First pot of stew for the season!

The cool nights called for a good old pot of vegetable beef stew and it really hit the spot! We bought a beef roast - don't buy "stew meat" as it is about twice as expensive. I prefer chuck roast, but this time we found an arm roast on sale. Cut it up in nice big chunks. I trim it pretty lean, but put a good chunk of fat in the pan so it will flavor the soup. You can remove the piece of fat when it has rendered enough to suit you.

Brown the chunks of beef...

It helps if you don't crowd the pan like I did...it will brown more quickly. I seasoned with Worcestershire sauce and pepper. I added 1 carton of beef broth and 1 carton of chicken broth when the beef was browned.

Cut up celery, onions and shave some cabbage to add. I put in a handful of barley, about 2 cups of corn, 1 can of carrots and 3 cans of stewed tomatoes.

I put in a package of fresh mushrooms and seasoned it with the basil and parsley I grew this summer. I added some Cajun seasoning and a little salt. It sure smelled good while it was simmering.

This makes a good hearty soup and you can add anything you like to it. You can also add as much of anything as you want. Hubby likes to drink the juice from a mug, so I always make sure to have plenty of liquid. I also prefer to use beef broth or bouillion or chicken broth...not those little cubes...they are way to salty. I have some beef stock base that comes in a jar and it is pretty good.

Another way to change this up is to stew a whole chicken in plenty of water and season it very well - salt, pepper, sage, celery and onion....and cook until the chicken is done. Remove the whole chicken and de-bone it. Add the veggies you want and when they are done add the boned chicken. 

This makes a lot of stew and it is so good for lunch (and another supper). We had garlic cheese bread with it - slice part of a loaf of French bread, butter it, sprinkle with garlic powder and dried parsley, top with shredded cheese and broil til the cheese is melted and the edges are browned. There's not much any better than this!

Have a great day!