Mushroom Beef Stew

Hi everyone!

How's the weather in your part of the world?

Here on Vancouver Island it's cold, cold, cold with a side order of snow!

This has made for some very entertaining moments with our dog Max who turns into "SNOW DOG" at the first hint of frost. His love of romping in the white stuff somehow makes it more bearable and - truth be told - I actually quite like it when my world is blanketed in white.

And then there's the whole foodie thing. I mean, what could be better on a cold winter day than stew?

I adapted this recipe from one on the Canadian Living website adding a few Kitchen Witch twists of my own and what resulted is one of the best stews I have ever made.

For printable recipe, click HERE 

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 60 minutes
Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 2 lb stewing beef cubes
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 cups beef stock
• 1 onion, sliced
• 2 slices bacon, chopped
• 1 tsp dried Herbes de Provence or thyme
• 2 large cloves minced garlic
• 2 cups button mushrooms, quartered
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 3 cups baby potatoes, scrubbed and quartered
• 1 pkg dried mushrooms
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 cup tomato ketchup
• 1 cup frozen peas

Directions

1. Trim and cut beef into cubes; toss with the flour. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. In large skillet, heat half of the oil over medium-high heat; brown meat, in batches and adding more oil if necessary. Transfer to a large Dutch oven that has a lid.
2. Add stock to the same skillet and bring to boil, scraping up any brown bits off the bottom; pour over the meat in the Dutch oven.
3. In same skillet, heat remaining oil over medium heat; fry onion, bacon and thyme for 1 minute. Add button mushrooms; cook until softened and almost no liquid remains, about 8 minutes. During the last minute of cooking, add the minced garlic and continue to stir until fragrant.Add to Dutch oven.
4. Add celery, potatoes, dried mushrooms, bay leaf and 1 cup (250 mL) water, and tomato ketchup to the Dutch oven; stir to combine. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until beef is tender, about 1 hour.
5. Add peas; simmer until heated through. Discard bay leaf. Add additional salt and pepper to taste. This stew is even better cooled and refrigferated to serve the next day.

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Author:

Lyndsay Wells is a professional trainer, writer, and program developer with a passion for food and cooking. She is an award winning recipe developer, and a website ambassador for Kraft Foods Canada. Lyndsay believes cooking should be approachable and easy and has great tips and ideas for putting together sophisticated looking dishes that cooks of all levels can accomplish.

Visit her daily on her blog, The Kitchen Witch or on her YouTube Channel, CHARMED With The Kitchen Witch.