Soup, Stew, oh I love you!

It’s a rainy day in the neighborhood…  so that means I’m spending the day in my sweatpants inside!  I got tired of sitting in front of the TV, so I decided to get up and do a little cooking.  I’ve officially depleted my homemade frozen soups, so I needed to make more.  I made the squash soup I wrote about back in November, but this time I subbed plain Greek yogurt for the cream to make it a little healthier.  This is probably the best soup I’ve ever made!

To keep the cooking trend going, I decided to tackle a beef soup recipe I’ve had my eye on for a while now.  This recipe is from William Sonoma, The Weeknight Cook cookbook (slightly modified).  If anyone is looking for a cookbook with easy to make and very delishious meals, I highly recommend this!  There is a hardback version with main and side dishes and a binder version with starter recipes (sauces, doughs, etc), mains, sides, and desserts.  You will have people thinking you’re a gourmet chef after making something from here!

Hungarian Beef Stew (4-6 servings)

2 Tbs Olive Oil

2 lb Boneless beef chuck, fat trimmed, and cut into 1 ½ inch pieces

2 large yellow onions, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

3 cloves garlic

1 ½ Tbs paprika

2 Tbs tomato paste

4 cups chicken broth

1 lb new potatoes

1 cup baby carrots, cut in half

Ingredients!

1. In Dutch oven or large pot over high heat, warm olive oil.  Add beef and onions, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring frequently, until the beef is browned and onions begin to caramelize, about 10 minutes.

The beef & onions braising!

2. Stir in garlic, paprika, and tomato paste.  Add the broth, bring to a boil, reduce heath to low, cover and braise about 1 hour.

Baby new potatoes & baby carrots!

3. Add the potatoes and carrots, and continue to braise covered until the vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes.  Serve or cool completely and freeze.

Cooling down!  This isn't the best picture, but it's the best my cell phone camera could do!

Now, for the beef I used the already cut up “for stews” beef chunks, rather than a whole slab of beef, just seemed a lot easier.  As for the tomato paste, seems like all you ever need is 1-2 tablespoons, but you have to buy a big can or tube.  I don’t use it enough, but I hate to throw away good food!  So, I store the leftovers in 2-3 tablespoon portions, I put portions in separate corners of a baggie, then freeze.  Then when I need some again, I just pull out the one chunk and thaw.

Tomato paste ready to be frozen!

The mailman just dropped by a gluten free cookbook I ordered ($2, heck yeah Amazon!), the new Better Homes & Gardens magazine, and a Burpee catalogue… I think I’ll spend the rest of my afternoon deciding what new recipes to make next and creating hypothetical dream gardens!

T minus 2.5 hours until trivia, Goooo Clark W Griswold, Jr. you can do it!!