Mom's Famous Beef Barley Stew

How To Make Mom's Beef Stew

Stew was one of the first things I cooked as a young mom after my mom taught me. It's often requested by my (now grown) children, husband and friends. It's always been in my head and never on paper. I do usually make slight changes, depending on what I have available and who's eating.

For example, if I have red wine on hand, I will use that to deglaze after browning my meat. I usually use beef, but sometimes I use Elk meat, sometimes both. In a pinch, I've used ground beef. I'll use canned broth if I don't have home made bone broth. Sometimes I'll add cayenne pepper to spice things up.

My kids have asked me to share the actual recipe. What follows is my most basic beef barley stew recipe. Feel free to experiment for your own taste or dietary needs.

About 1 to 1.5 pound of cubed meat (beef, elk, venison, whatever you like and have on hand)
3/4 cups of flour
1/8 teaspoon of pepper (I use fresh cracked pepper for the best flavor.)
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 tablespoon of cooking oil (I use what I have on hand. The type isn't too big a deal)

4-5 celery stalks sliced thick
4-5 carrots sliced thick
4-5 russet potatoes  rough chopped into hearty chunks
1-2 medium onions (I use sweet onions)  rough chopped into hearty chunks
2-3 cloves of fresh garlic minced (or substitute for minced in the jar or garlic powder)
1 quart beef stock
1 quart water (approximate)
1 teaspoon of dried sage
1/4 cup pearled barley
2-3 dried bay leaves
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons flour adjust amount as needed to get the thickness you like
1 tablespoon Better than Bullion beef base (optional but makes a big difference in flavor)

Mix the flour, salt and pepper together. It's easiest to add to a ziplock bag or a plastic storage container. Then add the meat to the flour to completely coat it.

Add the oil to a large pot and get it heated up till you see little waves in it when you swish it around the bottom. I usually have my burner set to 6-7 for this part.

Add your floured chunks of meat to the pot and brown all sides of the meat. This takes about 5-8 minutes, depending on your pot and the amount of meat you have. Just make sure you don't burn it. You just want it seared and a bit crisp on the outside. You'll want to stir it around while doing this to get all sizes. You'll end up with little bits of flour stuck to the bottom of the pan.

Add the onion chunks and cook them with the meat until they are tender. Then add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds.

Then, use a little of your beef broth (about 1/2 cup) to de-glaze the bottom of the pan. Just pour the small amount of broth (or you can use red wine at this step) into the pot, stirring it around while you scrape the bits of the bottom to get all the flavor.

Next, add your carrots, celery and pearled barley to the pot (don't add the potatoes yet or they will over cook). Add the rest of your beef broth, plus enough water to just cover your veggies. Add the sage, bay leaves and any optional seasoning include the Better than Bullion if you are using it. Bring to a low boil, then reduce the heat to about 2 for a low simmer. Cover and simmer for 40 minutes.

Then add your potatoes cover and simmer another 40 minutes.

Keep an eye on the pot, stirring occasionally. If your veggies are tender before this second 40 minutes is up, it's ok to proceed to thickening.

Use the flour and a small amount of water to make a runny paste. It's called a slurry, but I didn't know what a slurry was when I started making this. Pour the slurry of flour into your pot of cooked veggies and meat. Stir it around and cook for a few minutes on medium heat to thicken your broth. Adjust or add more to make it as thick as you prefer.

Brown your floured beef in heavy pot with cooking oil.

Basic veggies (see optional veggies below)

Rough chop onions, mince garlic.

Chunks of russet potatoes

Add onions with beef, cook till tender, then add garlic.

Home made beef stock (or use canned)

Deglaze with broth or red wine

Add your carrots, celery.

Add your seasonings, bay leaves, sage, etc.

Add enough water to cover veggies. Add barley. Bring to boil, then simmer 40 minutes.
Next at your potatoes, simmer another 40 minutes until veggies are tender.

Make your slurry with flour and a bit of cold water.

Add slurry to pot.

Let your slurry thicken the broth on medium low heat. Add more as needed to get thickness you prefer.

Salt and pepper to taste, serve hot with your favorite bread, dinner rolls or biscuits. You could even add this to a sourdough bread bowl.


Optional seasonings:

Cayenne Pepper
Oregano
Worcestershire Sauce
A-1 Steak Sauce
Red Pepper Flakes
Red Wine to de-glaze the pot
Better Than Bullion

Optional veggies:

Mushrooms
Green beans
Corn
Peas

Love, Mom


Questions or other favorite stew ingredients? Share them in the comments!

You won't believe what this 22 year old from Arlington, Wa is doing in NYC! (and she needs our help!)

After a triple graduation in 2010, Briauna Mariah worked her ass off to get herself to New York. She worked 3 jobs and never spent a dime she didn't have to. 

She made her move just 2 years ago - only 20 years old but with a dream. She took the money she'd saved, a few boxes and went. She didn't know the first thing about New York. She had no close friends or family there.

She went to pursue her modeling career, but what she's doing now is incredible.

She's spent the last year planning an agency to empower and protect models, promote health and diversity, give consumers and designers a choice to make a difference, and create an advertising culture we can be proud to have the next generation look up to. 

That's a tall order for a 22 year old, but she's doing it and she needs OUR help.

Her crowdfunding campaign went live just a few hours ago. Right now it's just a video file and some HTML code floating around in the virtual space we call the internet.

Let's give this campaign a life of its own, shake things up, heck - make headlines!

Here's all you need to do:

• Watch the video - it's only 2 minutes 33 seconds long
• Share the campaign - everywhere! 
• And the part everyone gets shy about...make a contribution. This is too important to leave to "someone else". Even $1 makes a difference! 

You won't believe this low carb breakfast option!

I've embarked on a low carb adventure for my overall health and today I found out how delicious tuna patties can be! Since this is also a very affordable meal, I'm sharing it with my son - it contains all the types of foods and flavors he likes, is easy to make and will keep his cost down. It helps I just sent him a case of tuna for his birthday. The good stuff too - Albacore Tuna! 

Here is the original recipe I found on genaw.com:

TUNA PATTIES
2 6-ounce cans tuna, drained
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon celery salt
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded
2 tablespoons parmesan cheese, 1/2 ounce
2 tablespoons oil and/or butter

Mix all of the ingredients in a small bowl; chill at least 30 minutes. Heat the oil and a little butter in a large skillet on about medium heat. Drop the tuna mixture by large spoonfuls into the hot oil. Flatten slightly and shape into patties. Fry about 3-4 minutes on each side until well-browned. Flip them very gently and brown the other side. Serve with tarter sauce or sauce of your choice.

Makes 2-6 servings
Can be frozen

Per 1/2 recipe: 455 Calories; 40g Fat; 42g Protein; 2g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 2g Net Carbs
Per 1/4 recipe: 228 Calories; 20g Fat; 21g Protein; 1g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 1g Net Carbs
Per 1/6 recipe: 152 Calories; 13g Fat; 14g Protein; .5g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; .5g Net Carbs

I omitted the celery salt (I don't have any) and onion powder (I minced 1/4 of an onion instead) and used pepper jack cheese in place of the Parmesan to give it some kick. I determined it was easier to cook them in a non stick pan with PAM spray instead of oil. I didn't have time (I was too hungry) to let it chill for 30 mins but it still came out perfect.) I'm eating them now - and they are perfect balance of flavor and texture. Serve this with a green salad and you've got a perfect low carb lunch or dinner. I'm sure you could add minced garlic to bump up the flavor even more. 

Enjoy! I'll be sharing more as I continue on this low carb food adventure. 

Nutrition in a glass

My son, who is about to turn 19, has recently moved out. He has very different habits and nutritional goals and experience than my daughter. He prefers to spend as little time as possible with preparation (some times) and really wants his food to TASTE good. My daughter will eat something she's created even if it's not the most flavorful due to lack of ingredients.

I told my son I would start my motherly input with a basic smoothy recipe I've been using. He needs it to be easy, relatively affordable, and pack enough nutrition that I don't have to worry he is starving himself and missing out on all the healthy options I used to make sure he had access to at home.

Son, here is what I use for my fruit and protein smoothy. It's relatively balanced (a little high on carbs, but I don't think that's an issue for you and it's all from natural sugar anyway), has good fiber and protein and keeps me full for a good couple of hours.

1-2 cups of Almond milk (unsweetened)

1/2 to a full banana

wheat germ or raw oatmeal about 2 tablespoons (this adds fiber and nutrition)

1/2 cup of frozen or fresh fruit of any kind (I've used peaches, blueberries, black berrys, cherrys or sometimes I leave it out)

2 tablespoons of peanut butter or unsalted peanuts (if you use the peanuts, it adds a lot of texture, which you may or may not like)

2-3 ice cubes

I blend this up in a blender or use an immersion blender.

You could do this same thing with any type of liquid in place of the almond milk - water, juice, I've used yogurt but it makes it really thick, milk.

To make it even better for you, you can even add something like spinach, kale or I've added a small zucchini to it - the flavors of everything else make it so you don't even taste the veggie part. It's like sneaking veggies in on yourself.

You could use Myfitnesspal.com to track your food and make sure you are getting a well balanced diet. It will help you count calories, protein, vitamins, carbohydrates and more just by adding your specific recipe to it! 

Love Mom

Unique Lentil Soup?

Oh, the diet of a model.... 

Ok, the combination of ingredients described in the title might already sound a little weird to you. I was skeptical at first because I know usually broccoli is chopped up fine and in a thick, cheesy, creamy soup. But I just went with it because I love broccoli and I wanted some yummy soup for the crowns to soak up juice in.

This is 100% my own recipe and I found it to be sooo yummy and satisfying. This recipe is for one model-sized serving.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup dry lentils
1/2 fresh broccoli crown, cut into bite-sized florets, the stem is usable chopped up
1 teaspoon avocado oil (optional)
1/2 teaspoon ketchup
1/2 teaspoon worcestershire
1/2 teaspoon garlic
 About 1 1/2 cup water, give or take
1 teaspoon better than bouillon beef flavor
salt to taste


Directions:

1. In a saucepan, bring 2 cups of water to a boil with lentils on medium high heat.
2. Let lentils boil while taking quick shower, for 10 minutes or so, until soft, while tea kettle is also warming up for a nice cup of Earl Grey.
3. Drain water using collander, or just pour out as much as possible without loosing lentils
4. Put back on medium high heat, adding broccoli and oil. (I used oil thinking I was going to slightly "fry" up the broccoli and eat it that way, perhaps with some almonds, but it really wanted to be a soup. Not sure what difference the oil will make while cooking, but it will add about 40 calories and a healthy fat.)
5. Stir broccoli about 2 minutes, letting the oil get soaked up, and ponder about nutritional value.
6. Stir in a dash of ketchup, worcestershire, and a small portion of garlic until flavor is even throughout.
7. Taste worcestershire-y broccoli-lentil combo, wondering if it's going to turn out any good.
8. Add enough water for a single serving of soup, not enough to cover tops of broccoli. Too much water and you begin to drown your ingredients and dilute the flavor. I used approximately 1 1/2 cups, give or take.
9. Dissolve enough better than bouillon beef flavor in water to make a nice broth and add salt to taste, stir.
10. Let simmer (actually mine was still at a decent boil, on medium high heat) until broccoli is cooked to your liking. The softer, more cooked the broccoli is, the less nutrients it contains. I left mine a little crunchy, but cooked enough to absorb nice flavor.
11. Enjoy! Yum!

Nutrition:

142 calories
5 grams fat (1 gram saturated, 1 gram polyunsaturated, 4 grams monounsaturated)
234 mg potassium
18 carbs
3 grams sugar
7 grams protein
(Percentages below based on daily intake)
4% vitamin A
60% vitamin C
3% calcium
13% iron

Be Fierce!!

Briauna Mariah (:

Cheap and Healthy Lasagne Rolls

Who said lasagne has to be expensive and hard to make? I love to pull recipes from SkinnyTaste.com because they are all health conscious and there are tons of options, including "Skinny" desserts.

When I find a recipe I would like to try, I hardly ever follow the exact directions, mostly to cut on cost. Living in New York is expensive and you have to cut where ever possible. This is why I cook my own meals. Sometimes they are amazing and sometimes they might have needed a little more guidance. When you cook often enough, you can learn what you can skip out on and substitute ingredients with to make a meal cheaper and to go farther.

This lasagne roll recipe (click here) has been calling my name for a few days so I decided to get the ingredients while grocery shopping. I really like these because they are easy to store and they are perfect little serving sizes.

What was needed

1. Store brand lasagne noodles - $1.99
2. Box of frozen spinach - $1.50
3. Tomato sauce - $1.79
4. Cottage cheese - $2.49
   Total of $7.77

In the kitchen

1. 1 egg
2. Olive oil
3. Tin foil (site suggests wax paper)
4. Garlic
5. Salt
6. Pepper

Essentially, I took the Skinny Taste recipe and made it simpler. I love ricotta cheese, but the price scared me into substituting it with cottage cheese, which many people tend to do.

Make sure to boil your noodles with oil so they won't stick together or get too messy. I was lazy with my sauce, hence the reason why my picture isn't as pretty as it could be. I love garlic, so of course that had to be added into the cheese/spinach mixture.

The recipe isn't too complicated. If you were to make it exactly as it says, it would be ten times more delicious than my lazy rolls, but they were still good! And surprisingly easy.

This is perfect served with some corn or even ground turkey inside the rolls. The options are endless.

Enjoy!

Be Fierce!!

Briauna Mariah (:

Bacon Wrapped Chipotle Stuffed Chicken Thighs

I had chicken thighs and I had bacon...I went in search of an online recipe, which I found at this website *click to view*. I didn't have everything the recipe called for, so I did what I love to do - improvise and customize!

 

I chopped half a sweet onion and sauteed it in a bit of butter.  I finely chopped 3 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (comes in a can, I always have some in the fridge waiting to be added to a recipe here and there). I mixed the onion with the chipotle in a bowl. After the onions cooled a bit, I added about 1/3 cup of shredded pepper jack cheese (I'm sure cheddar cheese would work nicely too!). I then added 2 tablespoons of mayo to the mix.


I added lemon pepper to the inside of the chicken thighs which I had placed in a baking dish waiting to be stuffed and wrapped. I spooned the "goop" into the center of the chicken. I folded the chicken around the mixture and wrapped 2 pieces of bacon around the chicken. I baked them at 400 degrees for 45 minutes.




I kind of had what was needed for the sauce...butter, honey, freeze dried cilantro and parsley which I used.... I added a bit of salt, lemon pepper, and (not fresh) bottled lime juice. I ended up burning the first batch and having to start over...*dang Facebook distractions!* The sauce was very liquidy - so I added a tablespoon of corn starch to thicken it slightly. Not sure I would do that again...just leave the corn starch out.

The Verdict - fantastic array of flavors I would make again! It wasn't very "spicy" hot, just a nice smokey flavor. The sauce was a very nice touch I would have never thought of on my own. I served it with a nice salad, and easy cheesy broccoli from the "Steamers" frozen food selection.