Beef Stew with a Secret Ingredient
A family favorite recipe for a delicious beef stew that is sure to warm you on a chilly day.
Now that the weather outside is turning cooler, my kitchen stove has been getting warmer from more use after a summer spent using the outdoor grill to make dinner.
There is nothing better when it is cold outside to come home to the delicious smell of a pot of beef stew simmering on the stove. It adds the finishing touch to everything fall and creating the comfy cozy factor that affects all my senses.
I don’t share many recipes, but when I do, they are the best of the best in my recipe box. The ones that have family and friends asking for more. This is the case with my mom’s beef stew.
My mom is no longer alive, but this beef stew recipe was one of her best. I remember as a child watching her make it and learning the secret ingredient she added that made it taste so good! Even as kids, my siblings and I loved this stew and even ate the carrots without complaint!!!
When I got married, I began to make the recipe to serve for dinner and as the years went by it became a favorite of my daughters, too. I made it a lot and always on Halloween night.
It became a Halloween tradition.
So what makes this beef stew the best, most delicious stew ever?
Sherry Cooking Wine and not just a splash, but half a bottle of it. I have always used this brand since it is what my mom used, but any brand of cooking sherry or even apéritif sherry will add the flavor that makes the stew taste so good.
Another delicious aspect of making this stew for dinner when you are only serving 2 or 3 people for dinner is that you will have leftovers which means comfort food for a few meals.
The day after we had the beef stew for dinner, I heated it up and served the leftovers for my lunch in my Spode Blue Italian Jumbo Cup and Saucer.
Leftover Stew Broth & Dumplings
On the third day after I made the stew when the meat, potatoes, and carrots were gone and all that was left was the broth. I used the broth leftovers to make one more meal.
My mom used to make dumplings from scratch until she found these, Anne’s Old Fashioned Flat Dumplings at the supermarket. They are just as good as home-made dumplings.
To cook them, bring a pot of water to boil. Then drop the frozen dumplings into the boiling water. Cook until they float, drain and then put back in the empty pot with some melted butter and salt. Mix well.
Place the dumplings in a bowl and then pour the leftover stew broth on top. Sprinkle some grated cheese on top, pour a glass of red wine and you have one more delicious meal from one pot of stew.
If you don’t like dumplings, the stew leftovers also taste good over rice.
Beef Stew With Secret Ingredient
Ingredients
- 1-1/2 pounds chuck loin cubes or stew meat
- 1/4 cup sifted flour
- 1/4 cup butter or margarine
- 1 cup sliced onions
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 5 cups water
- 8-12 ounces sherry cooking wine
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 cups potatoes, cubed
- 1-1/2 cups carrots, chopped into chunks
- 1 cup celery, sliced
- 1/2 cup green pepper, chopped
- Aunt Anne's Flat Dumplings optional
Instructions
- Flour beef cubes and brown in butter in a Dutch oven or large pot over medium-high heat.
- Cook onions and garlic in with the beef until tender. Use a wooden spoon to scrape the bottom of the pot to mix all the brown bits that may stick to the bottom of the pot.
- Add water, sherry, parsley, salt, pepper, and bay leaves. Cover and let simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
- Add potatoes, carrots, celery, green pepper; Cover again and simmer 15 minutes or longer until the vegetables are soft.
Nutrition
Do you have a family favorite recipe that you can make without even having to read it from a recipe card since you have made it so many times?
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