You might wonder why in the world I made Beef Stew on the 2nd day of July. Well, the day dawned cloudy and cool and nothing comforts like a warm bowl of stew. I have been trying to regroup, do less, sleep more and recapture that center of God's peace. (And killing chickens, but we won't talk about that.) This stew definitely helps one feel better. It was made from some top sirloin that we just got back from either steer #15 or #16 and it was delicious. It is melt in your mouth beef yumminess and will be on sale at the G-Ville Farmer's Market next Friday. I also dug up some of our red potatoes to add to the pot. Nothing says home like a home cooked meal.Hearty Beef Stew
Ingredients:
3 tsp olive oil or butter
*1 to 2 pounds of sirloin steak cut into 1/2 to 1 inch cubes (recently harvested off our hill)
1 cup finely chopped onion (mine was home grown from my mama's garden)
3 cloves garlic minced
1 1/2 cups beef broth
1 1/2 or so pounds of red potatoes cubed (fresh from our garden)
2 cups sliced carrots (anyone got tips on growing carrots, mine never do well)
1 cup sliced celery
3/4 cup spicy dry wine (and a glass for the cook)
1 tsp dried thyme or 2 tsp fresh
pint of stewed tomatoes canned from last year, or 14.5 ounce can
1/2 tsp dried rosemary or a sprig of fresh
1 dried bay leaf ( they grow on trees here!)
pinch of cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Heat oil or butter in large dutch oven style pot over medium/high heat. Add beef, cook until lightly browned, stirring frequently. Add onions and garlic, keep stirring for a couple of minutes until onion begins to brown. Add rest of the ingredients bring to a boil. Cover pot and turn heat to low. Simmer for an hour and then eat!
*You can also use stew meat but you will need to add liquid to meat and then simmer for an hour or two before adding vegetables. Which will increase cooking time to about 3 hours. It takes extra time to tenderize stew meat. The sirloin was tender and yummy with just the browning, it fell apart after an hour of cooking.
Yum! That looks delicious.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing.
Dan
MMM I can almost smell that - Yummy! It has been cool and cloudy here too and I thought about a stew, but didn't quite get it done.
ReplyDeleteHope you are feeling better, I personally think a good nap or two (or a dozen) can make most anything better.
Brenda
Wow, had me going to the stove until I got to the part in the maken's about "they grow on trees here" and then you lost me, and memories of Henry and Tree Frogs flooded my mind like a 6 year old boy spending part of the summer on the west bank of the Eel back in '56.
ReplyDeleteDid I say lost me? How could I get lost in a recipe? Well......
Henry was my horse. Ok, he was the Ranches horse. Did I mention that Henry was a Used Horse?
If memory serves me right the Old Man bought him back in '37 when the Army was having a clearance sale and a dozen or so horses were need for the ranches.
Well Henry was one of best of the lot and went to the Wayside Ranch and worked cattle, packed and rode guests till the ranch was sold and then Henry went to the ranch at Livingston where everybody had to ride him. Heck, everybody would fight to ride him. You see Henry had a gait that was unique and it isn't everyday you come across a horse that could Singlefoot all day long. But Henry had another big surprise in store for you, he had only two gaits. The Walk and the Singlefoot.
All the Hands called him Stumble Bum Henry.
Yep, poke your heels into Henry and he would take off like greased lightening, go four steps and stumble. He wouldn't go down, just stumble enough to make anybody think they were gonna get thrown off in the finest Rodeo Fashion and then he would come back up and Singlefoot all day long. But if he was walking along and you bumped your knees in just a little he would go right to the Singlefoot without missing a beat and no Rodeo Routine. Did I mention he was just a little Barn Sour?
There was no getting lost with Henry, just say "back to the Barn" and he would find the Barn. Hoot, ya never could put Henry in a pasture because he could defeat any obstacle between him and a Barn, and to him a Barn was anything he could walk into that had a roof and smelled of hay. Should have called him "Hay Barn Henry".
So why Henry and Tree Frogs?
Henry taught me that all in the Clan of Horses were part Bear at one time and still enjoyed a good tree rub and with Henry any old tree tree would do. Didn't matter what kind of tree, didn't matter when. To Henry all trees at any time were fair game for a rub until he discovered there was a special tree on the Eel, and I still think of it as a "Henry Tree".
If that half blind horse could spot a Henry Tree at 800 yards and half a mile off the trail, off you went. Ya, going to the best rub of all, a "Henry Tree". No Barn could ever pull Henry harder off the path than that old smelly "Henry Tree".
When you are a 6 year old and are being taught the ways of the Clan of the Horse, there was no better Guide than Henry to show Jonny where every BAY LAUREL Tree for a good rubbing was to be found and rubbed(dang, I meant "Henry Tree").
With with summer over, Henry and Jonny went back to the Livingston Ranch where all Henry had were Cottonwoods, Modesto Ash and a few Walnut Trees to rub. But when somebody would be cooking with Bay Leaf at one of the houses at Livingston, you could always find him close down wind, right outside the kitchen window with his eyes closed and dreaming and remembering the Tree. How do I know?...His sigh told me so, any 6 year old cowboy who could speak horse could have told you so. It was just easier to understand at the Livingston Ranch cause you didn't have a gazillion Tree Frogs make'n a real big racket come dinner time and all through the night. Hoot, the Bullfrogs on the Merced were 100 times bigger but never as loud as them little green things on the Eel.
Like I said, ya lost me in that danged Stew recipe of yours. But I have to thank you for adding some of Henrys Tree to my day....just let me close my eyes as I weep into my memories of joy. Again, thank you all at the Ranch on Salmon Creek for sharing the true ingredients of life in your own way.
Godspeed from away far away in a memory.
Wow, had me going to the stove until I got to the part in the maken's about "they grow on trees here" and then you lost me, and memories of Henry and Tree Frogs flooded my mind like a 6 year old boy spending part of the summer on the west bank of the Eel back in '56.
ReplyDeleteDid I say lost me? How could I get lost in a recipe? Well......
Henry was my horse. Ok, he was the Ranches horse. Did I mention that Henry was a Used Horse?
If memory serves me right the Old Man bought him back in '37 when the Army was having a clearance sale and a dozen or so horses were need for the ranches.
Well Henry was one of best of the lot and went to the Wayside Ranch and worked cattle, packed and rode guests till the ranch was sold and then Henry went to the ranch at Livingston where everybody had to ride him. Heck, everybody would fight to ride him. You see Henry had a gait that was unique and it isn't everyday you come across a horse that could Singlefoot all day long. But Henry had another big surprise in store for you, he had only two gaits. The Walk and the Singlefoot.
All the Hands called him Stumble Bum Henry.
Yep, poke your heels into Henry and he would take off like greased lightening, go four steps and stumble. He wouldn't go down, just stumble enough to make anybody think they were gonna get thrown off in the finest Rodeo Fashion and then he would come back up and Singlefoot all day long. But if he was walking along and you bumped your knees in just a little he would go right to the Singlefoot without missing a beat and no Rodeo Routine. Did I mention he was just a little Barn Sour?
There was no getting lost with Henry, just say "back to the Barn" and he would find the Barn. Hoot, ya never could put Henry in a pasture because he could defeat any obstacle between him and a Barn, and to him a Barn was anything he could walk into that had a roof and smelled of hay. Should have called him "Hay Barn Henry".
So why Henry and Tree Frogs?
Henry taught me that all in the Clan of Horses were part Bear at one time and still enjoyed a good tree rub and with Henry any old tree tree would do. Didn't matter what kind of tree, didn't matter when. To Henry all trees at any time were fair game for a rub until he discovered there was a special tree on the Eel, and I still think of it as a "Henry Tree".
If that half blind horse could spot a Henry Tree at 800 yards and half a mile off the trail, off you went. Ya, going to the best rub of all, a "Henry Tree". No Barn could ever pull Henry harder off the path than that old smelly "Henry Tree".
When you are a 6 year old and are being taught the ways of the Clan of the Horse, there was no better Guide than Henry to show Jonny where every BAY LAUREL Tree for a good rubbing was to be found and rubbed(dang, I meant "Henry Tree").
With with summer over, Henry and Jonny went back to the Livingston Ranch where all Henry had were Cottonwoods, Modesto Ash and a few Walnut Trees to rub. But when somebody would be cooking with Bay Leaf at one of the houses at Livingston, you could always find him close down wind, right outside the kitchen window with his eyes closed and dreaming and remembering the Tree. How do I know?...His sigh told me so, any 6 year old cowboy who could speak horse could have told you so. It was just easier to understand at the Livingston Ranch cause you didn't have a gazillion Tree Frogs make'n a real big racket come supper time and all through the night.
Like I said, ya lost me in that danged Stew recipe of yours. But I have to thank you for adding some of Henrys Tree to my day, just let me close my eyes as I weep into my memories of joy. Again, thank you all at the Ranch on Salmon Creek for sharing the true ingredients of life in your own way.
Godspeed from away far away in a memory.