Beef Stew and Blueberry Crisp

 

Do you ever find yourself, not knowing what to make for dinner?  I do this on a daily basis.  I randomly take out a some meat in the freezer i hopes I actually know what I take out and hunt for a recipe one different blogs and website when I should be working.  Like I'm doing right now.  With a very active 1 year old, I can't seem to be able to get anything done at home so I have to do any searches and catching up on my blogs at work.  The Boss must think there is something wrong with me since I have a million and one windows open on my computer and I'm constantly typing.  So last Wednesday was one of those days.  I took out beef stew meat and I was on the hunt for a recipe.  I went the cheater way and went on the food network website.  I already knew what I had at home so I figured I'll make a hearty stew.  I even had pearl onions (I actually thought I took out stew meat and I realized it was steak but that will come up in another post :D). 

 

Beef Stew

(adapted from Food Network)

 

Ingredients

• 1 pound beef for stew, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 clove garlic, minced
• 1 3/4 cups Swanson® Beef Stock * I made my own with beef bouillon
• 2 medium onions, cut into quarters *I used pearl onions
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves, crushed
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 cups whole baby carrots *I used a regular carrot and chopped it up
• 2 medium potatoes, cut into 2-inch pieces
• 1/4 cup water

Directions

Season the beef as desired. Coat with 1 tablespoon flour. Heat the oil in a 6-quart sauce pot over medium-high heat. Add the beef and cook until it's well browned, stirring often. Add the garlic to the sauce pot and cook and stir for 1 minute.

Stir the stock, onions, bay leaf, thyme and black pepper in the sauce pot and heat to a boil. Reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook for 1 1/2 hours.

Add the carrots and potatoes to the sauce pot. Cover and cook for 30 minutes or until the beef is fork-tender and the vegetables are tender. Remove and discard the bay leaf.

Stir the remaining flour and water in a small bowl until the mixture is smooth. Stir the flour mixture in the sauce pot. Increase the heat to medium. Cook and stir until the mixture boils and thickens.

 

 * Note don't put the onions when it said to, put it in with the remainder of the vegetables.

** It didn't really take 1.5 hours to cook the meat.  I might have overcooked it.

*** Watch the meat when browning the meat, I burned mine slightly

**** Watch it while the sauce thickens to make sure the meat and veggies won't burn

***** You may need more stock, mine wasn't enough

 

Other wise it came out good.  I only had leftovers enough for lunch and The Husband didn't complain!

 

 

For dessert I made an blueberry crisp I adapted from Kitchen Worthy.

 

I generally make an apple crisp during the summer, I don't know why but I always tend to make any type of crisp during the summer.  I'm weird like that.  It was so good.  Not too sweet and if The Daughter wasn't allergic to nuts I think some pecans would add a nice touch.  But no nuts in my house.  I can't wait until the day I am able to cook with nuts again and The Daughter could eat it but until then I have to restricted to what I could make.  Anyway, I was just reading the different entries on FoodBuzz and one of the individuals I read regularly posted this wonderful recipe. 

 

Blueberry Crisp

Filling
2 pints blueberries (fresh or frozen) *I used frozen, I would defrost a little prior baking
1-2 tablespoons sugar
1-2 tablespoons flour

 

 

Topping
¾ cup flour
¾ cup packed light brown sugar
6 tablespoons butter
½ cup rolled oats (regular oatmeal)
½ teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine the blueberries, sugar and flour, and toss to mix. Put in a buttered shallow baking dish (pie pan or 8×8 brownie pan). To make topping, combine flour, sugar and butter and mix until it looks like course crumbs. Add oats and cinnamon and mix a little more. Spread topping evenly over fruit and pat down gently with your fingertips. Bake until the top is light brown and crisp, about 35-40 minutes. Serve warm with ice cream (this part is not optional).

 

It was so so good.  I am even hording the leftovers so I could keep eating it.