Saturday’s can be a little crazy for us right now regarding cooking dinner.  Abigail has Nutcracker practice late in the afternoon (a 35 minute drive away), so that means I get to take her, and we don’t get back home until it’s well into the dinner prep time.  While I’m certain that if I asked, Andy would be more than willing to take the reigns on dinner, that’s also special time for him and Zander to spend together.  So Saturday dinners have turned into a quest for me, looking for recipes that I can pop in the oven before we leave, or that I can leave on the counter for Andy to simply pop in and walk away from.  We’ve had lasagna, taco lasagna, and soups and such in the crock-pot, but this beef stew that cooks itself is, by far, the best pop-in-the-oven-and-walk-away-dish we’ve had.

I have to give credit where credit is due, as the very original recipe came from SandyM on the Cooking Light Bulletin Board.  There have been several threads in the past devoted to love for SandyM’s beef stew.  Over time I changed this ingredient and that ingredient to give us the stew that we like best.  It’s been a while since I’ve made it, and in fact, the last time I made it I used buffalo meat, and thought it so fantastically delicious that it went into the newspaper that week.  So keep that in mind if you’re thinking about this recipe, buffalo is fantastic, and if you’ve been meaning to try some- this is the perfect place to do it.

But let me tell you the best part about this stew before I give you the recipe.  The best part of any stew, really, is the gravy.  That luscious sauce that you can soak up with hunks of bread is what makes stew stew- and not a thick soup. (Or heaven forbid that horrible RR word and creation, stoup. What is that anyway?)  In the past with my stews, the gravy has been very thick, definitely a gravy, flour thickened, and, well, a little heavy actually.  This gravy though, is light.  It’s thick enough to be considered a gravy, and has spectacular flavor, but it doesn’t bog the stew down at all.  We had this stew the other night, and I’d made biscuits to accompany.  After the stew had been cleaned from my plate, I crumbled up a biscuit to soak up all the gravy and had one of the best variations of biscuits and gravy ever.  This stew is also very forgiving regarding the cook time. Two-and-a-half hours is about perfect, but like this past Saturday, it had an extra half hour and was just as wonderful, so this is a great one for serving company, when you’re not sure when company is coming.

This time when I made it, I found a package of whole mini baby bella mushrooms, so I didn’t bother with slicing.  I will keep an eye out for these mushrooms in the future- they were spectacular and I thought they added a lot of flavor as well. I also ran out of garlic powder, so I only used 1 teaspoon, and the result was just fine, so consider the 2 teaspoons of garlic powder a guideline, reduce it as desired- I just wouldn’t eliminate it.

Oven-Roasted Beef Stew

1              Tbsp.  olive oil

2                lb.  stew beef or buffalo — cut in 1½” cubes

1/3            c.  flour

1               tsp.  salt

2               tsp.  garlic powder

1/2      teaspoon  dried thyme

1/2      teaspoon  dried rosemary

1/2      teaspoon  black pepper

1                can  diced tomatoes — (15 oz.) undrained

1                can  low sodium beef broth — (15 oz)

8             ounces  button mushrooms — cleaned and halved

2               cups  potatoes — peeled and cubed

1                cup  celery — chopped

4             medium  carrots — sliced

1/2       package  pearl onions — thawed

1                     green bell pepper — coarsely chopped

1. Preheat oven to 325º.

2. Heat olive oil in an oven-safe dutch oven or roasting pan over medium high heat.  Add beef cubes, and brown on all sides- about 4 minutes.

3. Add flour, salt, garlic powder, thyme, rosemary, and black pepper to the pan and stir together until combined.

4. Add the tomatoes and beef broth.  Bring to a boil before adding the next ingredients.

5. Add mushrooms, potatoes, celery, carrots, pearl onions and bell pepper.  Mix well to incorporate.

6. Cover the pan and place in the 325º oven.  Bake for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, or until meat is tender.  Stir the stew two or three times during baking.

Alternatively, prepare through step 5, then pour the stew into a crock-pot and cook on low for 8 hours.