Beef Stew

I have to much time on my hands right now---so opted to cook a meal from scratch, to kill the time, and not to mention do something to balance the old budget. (now only if somebody would get the cook in balance somewhat mutters---)

So I made use of the standard chunks of beef round, coated in flower and a splash of Lemon pepper, browned on all sides in a couple tablespoons of canola oil, and to that added water, chopped up celery (2 stocks), and a couple big carrots cut into bite sized pieces, two potatoes cut into pieces and a can of whole tomatoes. I also added about a quarter teaspoon of Lee&Perrins worchestire sauce.--- put lid on and simmer for about two or three hours, add small can of peas during the last 10 minutes-----good with hot rolls or thick slices of French bread.

THANK GOODNESS FOR CAN OPENERS

Sometimes ya feel like a nut and other times ya just ain't got the right attitude. Well as the sun slowly sinks in the west (which it does in spite of anything I ever do)---I have decide I don't feel like going to the trouble of making dinner from scratch---its gonna be one of those can-opener, heat and serve efforts.

To be more exact, I am going with a large can of Dinty Moore beef stew, which I will top off with a batch of dumplings. (1 cup flour, two teaspoons of baking powder, two Tablespoons of vegetable oil, a pinch of salt, and a half cup of milk-----mix it all up into a gelatinous mass, and then using a teaspoon, drop the mixture into the bubbling stew (makes about 10-12 dumplings), put lid on pan, and cook on low for another 15 minutes------serve with crackers, or garlic bread and a tossed salad-----voila, another meal is done.

NEWS FLASH---Dinner tonight will be Saurkraut w/ Frankfurters and Dumplings

I have just returned from the Den, where the LP has given me to nights menu and cooking instructions. Tonight we are having the ever popular Sauerkraut, w/hot dogs and dumplings dinner.

INGREDIENTS:

1 Qt Jar Jar Sauerkraut
12-14 Slices Slices Bacon
1 Lg. Sweet Onion
6 Cups Chicken Broth
10ea Frankfurters (all beef)

PREPARATION

Open the jar of sauerkraut, and drain the liquid, and set aside. In a skillet, cook the slices of bacon til crisp, spoon out and lay cooked bacon strips on paper towels to drain and cool. While bacon strips are cooling, chopped the large sweet onion into a nice diced condition and place into skillet used to cook the bacon, and return skillet to the burner and cook onions til caramelized. While onions are cooking, take a large ( 5qt pan with lid) and crumble the crisp bacon strips into the bottom of the pan. Add the frankfurters (uncut) on top of the bacon crumbles, add the drained sauerkraut, and the caramelized diced onions. Add The chicken broth , put lid on pan, and put pan on burner, and simmer on low for 3 hours minimum. Check pan from time to time and add more chicken broth to keep the ingredients covered while cooking.

When it comes time to serve dinner to the troops, prepare the standard recipe for dumplings as described in the ever popular Betty Crocker Cookbook, and spoon into the simmering pot above and cook (covered---no peeking mind ya) for an additional 15 minutes.-------voila Dinner is ready to be dished up and served.

Whats For Dinner?"

Here at Matilija House, the old dude (that's me) is making his popular beef stew. This recipe kinda evolved from my starving student days, when money was more myth than reality, so one learned how to stretch a food dollar.
It all began on a cold rainy day in Boulder, Colorado. If memory serves it was late in the month, on a Tuesday evening. I couldn't afford to go out with the guys for beer and pizza, but I was hungry, so like a flash of lightning the idea struck me, why not make beef stew, how hard could it be?? I hit the market and I got some beef, some carrots, some celery and some potatoes. (I even got change from the $5.oo bill I paid with. I guess I should tell ya this all happened way back in Oct, 1955.)
I wasn't totally sure, but I opted to brown the beef in a big iron 5qt pot, then I added all the other stuff, --yes I chopped it up first, added water and let it simmer. Lets just say this first attempt was nothing to write home about, and even now it embarrasses me to talk about it. Bad as my first attempt was, it made me all the more determined to get it right-----and so after getting over my first blah attempt, I snuck a few glances at beef stew recipes when I came across them---learned tomatoes are your friend, salt, pepper, learned how to brown my meat dredged in flour-----anyway today----my beef stew is pretty damn good---hell maybe even capable of winning a ribbon at a county fair. but (sigh) its still not as good as Mom made.