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.