I am not a writer of recipes. I rarely create anything new. That’s because I’m a process-driven person and prefer to always have a process, or in the case of cooking, a recipe to follow. I didn’t grow up with women who were great cooks either who could teach me. My aunt and mom cooked to feed their family in the best way they could afford. Both grew up in the ‘meat and potatoes’ era where food choices weren’t abundant.
When I got married, I wasn’t really allowed a budget that allow me to do anything much beyond Hamburger Helper, tuna casserole and the occasional shredded beef. Sometimes, the beef would work out and sometimes it wouldn’t. I never researched why.
When I got divorced, my girls and I moved in with my mom who still hadn’t really refined her cooking skills. She did her best though with a picky meat eater for a daughter and the ever changing tastes of two young children. She tried different recipes. She adapted when my older daughter wanted to be a vegetarian. She got creative when my younger daughter would only eat her vegetables smothered in gravy. Most of all, she fought to put to memory who liked what and how they liked it cooked. We weren’t easy on her at all but we were always very grateful for the food she put on our table each night.
The one appliance I introduced to my mom was the wonder of the crockpot. Pretty much, anything I put in my crockpot is magic. Chicken with Italian dressing, chicken with my mom’s pasta sauce, applesauce….it always was a hit.
Except for beef. That still was a hit or miss and neither Mom nor myself could figure out why. Then one night, I was watching Ralph Fiennes’ version of Wuthering Heights. There’s a scene were he’s eating stew of some sort and the gravy was super thick on his fingers and on the bread and my mouth just watered.
Up until this time, we’d been making beef stew with a broth and I couldn’t figure out how to obtain that rich, thick beef gravy-like consistency. It was nothing short of beef soup. No one told me about cornstarch. So off to the store I went in search of the perfect beef stew ingredients. I bought our usual beef cubes, baby carrots and potatoes, an onion and some minced garlic. Only this time, instead of getting beef broth, I bought a jar of beef gravy.
We got home, put it all in the crockpot but my Mom was still concerned about the seasoning. We went on a treasure hunt throughout our kitchen for that perfect beef stew flavor. We found it in the form of soy sauce. I looked at Mom and she shrugged her shoulders.
“Why not?” she said, and proceeded to give our stew a good five to six shakes. We put the lid on the crockpot, turned it on and waited 8 hours.
It was THE BEST beef stew ever! The meat was tender, the veggies were soft but not mushy. And the gravy was divine!! Of course, I’d had successes before so I wasn’t sure if this was a fluke or not. A few weeks later, we made beef stew for the family. Again, she gave it 5-6 hard shakes with the soy sauce and magic again!
So, I’m no recipe writer. I don’t know anything about food except that I like to eat it. But here’s my easy version of beef stew as enjoyed by my family. I hope you like it.
Vikki’s Beef Stew
- lean beef stew meat, 2 lbs
- frozen pearl onions, 12 oz pkg
- minced garlic, 2-3 teaspoons (we like garlic in our family)
- baby peeled carrots, 1lb
- red or yellow baby potatoes, 1.5lb bag
- 1 jar of Heinz beef gravy, 18 oz
- soy sauce (for best results, don’t use the low sodium), 5-6 shakes
This is super easy. No chopping of vegetables is necessary. Simply dump this all into a crockpot and cook on low for 8 hours. Serve with a crusty bread and a side salad for added veggies, if you’d like. You can also add more vegetables to the stew, if you’d like. I like the simplicity of this so I choose not to.
Unfortunately, I’m not able to provide measurements, calories, etc….this feeds my family of 4 adults usually with a little leftover for a lunch or two. This also freezes very well.
Faith Love n Joy 