Maggie's Farm

We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.

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Thursday, January 10. 2013

Classic, old-timey Mommys of America winter suppers #9: Beef Stew

They called it "Beef Stew" because I don't think they put any wine in it. Mom served it on rice or on slices of white bread.


Good for the cheapest cut of beef you can find because it will tenderize any cut, and the poorest cuts have the most flavor. 


It probably tasted similar to that Dinty Moore dog-food-tasting canned thing, because it had no bacon, no garlic, no wine, etc. Tasted good at the time, though.


A more up-to-date recipe for a crock pot is not too bad: Crock Pot Beef Stew With Red Wine. Gets closer to a real Boeuf Bourguignon.


Here's the real thing. I like it on noodles.


Posted by Bird Dog in Food and Drink, Our Essays at 17:32 | Comments (6) | Trackbacks (0)

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Very timely, I've got some stew beef defrosting now. Thanks BD!
#1 Santay on 2013-01-11 04:44 (Reply)
It isn't really beef stew, or beef bourguignon, for that matter, unless it comes out of my cast iron dutch oven.
#2 D on 2013-01-11 07:10 (Reply)
Ditto on the Dutch oven.

For snorts and giggles, go to YouTube and put "Julia Child" in the search box. In and among all of the short clips of her in segments on other cooking shows you will find video from her 60s era show "The French Chef". The segment in which she makes beef bourguignon is one of the few available which you can view in its entirety. Classic Julia.

My one kvetch in making beef stew is the thinness of the stew juices. Julia solves that rather cleverly by creaming together butter and flour and then adding the paste to the stew in small amounts. You get a two-fer out of this: a perfect thickener and richness all at once.
#2.1 KellyM on 2013-01-11 11:36 (Reply)
I toss the stew beef in corn starch before browning it, thickens it up some.
#2.1.1 Santay on 2013-01-11 11:42 (Reply)
Beef stew on mushy white bread! I'm loving this series just for the memories it invokes.
#3 SteveS on 2013-01-11 10:57 (Reply)
That's the point.
#3.1 Bird Dog on 2013-01-11 13:08 (Reply)

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