of butter.  Once melted, add the flour.  Whisk and don't let it burn.  You will notice a cooking flour smell (I don't know how else to describe it).  Continue to whisk for about 10 minutes.  

Add the vegetable broth, about a cup at a time.  It is going to get THICK.  Don't worry, as you add more broth, about a cup at a time, it will thin out.  With your whisk, get any burnt bits off the bottom of the Dutch Oven.  These are flavour bits.  Add the Kitchen Bouquet, or beef concentrate, to darken the gravy.

Turn the heat down to low.

Put the beef back in the gravy.  Stir that about.

Now add the onions and celery.  Stir them in.  Although it may look done at this point, your not there just yet.

Drain and add the potatoes and carrots.  Stir that in.  It's tempting, but don't serve it just yet.

Let this sit on the stove for about an hour.  Stiring occasionally.

Serve in a deep bowl with a thick piece of home made bread, topped with butter.

Here is the video that I did while I was making the stew.  As of a few moments ago, I have 82 subscribers.  Once I get to 100, I will be feeding Max a cooked steak.

Comments and suggestions are ALWAYS welcome.

Southern Beef Stew

Southern Beef Stew

This one pot wonder is GREAT!  Very tasty.  

Comfort food on those cold rainy days.

Start with the beef.  Brown it all up.

Cut up your veggies

The broth smells oh so good.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 pounds beef stew meat, trimmed
1/2 stick butter
2 cups water
1 cup black coffee
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
6 potatoes, peeled and quartered
6 carrots, cut into large chunks
3 onions, quartered

Stuff you will need

1 large dutch oven
1 cutting board
1 sharp knife
1 potatoe peeler - unless your really good with a knife and want to peel the potatoes and carrots that way.  Work smarter, not harder.
Soup ladel

Directions

Place flour in a shallow dish; add beef chunks and coat completely with flour. In a dutch oven, melt butter over medium-high heat and cook beef 8 to 10 minutes, turning to brown all sides. 

Add water, coffee, thyme, salt, and pepper; mix well and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 1 hour. 

Add remaining ingredients and simmer 50 to 60 minutes, or until beef and vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally.

This stew would go great with a Tea Biscuit.  See my Tea Biscuit recipe:  http://cookwithmitch.blogspot.ca/2016/08/raisin-tea-biscuits.html

Comments and suggestions are ALWAYS welcome.

Beef Stew with Tea Biscuit

Beef Stew with Tea Biscuit

I made this stew and posted it on the Cast Iron Cooking Facebook page.  I know it was a good hearted jab, but they said that my beef stew came out of a can.  This is to prove that it didn't.

The Tea Biscuit will be another video

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds of steak
2 onions
4 carrots
4 potatoes
2 stalks celery (optional)
1/2 cup of red wine (optional)
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon rosemary
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons of Beef Concentrate
1/3 cup flour
3 to 4 cups of cold water

Directions

Heat up your Dutch Oven
Add the steak, spices and butter, cook for about 10 minutes
Add the chopped up onions, garlic, red wine and beef concentrate
Reduce heat, cover and cook for approx 2 hours
Steam your potatoes and carrots for about 20 to 25 minutes
Remove the cover and turn the heat up to 1/2 and add flour.
Constantly stir for 5 minutes so that the flour taste is gone
Add cold water, about 1 cup at a time, stir to incorporate
Once your gravy is the desired consistency, add the carrots and potatoes

Serve with Tea Biscuit

If you like this video, please click on the "YouTube" icon.  When you are viewing the video in YouTube, please subscribe and like my video there.

As always, comments and suggestions are ALWAYS welcome.