There are very few of my mothers recipes I was fond of. She made a cream of chicken soup that I have NEVER been able to duplicate, I do okay but cannot get the unique flavor hers carried. And believe me, I’ve tried!
The other recipe was her beef stew. Man oh man, was that good, and I believe I not only am able to duplicate her stew, I believe mine is better. I’ve learned many things over the years, and sometimes you hit on something that simply takes your recipe into the “wow” zone. Yes, yes,yes, I’ll share.
First things first- I’ll tell you right off the bat that you need to add bay leaves to the stew, or you’ll miss that unique flavor of Annie’s stew. Tried making stew just once without bay leaves-nope, it was noticeably lacking flavor, so for over 40 years bay leaves were always in my stew.
Another tidbit is that I don’t use stew beef, pre-cut from the butcher. Nope, it always is tough and fatty; yes, I know, that’s where the flavor is, but too much fat and sometimes silver skin or gristle, has caused me to take matters into my own hands. I used chuck steak or chuck roast that I’d cut up myself for many years, and the result was really good. But, my loving brother told me he used shoulder London broil. Hmm, not a cut I’d use normally because I’ve been taught to grill it and dang, that was shoe leather. My best friend told me she would slow roast that cut in the oven, and I found that did make it edible. But I still preferred flank steak or ribeye as a stand alone steak.,
So I figured, since the London Broil was often affordable I’d giver her a whirl in stew. It did NOT disappoint-tender and beefy, although you have to be careful not to overcook it’s, as it can end up dry. That is until you learn a few things.
It has recently come to my attention that there is a way to tenderize meat that is pretty easy and it works, without beating the meat…😶 the trick? Sodium bicarbonate-baking soda. Interesting. Sodium bicarbonate is an alkali, and marinating meat with it does a few things: it changes the Ph of the meat, allowing it to brown faster and tenderizes it.
So rub 1/2 teaspoon over each side of a shoulder London Broil, put it in a zip top bag and put it back in the fridge at least 15 minutes, but 3 hours works better. Rinse the baking soda off well and thoroughly dry the meat. Moisture is an enemy to browning. I’m not making that up-research it yourself.
Another thing I do differently is brown the meat as one piece rather than cutting it up into stew-size cubes. Brown it, then cut it to size. And this is one recipe I do like in the crock pot.
Mix 3/4 cup flour, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, salt and pepper to your preference-being on a salt restricted plan I tend to use less than most people-you do you. Dredge the meat in the flour mix and brown it in 1 tablespoon vegetable oil. Let the meat brown 3-4 minute on each side, letting a dark crust to form. Don’t keep moving it! Put it in, listen for the sizzle, and let it sit. Flip and do the same to the other side.
While the meat is browning prepare your vegetables. Scrub and quarter red potatoes (you choose how much according to your family needs). Toss them into the crock pot. Peel 2-4 carrots (again, adjust to your needs). I cut my carrots on the bias, punching the core on an angle, I believe, releases a better, sweeter carrot flavor. I could be crazy, and I don’t care, but I dislike carrots cut into coins-that’s me. Toss into crock pot.
I wedge a large sweet onion and put 3/4 of it in the crockpot, the other 1/4 I toss in the pan that I’m browning the beef in. (Sneaky, huh?)
Remove the beef and onion. Put the onion in the crockpot, hold beef aside. Deglaze the fond (brown bits stuck to pan) with 1-1/4 cups beef stock, broth, consommé, whatever you choose. Add 1 tablespoon tomato paste, mix it in real good, add 2 bay leaves and bring to low simmer. While awaiting the simmer, cut beef into whatever size chunks you prefer, we like them on the heftier side-about 2 inches. Toss them into the crockpot, and pour the deglazing liquid over all in crockpot.
Cover and cook on high 2 hours and low 2 hours. (Of course test your veggies, they take longer than the meat. Adjust time if needed.
Now, the dumplings. There’s two ways to go. I use the recipe exactly as written on the box of bisquik -it’s no secret, I use bisquik and I don’t care what anyone thinks. Best recipe ever. And follow the exact measurements using dry measuring cups for the bisquik and liquid measuring cups for the milk. Don’t overmix the dough, mix just until it’s all wet. I pour the stew into a large pot that has a tight-fitting cover. Bring up to a boil. Drop tablespoons of dough onto boiling stew. Lower temp and continue to let simmer for 10 minutes. Cover tightly. Cook an additional 10 minutes. Do not peek!
Alternatively, leave stew in crockpot and heat 2 cups beef broth in a large skillet with tight fitting lid to boiling. I add a bay leaf to the broth. Drop dough by tablespoons onto boiling broth, lower temperature to a steady simmer and cook, uncovered 10 minutes, cover and cook additional 10 minutes. NO PEEKING! You could thicken the broth in the skillet if you choose, but I found it seems to be far more delicious just letting it ride.
Enjoy! And if you try it, let me know!
Until next time, mangia!
