NeenaLoveCooks: Beef Stew In 90 Minutes or Less

I was at work utterly bored with building a database. As I looked out onto the beautiful view from my office, I couldn't help but notice the thick rain clouds that had gathered. Within minutes, the rain began to fall and I was immediately craving a nice hot bowl of beef stew and rice. Beef stew is definitely one of my comfort foods. My father makes really good stew and my mom did too. I carry the tradition on with my own cooking skills.

I don't normally follow a recipe. I "eyeball" everything and then taste my food often while I'm cooking. For the sake of this post here is a list of the ingredients I used:
-2.85 Pound Boneless Chuck Roast
-Water or Stock
-2 Pounds of Potatoes
-1 Pound of Carrots
-6 Celery Stalks
-1 Large Round Onion
-5 Cloves of Garlic
-6 Stems of Fresh Thyme
-1 small can of tomato paste
-2 TBSP All-Purpose Flour
-1 TBSP Vegetable Oil
-Salt and Pepper to taste

The great thing about stew is that you can mix up the quantity of the ingredients. Use what you have on hand. If you only have 1 pound of meat, adjust the other ingredients to your taste. I don't really like carrots so when I make stew for just me, I omit the carrots and increase the potatoes. I also LOVE garlic so I will use an entire head of the stuff instead of five cloves.

In the video, I go over the instructions on how I make beef stew. This is meant to be a quick stew. Normally, when I make stew it is an all day process. I cut everything in large chunks. In this recipe,  however, everything is cubed into smaller pieces so that it will cook quickly. This stew will be done in less than 90 minutes.

PREP:
-Cut beef into roughly 1/2 to 3/4" cubes and dust with 2 TBSP of flour and salt and pepper
-Peel and slice onions
-Peel and slice garlic
-Clean and slice celery into 1/2" slices, diagonal
-Clean and chop carrots into 1/4" slices, diagonal
-Clean and cut potatoes into the size of half a golf ball

COOK:
-Heat up a large pot with one tablespoon of vegetable oil
-Brown beef
-Add garlic and onions
-The juices from the beef, garlic, and onion should be thick. Add either stock or water to cover the meat.
-Let cook on med-high to high for 45 minutes.
-Add celery and carrots and cook on medium for 15 minutes.
-Add potatoes and cook on medium for 15 minutes.
-Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes.

And that's it -- you're done. You can do variations by adding ingredients that you like. For instance, I usually add a couple of jalapenos. That is always yummy but I know that the people I'm dining with this evening do not like a lot of spice. You can add green chile, which is another one of my favorite flavor profiles. It's really up to you. I have seen people add green beans. I have seen clams in the mix also. There is nothing you can do that would be wrong. Eat Up!

RECIPE: Oatcake (My Copycat)

I have been a fan of the Oatcake for a very long time... well, at least the Oatcakes that are served at most Starbucks Coffee Houses on O'ahu. They are the most delicious and filling pastry that I have ever had for breakfast. This is my recipe that I played around with and it comes pretty close to my coffee house fave. It is a COPYCAT from an article I clipped in the Star Bulletin.

1-1/2 CUP Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 CUP All-Purpose Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
----
1 CUP warm water
1 CUP Blueberries (frozen is fine just be sure to thaw it; you can also use dried or fresh)
----
4 CUP oats
1 CUP dried, sweetened cranberries
1/2 CUP raisins
1/2 CUP blueberries
1/2 CUP applesauce
1/2 CUP oil
1/2 CUP brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
----

DIRECTIONS:

**PREHEAT OVEN TO 350 degrees**

1. Sift together dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt). You can play with the combination of whole wheat and all-purpose flour until you get the right consistency. You can even go all whole wheat if that is what you prefer although it does tend to get really dry. If you go all white flour, this oatcake will quickly turn into a scone. I plan to experiment with other types of flour like soy or rice for a lower-gluten version.

2. Blend together the warm water and blueberries. Blending makes a difference. I think it's what gives the Starbucks Oatcake its distinct color. In the picture I posted, I DID NOT blend the blueberry thus... the cake looks brown. However, in earlier experiments with the recipe, I did blend and it does make allll the difference. Today I was just lady to get out the blender then have to clean it. :-(

3. In a separate bowl, mix the remainder of the ingredients (Oats, fruits, oil, applesauce, eggs, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla). Applesauce can be substituted for the oil to make this healthier fare but I found that all applesauce is too dry. The oil makes a big difference for me. You can play with the combination of oil to applesauce but make sure that you keep it at 1 cup. For instance, you can change the recipe to be 3/4 cup applesauce and 1/4 cup oil. That's actually going to be my next experiment and I will use extra virgin, cold pressed coconut oil instead of vegetable oil.

4. Add blueberry/water mixture to the oats mixture. Stir well before adding the flour.

5. Fold in the dry ingredients, one cup at a time. Once you add the flour, do not overwork it. I usually stir the mixture about 10 times to incorporate the flour into the wet ingredients and thats it. Overworking the flour will cause it to be TOUGH and too chewy. I like the texture to be crumbly.

6. Prepare 9x13 pan with Pam or a muffin tin -- whatever you prefer. I have not experimented with a muffin tin so you have to be careful with the cooking time. Keep an eye on it.

7. In a 9x13 pan -- bake for 25-30 minutes. If you use a muffin tin -- you're on your own. I don't know what the timing is.  :-)

Happy Baking!