Dinner Tonight: Tom's Beef Stew

1/19/2014

Tom Mockensturm, who has submitted several of these Dinner Tonight recipes, found this one in what he calls a Favorite Brand Name Recipe Cookbook, back in the late 1980s. He changed a few things to make it fresher, he writes, and notes that it is great comfort food on a cold night. And because he did not give it a name, we’re going to call it Tom’s Beef Stew.

Tom’s Beef Stew

2 pounds stew meat, cut in smaller cubes

1 teaspoon salt, plus more for simmering

½ teaspoon pepper

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1large sweet onion, cut into eight sections

4 cloves of garlic, chopped

4 large carrots, thickly sliced

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 can good-quality beef broth

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

2 tablespoons cornstarch

½ cup milk

Season the meat with salt and pepper. Pour oil into a large skillet over medium high heat, and sear and brown the meat.

Add the onion sections and garlic and cook 2 minutes (don’t let the garlic burn). Add the carrots, Worcestershire sauce, and beef broth and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for 90 minutes. Add the potatoes and salt to taste, and simmer for another 15 minutes or until the potatoes are fork soft. Mix the cornstarch with milk until smooth. Stir quickly into the hot broth until thick and smooth, to make gravy. Serve with some good crusty bread so that you can sop up all of the extra gravy.

— Tom Mockensturm

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