dinner and lunch: stew

Last night I made beef stew for dinner. It was very tasty and a good choice for a cool rainy night. Normally I freeze leftover soups and stews for emergency quick meals, but I enjoyed it so much that I had some for lunch today, too!

Ingredients:
water
1 bag of beef broth (made last week and then frozen in quart-sized zipper freezer bag)
1 bag of veggie broth (made week before last and frozen in quart-sized zipper freezer bag)
leftover roast beef from Wednesday night's dinner, cut into bite sized pieces
about 2 cups of frozen peas
a dozen or so baby carrots, cut into large chunks
3 small potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks
salt to taste
dash of thyme
sprinkle of minced dried onion
cornstarch

how to:
Put about 1 inch of water in the cooking pot and put over medium heat. Remove the broths from their bags and gently pace them in the pot. Add everything else and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and gently simmer for an hour or two. The liquid should reduce down by about 25%. You want to concentrate the flavors, but not boil the water away. (If it starts to look like there isn't enough liquid, add enough water to bring it back to what you want, bring to a boil and reduce heat to a lower temperature than you did before. It should be gently simmering, but definitely not boiling. Stir and put a lid on the pot. You'll need to cook it for at least another 1/2 hour after adding that water.) Stir occasionally as it cooks. After it's cooked for about 30 minutes, taste the broth and adjust the seasoning as you see fit.

About 15 minutes before you're ready to eat, take about 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and dissolve it in about 1/4 c of lukewarm water or broth. Using one hand to stir the stew, slowly pour in the cornstarch water. Do not stop stirring until all of the cornstarch water is dissolved into the stew, or you'll end up with some really nasty lumps and a very thin stew. Stir frequently or 2 until it's thick enough for your preference (about 5 or 10 minutes).

Slow Cooker Method:
You can make this in the slow cooker for a work day, too. In the morning, put everything except the water, beef stock/broth and cornstarch into the crock. The water will be omitted. The beef stock should be put in the fridge to thaw (don't worry if you forget, you can always thaw it in the microwave). Turn the slow cooker to low and let cook for the day. DO NOT LIFT THE LID OF THE COOKER UNTIL THE END OF THE DAY! (Lifting the lid breaks the steam seal and causes the contents to cool. Every time the lid is lifted is like adding about 30 minutes to the cooking time.) About 30 minutes before you're ready to eat, turn the cooker to high. Put the thawed beef broth into a pot over medium heat. When it's beginning to simmer, dissolve about 2-3 tablespoons of cornstarch in about 1/4 c water. Then, stirring the broth with one hand, slowly pour in the cornstarch water. Stir well. Cook over medium, stirring frequently until thickened (usually 5 or 10 minutes). Promptly remove from heat. Now you can take the lid off of the slow cooker. Pour the gravy into the crock, stirring to distribute it through the meat and vegetables. Replace the lid, turn the crock off and allow it to sit for at least 5 minutes (15 minutes is ideal) before serving.

Notes:
-If you add too much salt, add some extra potato. They absorb the salt nicely.
-You can use whatever vegetables you want, and as much or as little as you want. I don't measure them, and I tend to use whatever I have that needs using up before it goes bad. If I had to guess, I'd say I probably put about 4 cups of veg into my stew. You can also leave the skins on your potatoes, if you prefer.
-During the last 5 minutes or so of cooking, I like to throw a bit of non-allergenic bread into the toaster oven to warm it up. There's nothing quite like a bowl of totally from scratch stew with a nice, warm piece of bread, lightly buttered. Last night the hubby and I split one of DeLand's hot dog rolls and it was a good call. Their hot dog rolls are closer to a crusty Italian loaf than what I'd expect a hot dog bun to be.