Recipes

[Carol1229]

We're lovers of soups and stews all year long, but we really enjoy them during the winter months. Even though we've had a few warm days here and there, there's still plenty of cold and snow left in the season...which I call perfect timing for a nice big pot of beef stew.

Given the fact that I still had beef cubes left over from trimming a top round roast, and it was getting close to grocery shopping time, I went looking to see what I had to use up. Potatoes, carrots, onions....perfect stew ingredients.....but I wanted something other than the ordinary beef stew my Mom taught me how to make many moons ago.

Off I went to look through my cookbooks. I've had this book for years and I don't think I've made one thing out of it. When I saw this recipe, my search was over-apple cider in beef stew? This was the little tweak in the traditional recipe I love that I was looking for.

I had bought a half gallon of apple cider at the apple orchard last fall and had frozen 1 cup containers of it for using in recipes later on. I took 2 containers of it out of the freezer, thawed it in the microwave and I was ready to get started.

The original recipe called for vinegar but didn't specify what kind. I grabbed the apple cider vinegar to go along with the apple cider in the simmering liquid. A quick taste of the what-would-be gravy for the stew after the apple cider and ground thyme were added and I thought, it needs something more...something warm.....a spice.......like cinnamon. I added 1/4 tsp. and that little touch did the trick. It complimented the apple flavor while adding a slight spicy warmth to the gravy.

The recipe didn't call for onions, but I added some-a beef stew isn't a beef stew without onions for us. I also added more carrots than called for along with a few more potatoes. I just eyeball the amount-I never measure vegetables in soups and stews. I knew we'd be having leftovers so I made sure to add enough of both vegetables to get a few meals out of the batch.

I did thicken the gravy a little more at the end with a cornstarch/water slurry...we like a little thicker gravy in our beef stew.

This recipe did not disappoint. It looks like a traditional beef stew, but has a flavor all its own. The flavor of the cider with that slight tang of vinegar along with a touch of cinnamon mingles so well with the beef and vegetables. As with any stew-the leftovers taste even better. We've enjoyed 2 meals of it with at least one more waiting.

This has gone into my favorite soups/stews collection. It's fall/winter on a plate....a real tummy pleaser for sure.


Carol


APPLE CIDER STEW
(Source: adapted from the GFWC Centennial Cookbook-original recipe submitted by Paula Shaller, GFWC-Whitemarch Junior Woman's Club, Lafayette Hill, PA)

2 lb. lean stew meat, cut into 1" cubes
1 Tbsp. vegetable or canola oil
3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1-2 tsp. salt, or to taste (I use 1 tsp.)
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground thyme
2 c. apple cider
1/2 c. water
2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
3 potatoes, quartered (I use red potatoes and add more than 3)
6 large carrots, sliced into 1/4" thick slices
1 large onion, peeled and thickly sliced

Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat; add the beef and cook, stirring occasionally, until meat is browned.

In a small bowl, combine the flour, salt, pepper, cinnamon and thyme; sprinkle the mixture over the meat and stir to coat the beef cubes with the flour mixture.

Add the apple cider, water and vinegar; cook and stir over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours or until meat is tender.

Add the potatoes, carrots and onion; stir to combine. Bring the mixture to a boil; reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

If you want a thicker gravy, combine 1 heaping Tbsp. cornstarch with 1/4 c. water or beef broth, stir into the simmering gravy and cook over medium/low heat, stirring constantly, until thickened. Makes 6-8 servings.