Beef and Mushroom Braised Stew

Beef and Mushroom Braised Stew

I don't drive. To many the idea of not driving would be shocking. I know how to drive, but I have always had horrible motion sickness. Behind the wheel I last about 5 minutes before I feel the need to be sick. As you can imagine this doesn't work well when on the road. I have seen doctors who have attempted to fix my inner ear, treated the anxiety part of my motion sickness (I also get very nervous behind the wheel) and none of it has worked. Honestly, when I was 23 I stopped driving and haven't been behind the wheel since. We live in a one car household, I walk everywhere or my husband drives. I lasted all through undergrad, working and grad school without a car. It was never a big hassle and honestly I'm a big proponent of trying to limit your carbon footprint and would love it if everyone drove less. I know many people reading are thinking but my husband and I work different hours, locations etc. and that it's different for us since I stay home. I didn't always stay home. My husband and I both worked 3 jobs during grad school and for two years after. We managed fine with one car, we stayed thin walking, we carpooled and we saved money on gas. If I go back to work I will still not drive. We are used to being a one car household (and one driver) and it works for us. We are just a little different than most households and that's part of what makes everyone in the world great; each of us have our own unique circumstances and things that set us apart. On to the food! This week the males in my house have been on a meat and potatoes kick. So I combined the two and made a recipe for Beef and Mushroom Braised Stew from the September/October 2013 issue of Taste of Home magazine.

Buskirk Field (Looking NE) Marshall University

This recipe has 19 ingredients. It takes 2 hours and 5 minutes, 35 minutes of which is active and makes 6 servings. I made a number of changes to the original recipe. I used homemade dried rosemary and thyme from my garden. Drying herbs is really easy, just wash them, tie them with kitchen twine, place in a brown paper bag with a few holes for air circulation and hang upside down for a week or two. Much cheaper than store bought. For the mashed potatoes I made buttermilk mashed potatoes. Buttermilk mashed potatoes have a great flavor and worked very well with the stew. The final change I made to the original recipe was to caramelize the onions before adding the garlic. The taste of caramelized onions is delicious in beef dishes.

Kentucky Wildflowers

The males in my house were huge fans of this stew. There is something about beef and mushrooms that a lot of men love. My husband ate two huge bowls for dinner and my oldest son went around stealing the beef off the plate of his brother. The finished stew had a great melding of flavor and was nice over the mashed potatoes. It would also be delicious plain with crusty bread.

For the recipe go to Beef and Mushroom Braised Stew.

Beef and Mushroom Braised Stew

Recipe Type: Main

Summary:

A perfect combination of mushrooms and beef roast made into a Beef and Mushroom Braised Stew. Served over mashed potatoes it's delicious!

Preparation Time: 0h, 35m

Cooking Time: 1h, 30m

Total Time: 2h, 5m

Yield: Serves 6

Slow Cooker Beef Stew and Easy Homemade Cornbread Recipe

The winter weather seems to be back in my area. It has been spitting snow all day, which just makes me want to curl up with a good book and a cup of tea. I love winter weather for about a month, then I get increasing sick of it. I am one of those people that loves when the seasons change and then quickly get tired of the new season. Now there are some seasons that I like more than others, winter being pretty far down the list. One of the things that saves winter for me is the food. I am a huge fan of soups and stews and fall and winter are the perfect time of the year to prepare them. Approximately once a week (at least) during the winter I pull out my slow cooker and try a new stew recipe. I find stew in the winter comforting and makes the cold weather more bearable. Last week I tried a new recipe for Slow Cooker Beef Stew and Homemade Cornbread from the February 2013 issue of All You magazine.

The beef stew recipe has 17 ingredients and the cornbread has 8 ingredients. The cornbread takes a total of 25 minutes, 10 minutes of which is active and makes 9 servings. The beef stew recipe takes a total of 8 1/2 hours, 30 minutes of which is active and makes 6 servings. I did make a few changes to the recipes. For the beef stew instead of all-purpose flour I used brown rice flour. I made my own beef broth from scratch. If you have never made beef broth before it is very easy. Roast 2 onions, 2 carrots and 1 pound of beef bones in the oven at 425 for 40 minutes. When they are done roasting add them to a large stock pot, add 12 peppercorns, 2 bay leaves, 2 sprigs of parsley and cover with water. Bring to boil and then turn down to a low simmer for 4-6 hours. The longer you cook the stock the stronger the flavor. I chose not to top my stew with cilantro since my kids have decided that they currently won't eat it. For the cornbread I only made a few changes. First I used low-fat buttermilk instead of full fat. I try to limit my dairy fats and low-fat buttermilk is a great way to do it. Since I was not eating the cornbread I did not make it gluten-free, but instead made the recipe as written.

This beef stew has a little bit of a kick from the chilies and chipotle pepper. I topped my boys servings with a little bit of sour cream to cut down on the spiciness, My husband and I didn't find that the dish was that spicy, but my boys noticed immediately. I like that the beef turned out very tender and the parsnips gave the beef a delicious sweet root vegetable undertone.

For the recipes go to Beef Stew and Homemade Cornbread.

Slow-Cooker Caribbean Beef Stew

The weather in my area has been unseasonably warm. It was almost 70 degrees on Tuesday and it has been making my kids a little bit wild. With the warm days it feels more like spring than almost Christmas. Even though the weather has been all over the place, I refuse to let it change my food plans. This is the time of the year when I make pumpkin cookies, eggnog baked good and most importantly stews. I love stews. They are delicious and comforting. I make them at least twice a month and they are a fall stable in my house. Since I now am eating gluten free I have had to find new stew recipes that work well with gluten free flours. This week I tried a new recipe for Slow-Cooker Caribbean Beef Stew from the December issue of the Food Network Magazine, which looked full of classic Caribbean flavor from the allspice and white pepper and perfect for a busy weeknight.

This reicpe 13 ingredients. It takes a total time of 7 hours and 15 minutes, 15 minutes of which is active and makes 4 servings. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local grocery store. Since I don't use wheat flour I substituted the all-purpose flour for gluten free all-purpose flour. Crock-pots can be very hard to clean so I always use slow-cooker liners to reduce the mess. I let my stew cook on high for 7 hours. When I only put my potatoes in the crock-pot on low for 7 hours they never seem soft enough to me, so I normally cook my stews on high. Finally, I decided to top the servings with scallions for taste and presentation. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

Make sure to adequately salt this stew once it is done in the crock-pot. The recipe requires more salt than the recipe states. My husband and I really liked this stew. The flavor was great and the spiciness from the green chiles was delicious. My two boys thought it was a little too spicy for their tastes, but I added sour cream to their servings and then they ate it happily.

For the recipe go to Slow-Cooker Caribbean Beef Stew.