Beef And Vegetable Stew

CAJUN BEEF AND VEGETABLE STEW

This is a remix on a childhood recipe. My mom used to make a beef and vegetable stew that I based this off of, but with a lot of upgrades and additional ingredients.

When my mom made it - there was canned vegetables. You know the kind. There were carrots, cubed potatoes and peas. I think she added in canned corn and she even had spaghetti noodles in it at the end. I really liked that part, but this time around and for the future, we’re going to go with short, little ditalini noodles. The spaghetti noodles were too awkwardly long with a chunky soup.

Growing up, we never had the parsley and green onion topping treatment. And I mean, my mom NEVER used them. Kind of bizarre, but we never knew any better and we friggin’ loved this soup.

This recipe is pretty easy, but there are quite a few ingredients, albeit necessary. Some of the additions include a nice red wine, I typically go for the malbec’s or tempranillos. If you’re worried about the amount for kids, simply don’t use, and add more beef broth, but the amount is only a third cup for curious minds. I also use the variety color baby potatoes, actual whole carrots, chopped up, baby bella mushrooms and snow peas.

For the beef, my mom used the slightly fatty beef stew cuts, but I don’t love those. I get the beef chuck stew cuts from the butcher at the deli counter. You’ll be paying more, but to me it is absolutely worth it.

This recipe is super Cajun in that it of course uses Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce and flour for the beef that in turn thickens your broth as it cooks, and browns your beef first.

CAJUN BEEF AND VEGETABLE STEW RECIPE

Prep Time: 30 min | Cook Time: 1 1/2 hrs | Serving Size: 6-8

Ingredients

• 2 lbs beef chuck, chopped or cubed smaller

• Tabasco or any hot sauce for beef, to taste ( I generously sprinkle 7-8 drops)

• 1/3 cup all purpose flour for coating beef

• salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, cajun seasoning to taste

• 3 bay leaves

• 1 tablespoon fresh chopped rosemary

• 1 tablespoon fresh chopped thyme

• 1/4 cup olive oil

• 1/2 cup red onion, diced

• 1 yellow onion, diced

• 4 celery stalks, diced

• 1/8 cup minced garlic

• 3 tablespoons tomato paste

• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

• 1/2 cup red wine

• 3 quarts hot beef stock (don’t want to put cold broth into hot pan)

• 2 cups hot water (don’t want to put cold water into hot pan)

• 6-7 carrots, chopped

• 1 pound new potatoes or tri-colored baby potatoes, quartered

• 8 oz sliced baby bella mushrooms

• 1 cup peas (can be frozen or thawed)

• 1 can green beans

• 1 cup Ditalini noodles, cooked

• 1/2 cup chopped freshly parsley, 1/2 cup chopped green onions for topping and parmesan cheese optional

Instructions

Place beef in a large mixing bowl.

Season with salt, black pepper, cayenne, cajun seasoning (amount you want, everyone’s different).

Sprinkle in flour to coat well.

In a large dutch oven, add in olive oil and put on medium-high heat.

Add meat and brown on all sides. This usually takes about 8-10 minutes to get a good searing.

Remove meat and place in a clean bowl or deep plate to sit while you sauté the onions, celery, and garlic in the dutch oven. Sauté for 5 minutes.

Return meat to pot with onions celery and garlic. Throw in a bay leaf, the Worcestershire sauce and red wine to sort of deglaze the pot with a wooden spatula.

Add in the thyme and rosemary and cook for another 2 minutes.

Stir in the tomato paste to mix In with everything.

Pour in the hot water and beef stock, scraping up any drippings or sticky areas.

Fold in the carrots, potatoes and mushrooms.

Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer and cover for an hour and a half (1.5 hrs).

With 30 minutes left, add in the green beans and snow peas to fold in delicately.

Boil the ditalini noodles until al dente.

With about 10 minutes left of the simmering pot, add in noodles.

Cover again for the remaining 30 minutes to simmer.

To serve, top with green onions, parmesan and parsley. I like to add a little more hot sauce on top.