Another one of my favorite cookbooks is my Better Homes & Gardens 75 Anniversary Cookbook. It's a fun one to browse through, as it has pictures and stories of when the recipes were published. They also include old articles from the 50's on how to host a dinner party, and things like that. This book, like many others, holds lots of recipes that I want to make but have not gotten around to!
My Dad & Joyce came over for a late lunch/ early dinner yesterday so I chose this meal for my attempt. I picked up some chuck roast on sale and browsed a few beef stew/ pot roast variations before deciding on this one. It was a long meal to prepare. East to cook, but lots of prep work! I trimmed and sliced the chuck in to 1 inch pieces, dredged in flour and sauteed in a kettle. I added water and spices and simmered for 1 1/2 hours before adding carrots, potatoes, & baby onions. I've been on a boiling onion kick and this was my first time making them. The book lists a tip to boil them for 3 minutes and they pop out of the skin. After trying to peel one of them, I decided to go with their tip. It worked, but took about 20 minutes to get 1 lb of onions peeled! Quite annoying.... The stew cooks for another 30 minutes, then you make a gravy with the liquid.
The stew itself was very good, but a little boring. The gravy had a nice consistancy and a good taste, but needed a little oomph. The meat was fantastic- really tender and delicious. I would make this again, but maybe would sautee the onions and carrots up a little, or add to the stew 20 minutes before the potatoes. I like my stewed veggies to be a little more done than these were. All in all, it was a good and inexpensive meal.
One of the things that I like about my experiment is that I'm really forcing myself to follow the recipe. In situations like this one, I may have made the meal a little better by following my instincts, but I really think that overall my cooking skills will improve by learning new methods.
Yankee Doodle Stew with Vegetables
link to website:
http://www.bhg.com/recipe/soups/yankee-doodle-stew-with-vegetables/
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Love your blog!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review! Your meal sounded good even if it was a bit boring. Also sounds like a neat cookbook. I thought of you this weekend when I was making biscuits n gravy on sunday. Here's how I do it:
ReplyDeleteFor the biscuits, you can use store bought, use bisquick, or make your own from scratch.
Sausage Gravy
-Brown one tube of sausage (I like to brown it until some of it starts to get crispy)
-Do not drain
-Add in 6 tablespoons of flour or Wondra and stir
-While constantly stirring over heat, add in 3 cups milk (I use 1% milk)
-Continuing to stir constantly, bring to a boil and boil for a few minutes until desired consistency is reached; gravy will thicken some upon cooling
-Take off heat and add 2 tablespoons of grated parmesan cheese
-Season generously with pepper and a bit of salt to taste (the parmesan cheese adds saltiness)
Jennie, that sounds awesome!!! Did you know that biscuits and gravy is one of my favorite breakfasts AND one that I've never made? I'll have to try this out, most definitely.
ReplyDeleteIt was me who posted the biscuits n gravy-Jennie actually bashed it on the mb b/c it had sausage in it-sheesh! ;)
ReplyDeleteI did NOT know it was one of your favorites nor that you've never made it! It's super easy to make. The parmesan cheese really helps give it some flavor. Hope you like it! :)