Savory Beef Stew

Beef stew is a winter staple in our house. The one-pot meal is easy, filling and so satisfying. Because we preserve our own tomato juice and freeze green beans and corn, we usually have all the ingredients on hand. I sometimes substitute peas for the green beans - feel free to change up the vegetable mix to suit your tastes. I serve the stew with crusty bread, focaccia or popovers for dipping.

Toss the meat with flour to coat.

Brown meat on all sides in hot oil. Cook meat in batches. When all meat
is browned, add all ingredients except potatoes, beans,
corn and carrots to the pot. Simmer for one hour.

I use our home canned juice. Commercially canned juice can be substituted.

Add vegetables and continue to cook for an additional 30 minutes.

The finished stew has a thick, rich broth with tender meat.
I top with a chopped fresh parsley. Hearty & delish!

Savory Beef Stew
Adapted from Better Homes & Gardens New Cookbook

3 Tbsp flour

1 lb beef stew meat, cut into 3/4 inch cubes

2 Tbsp cooking oil

4 cups (1 quart) tomato juice

1 medium onion, chopped

1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 tsp beef bouillon granules

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp dried marjoram

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 bay leaf

3 cups cubed potato

1 1/2 cup green beans

1 cup frozen corn

1 cup chopped carrot

Toss meat cubes with flour to coat. In a large saucepan or Dutch oven brown meat in batches in hot oil. Stir in tomato juice, onion, Worcestershire sauce, bouillon granules, oregano, marjoram, pepper, and bay leaf. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 1 hour. Stir in potato, green beans, corn, and carrot. Return to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, about 30 minutes more or until meat and vegetables are tender. Discard bay leaf before serving. Makes 6 servings.

Making and Preserving Stock

Homemade stock is easy to make and has a deeper, richer flavor than commercially canned stock. If you're roasting meat and vegetables, you probably already have the ingredients on hand. Keeping several quarts of stock in the freezer means I have a quick, tasty base for soups, stews and sauces.

I used the turkey carcass left over from our Thanksgiving meal, but stock can be made with bones from beef, veal, chicken, lamb, etc.  In addition to the carcass, I added leftover roasted vegetables, pan drippings, gravy, fresh onions, carrots and celery, bay leaves, sage, salt and pepper. Feel free to add your favorite seasonings.

A note about consistency: homemade stock can be gelatinous, rather then liquid. As the bones are boiled marrow is released, which when refrigerated, thickens the stock. When reheated, it will return to a beautiful, velvety consistency.

To a large stock pot, add turkey carcass with meat removed, vegetables
roasted with the turkey, turkey skin, pan drippings,
leftover gravy, fresh onions, celery and carrots, and herbs.

Cover with water and bring to a simmer. Don't worry about the fat. Once the
stock is cooled, you can easily remove the fat.

Bring the stock up to a boil and reduce heat to simmer.
Continue to cook, covered, for three hours, stirring occasionally.

After three hours, strain stock into a large container. Refrigerate overnight.

After being refrigerated the fat will solidify on top of the stock. Remove
fat and place stock in freezer containers. Freeze and use within six months.