Microwave Beef Stew
It's cooling now so I can refrigerate part, freeze part of it, so thought I'd jot down the recipe before I forgot.

Put about a tablespoon of chicken fat (ah ha! another reason to make your own chicken soup) skimmed from the top of the latest batch of chicken leg soup into a big frying pan. If I didn't have the chicken fat I probably would have used regular oil.

Dredged about a half pound of cut up stew beef (whatever is cheapest and leanest at the store) in about a cup or so of flour to which I'd added salt and pepper. Threw the meat and all the remaining flour from the bowl into the pan and started browning it.

When brown but not burned (had to open the window so my stupidly placed smoke detector wouldn't go off), covered it with water and started it simmering.

Forgot to add an onion when I browned the meat, so quickly sliced an onion into the bubbling pan.

Realized I better get the rest of the vegetables chopped up and into my favorite microwave bowl:

One mutantly large carrot from the sale rack, sliced
About 1 1/2 cups chopped celery and tops
1/4 big red pepper, chopped

Transfered the stuff in the pan to the bowl, added a big pinch of rosemary (my favorite spice), more salt and pepper, water up to nearly the edge of the bowl. Microwaved at 60 percent power for 45 minutes.

At this point, the beef was still a bit tough and it tasted weak, needing something.

Added 1 chopped Roma tomato (the cheap ones)
1 peeled and sliced turnip.
About 1/2 small bay leaf.

Reduced power to 40 percent, cooked for another 30 minutes.

As I said on Twitter, it is so good I thought I'd faint.

Will freeze half, refrigerate half, mostly so I don't eat it all in one sitting. Someone told me that turnips don't freeze well, so may fish them out for the refrigerated, dinner tonight part.

It's not too cold today, but will mash up some potatoes (from the 10 pounds for 1.79 bag I just bought) nice and fluffy, make a pit in the middle, and deposit the stew.

You will notice there is no high fructose corn syrup or MSG or "gravy master" anywhere in sight. If I can do this anyone can.

Labels: cooking

- posted by Cynthia @ 11:30 AM | | | Link |