Wine Reviews Ratings

posted by admin on Jul 21

Easy Beef Stew is very popular in European & Asian countries.These 3 recipes below, by only reading it, will make your mouth watered and a strong will to start cooking that quick beef stew recipes.

Herbed Beef Stew

~1 1/2 Teaspoon of Garlic powder

~1 Can (6-oz.) of tomato paste

~1 Kg Beef stew meat cut into 1-inch cubes

~1 Lg of Onion chopped

~1 Lg of Green pepper chopped

~1 Packet of Frozen corn kernels

~1 Packet of Frozen green beans (10-oz.)

~1 Packet of Frozen peas (10-oz.)

~1 Teaspoon of Dried basil

~1 Teaspoon of Dried oregano

~1 Teaspoon of Ground marjoram

~1 Teaspoon of Rosemary crushed

~1 To 2 teaspoons salt

~1/4 lb of Mushrooms sliced

~2 Bay leaves

~2 Can of Cubed peeled potatoes

~2 Can of Sliced carrots

~2 Table spoon of Cooking oil

~2 Teaspoon of Pepper

~3 Medium Tomatoes chopped

~3 Cup of Water

Herbed Beef Stew Instruction:

Cook the meat in a ‘camp oven’ or Dutch oven, wait till meat become brown.pour water, then add tomato paste, onion and finally seasoning. Cook and cover for about 1 and a half hour or just wait n look for the meat to be tender ( not all meat need steady cooking), mix in carrots, green pepper and potatoes, cook them for about 30 minutes, check if additional water is needed. Mix and cook the ingredients left for about 20 additional minutes.

Serves: 10 – 12 people.

Momma’s Beef Stew

~1 1/2 lb of Beef stew meat

~1 Bay leaf

~1 Clove garlic minced

~1 cup of Red wine

~1 Medium onion minced

~1/2 can of Tomato sauce

~1/2 teaspoon of Oregano

~2 Carrots sliced

~3 tablespoon of wine vinegar

~4 Medium potatoes cubed

~4 tablespoon of Oil

~Salt and pepper to taste

Momma’s Beef Stew Instructions :

Cook the garlic and onion in oil, with the exception of carrots and potatoes, put everything in a large pot and start cooking them. Cook the meat until it become tender to your taste for about 1 and half hour, don’t forget to add potatoes and carrots after about 1 hours of cooking.

Serves: 6 people

Quick Beef Stew

~1 Bay leaf

~1 medium Onion, finely chopped

~1/2 Teaspoon of Salt

~1/4 Teaspoon of Celery salt

~1/8 Teaspoon of Pepper

~16 oz of Can tiny white potatoes and drained them

~2 Can of Beef gravy (recipe)

~2 Tablespoon of Vegetable oil

~2 To 3 Can cubed cooked beef

~8 oz Can green peas and drained

~8 oz of Can sliced carrots and drained them

Quick Beef Stew instruction:

Heat oil in Microwave Oven for 2 minutes with an appropriate heat resistant recipient, for 3 minutes, add the onions and then mix the onion from time to time, after the 3 minutes add the carrots bay leaf, salt, potatoes, pepper, beef gravy, celery salt and beef, mix up 2 combine all the ingredients, heat all these in microwave oven for about 6-8 minutes, add salt and pepper accordingly to your taste, discard the bay leaf, finally add the peas in the microwave oven for about 2 – 3 minutes.

Serves: 4 people

posted by admin on Jun 13

Crockpots have definitely become one of the most valuable of all kitchen appliances thanks to their great versatility and ease of use. Creating hearty meals is so much easier with the crockpot and many different cuts of beef can be used for making incredibly tender, mouthwatering dishes that everyone is sure to love.

There is nothing quite like having a home cooked delicious meal, and especially one that you will not have to spend all day making. With crockpots, you can get all of the ingredients together in the morning and it will ready for you by dinnertime. Alternatively, you can simply prepare your ingredients the night before and store them in the refrigerator until needed.

Crockpots can help you to create savory meals with very little effort on your part. However, there are a few tips you will want to keep in mind for the best results, and especially if you are using other types of recipes that call for baking or cooking in a regular oven.

First, remember that crockpots cook foods with the lid securely in place so you will not need as much water as if you were using the oven or stovetop. Some herbs and spices also lose some of their flavor or intensity when heated in a crockpot. To keep this from happening, simply check the taste of your stew before it is done or add your seasonings halfway through instead of in the beginning.

Try not to “peek” inside of your crockpot as your dish is cooking, as opening the lid will cause a lot of the heat and steam to escape extending cooking times. Checking once halfway through the expected cook time or near the end to add more seasonings is fine, but do try not to remove the lid more than once.

Recipe for Simple Crockpot Beef Stew

What You Need

• 5-pound chuck roast
• 1 can green beans, drained
• 1 large can whole or diced potatoes
• 1 large white onion, finely chopped
• 16 ounces carrots, sliced
• 8 ounces frozen corn
• 8 ounces frozen peas
• 1 beef stew seasoning packet
• 5 beef bouillon cubes
• 5 cups warm water
• Salt, black pepper, garlic powder to taste

How to Make It

Trim the excess fat from the chuck roast and cut the meat into bite sized cubes or pieces. Add the meat and the rest of the ingredients to the crockpot.

Cook the stew on high until the meat is cooked thoroughly and the vegetables are all tender. Alternatively, if you have eight to 10 hours to wait, cook the stew on the low setting.

You may also want to add a package of soup mix and vary the vegetables you use such as adding tomatoes in place of potatoes.

Some tasty ingredients to use in your crockpot recipes with beef include steak sauce, cans of condensed celery, cream of mushroom, or French onion soups, and a variety of seasonings to taste. You can also use red wine with various cuts of beef to create a flavorful stew.

posted by admin on Apr 13

On a recent chilly fall day I had a hankering for beef stew, and the process of preparing it re-acquainted me with the old cast iron Dutch oven found years ago by my mother in an antique store, which I had since ignored and allowed to accumulate dust in the basement.

While vigorously scrubbing it with steel wool, I was reminded of the whole reason the thing was banished to the basement in the first place. It’s very difficult to clean, and like all cast iron cookware, it needs proper seasoning before you can use it. It can’t be put in the dishwasher because the iron will rust, and must always be coated with a layer of fat in order to keep it properly seasoned. Cast iron enthusiasts regularly debate the merits of shortening versus vegetable oil as the perfect seasoning. In fact, the process of properly seasoning cast iron cookware is an art unto itself. Maybe achieving the perfectly seasoned cast iron pans is a rewarding experience, but who has the time?

You may wonder why anyone would go to all that trouble. Cast iron has excellent heat retention properties that make it very energy efficient. You can achieve ideal cooking temperatures on medium and low heat settings, reducing the risk of burning or drying out your food. It is perfect for the long, slow cooking of our favorite comfort foods. When you remove the cast iron pot or pan from the heat source, it retains the heat for a long period of time, so your food will stay hot longer than food prepared in cookware made of other materials. The heavy, thick metal resists warping and lasts forever. These properties are why so many people, undaunted by hand washing and the need to keep it properly seasoned, swear by cast iron cookware.

Fortunately, there is another kind of cast iron cookware that gives the cook all the benefits of cast iron cooking without the drawbacks. Cast iron can be enameled, a process that seals the iron in layers of vitrified enamel. This process has numerous benefits. It eliminates the need to keep the iron properly seasoned. The smooth, glassy finish of the enamel is much easier to clean, and cast iron enamel cookware can be placed in the dishwasher. The smooth finish also allows you to safely use this type of cookware on all types of heat sources including ceramic and induction cook tops. The enamel layer allows you to cook with tomatoes and other acidic ingredients that usually react unfavorably with cast iron. And the enamel can be produced in any number of colors, like fire engine red or lemon yellow, making it a perfect choice for today’s design-conscious kitchen. It’s so attractive that your stew or roast cooked in a cast iron enamel Dutch oven can go right from the oven to the tabletop.

I ended up making my beef stew in my old Dutch oven and it was indeed one of the tastiest stews I ever made. It simmered gently in the oven for hours and stayed piping hot when placed on the dinner table. But unfortunately, the cleanup process confirmed that it was going right back down to the basement. Now I have a set of attractive enameled cookware hanging from my kitchen pot rack (with a matching Dutch oven), and my antique cast iron Dutch oven is again in need of a good dusting.

Dutch Oven Beef Stew

1 tablespoon vegetable oil,

2 pounds boneless beef chuck roast, trimmed, and cut into bite-sized pieces

8 ounces kielbasa, sliced in half lengthwise then sliced into bite-sized half circles

2 onions, coarsely chopped

1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 cup dry red wine

1 (10 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup

1 (10 ounce) can condensed cream of celery soup

1 (8 ounce) can diced stewed tomatoes

5 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into bite-sized cubes

2 cups carrots sliced into bite-sized rounds

1/2 cup barbecue sauce

1 cup frozen green peas

1 (8 ounce) can lima beans, drained

Pre-heat oven to 300 F. In a large Dutch oven with ovenproof handles, heat the vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Add beef to the Dutch oven and brown well, stirring often. If your Dutch oven is rather small, do this in batches rather than trying to brown all the beef at once. Return all beef to the Dutch oven, add onion and kielbasa. Saute until onion is translucent, stirring often. Stir in garlic salt and pepper. Add red wine and stir to loosen browned bits. Stir in both canned soups, tomatoes with their juice, potatoes, carrots and barbecue sauce. Stir well, cover and and bake in oven for at least 3 hours. Before serving, remove the Dutch oven and place it on the stove over medium-high heat. Reduce, stirring often, until sauce thickens to desired consistency. Add green peas and lima beans and stir until heated through. Serves 10.

posted by admin on Apr 3

Cut the fat and concentrate the taste with a few simple changes in an old standby beef stew recipe. Choose leaner cuts of beef whenever possible, cook vegetables in wine instead of butter, and you will find you have a fresh-tasting hearty meal.

You will need

Vegetable Oil or Cooking Spray

• 1 to 1 1/2 pounds of well-trimmed beef rump or top round, cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes
• 1/2 cup of dry red wine (Please, do not use anything labeled ‘cooking wine. If it isn’t good to drink, don’t use it.
• 1/2 cup each chopped onion, celery, and carrot
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup reduced-sodium (I love Herb Oz with 0 sodium- mix one packet in 1 cup hot water) or homemade beef broth
• 1 cup canned, drained, plum tomatoes, chopped
• 1 sprig fresh thyme,parsley or basil,or a pinch of dried thyme
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 8 small new potatoes
• 2 packed tablespoons fresh Italian (flat-leaf) parsley leaves plus tender stems
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, stripped from stems, or 1/2 teaspoon dried
• 1 cup peeled, cubed parsnips
• 1 cup trimmed,peeled baby carrots
• 1 cup trimmed, cut fresh green beans
• salt to taste
• freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. Heat a large, 4 to 5 quart, non-stick saucepan over medium-high heat until hot enough to evaporate a drop of water upon contact. Spray the bottom of the pan lightly with vegetable-oil cooking spray. Add the pieces of meat, a few chunks at a time. Cook, turning until browned on all sides. About 5 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside.
2. Add the wine to the pan and boil 2 minutes. Add the carrot, onion, celery, and 1 of the garlic cloves. Cover and cook over medium-low heat until tender, about 10 minutes.
3. Add the broth, tomatoes, and thyme sprig, or other herbs. Return the browned meat and any juices in the dish to the saucepan. Cover and cook over low heat until the meat is fork-tender, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Remove the meat to a side dish and cover with foil. Transfer the vegetables and juices to a blender or food processor and process until smooth. Return to the saucepan, add the meat, cover and keep warm.
4. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a medium, 8 to 10 inch, skillet over medium heat until hot enough to sizzle a piece of potato. Add the potatoes, cut sides down, cover and cook over medium-low heat until almost tender, about 10 minutes. Uncover and turn heat to medium-high. Cook the potatoes, turning, until golden brown on all sides,about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the potatoes to a side dish. Finely chop the parsley, thyme leaves and remaining garlic clove together, add to the potatoes and toss to coat.
5. While the potatoes are cooking, add 1 inch of water to a large, 4 quart, saucepan. Set a folding steamer basket over the water. Place the parsnips, carrots, and green beans in the basket. Cover and steam about 10 minutes or until fork tender. Remove the basket from the saucepan.
6. Season the meat and blended sauce with salt and pepper. Add the steamed vegetables and toss to coat. Add the potatoes and stir just to blend.

Server immediately. Makes about 4 servings with only 427 calories per serving and about 204 mg of sodium

The extra few steps in this recipe create a depth of flavor that you would traditionally get only by cooking everything together for a long time, such as in a crock pot. While it may seem from the reading that this is a complicated process, you will be surprised at how quickly you can pull this dish together. I hope you will give it a try soon.