Kayleigh here. Before I launch into the recipe, let me give
you a little backstory on it. With the two of us currently living on the
opposite coast from friends and family, we knew that Thanksgiving this year was
going to be a little different. After all, have you ever seen a Thanksgiving
spread that feeds only a couple people? In need of a workaround, we came up
with the idea of each making a dish that the other one wouldn't want- Potroast
with mashed potatoes for him, and a coconut curry with scallops for me. Of course,
we still had leftovers for days, but it helped make the day seem different than
the family get-togethers of years past.
Once dinner was over, and cleanup had ended, we took the roasted bones and drippings from the potroast pan and made a fragrant beef stock over the next few hours (by the way, simplest prep ever- you barely need to check on it!). With no real use in mind for it, I quizzed Jason on what he would be in the mood for.
Now, if you are a gluten-less shopper, you may have noticed a rather annoying trend in the soup aisle. Buying plain beef, chicken, or vegetable stock is almost always completely safe, but as soon as they throw in some more ingredients and make a heat-and-eat soup out of it, flour suddenly gets tossed into the mix! Since Jason's college quick meals of Campbells Chunky soups have thus been bumped off our menu, the thought came to us- why not give it a shot and make our own!
Thick and Savory Beef Stew
Ingredients:
4 cups Beef Stock (homemade, or 2 cans worth)
2 TBS GF Soy Sauce (or Tamari sauce)
1 ts Worchestershire sauce
1/2 ts Ground Black Pepper
1/4 ts Garlic Powder
1 ts Dried Oregano
1 ts Garlic Chili sauce (optional, but adds an interesting note)
1 lb Stew Beef (doesn't need to be a fancy cut for this)
1 Large Red Onion
Olive Oil (for pan)
3 Potatoes
3 Large Carrots (or 4 smaller ones)
1/4 Cup Cornstarch
Directions:
1) First off, dice up the beef and all the vegetables so everything is roughly the same size. Well, bite sized.
2) In a saucepan, drizzle some olive oil and bring to medium/high heat. Add the beef, and cook until browned. I recommend throwing some salt and pepper into the mix, since the beef will not be added until the end, so this will help impart some more flavor.
3) Once the beef is cooked and removed from the pan, throw the onions in and cook until caramelized. Set these aside with the other vegetables.
4) In a large pot, dump the stock along with all the spices/sauces. Heat up to medium heat, add the vegetables, and turn it down to low heat.
5) Let the soup simmer for about 2 hours. By then, the potatoes and carrots will be very soft, and the broth will have broadened it's flavor. If it tastes lacking, feel free to reseason!
6) In another bowl, add the cornstarch, and spoon in about a half cup of broth from the pot. Stir well, then dump the thickened broth back into the soup. You may have to add a second dose of stock to the bowl to get all the cornstarch clumps out- don't just throw them in the soup!
7) Stir the soup well, until all the broth is uniformly thickened.
8) Add the beef in, and serve!
Now, with that amount of cornstarch, the soup thickens up a LOT. We were trying to go for a very thick, canned soup imitation, but feel free to add less or no cornstarch if that is not your thing. It won't affect how it tastes!
Once dinner was over, and cleanup had ended, we took the roasted bones and drippings from the potroast pan and made a fragrant beef stock over the next few hours (by the way, simplest prep ever- you barely need to check on it!). With no real use in mind for it, I quizzed Jason on what he would be in the mood for.
Now, if you are a gluten-less shopper, you may have noticed a rather annoying trend in the soup aisle. Buying plain beef, chicken, or vegetable stock is almost always completely safe, but as soon as they throw in some more ingredients and make a heat-and-eat soup out of it, flour suddenly gets tossed into the mix! Since Jason's college quick meals of Campbells Chunky soups have thus been bumped off our menu, the thought came to us- why not give it a shot and make our own!
Thick and Savory Beef Stew
Ingredients:
4 cups Beef Stock (homemade, or 2 cans worth)
2 TBS GF Soy Sauce (or Tamari sauce)
1 ts Worchestershire sauce
1/2 ts Ground Black Pepper
1/4 ts Garlic Powder
1 ts Dried Oregano
1 ts Garlic Chili sauce (optional, but adds an interesting note)
1 lb Stew Beef (doesn't need to be a fancy cut for this)
1 Large Red Onion
Olive Oil (for pan)
3 Potatoes
3 Large Carrots (or 4 smaller ones)
1/4 Cup Cornstarch
Directions:
1) First off, dice up the beef and all the vegetables so everything is roughly the same size. Well, bite sized.
2) In a saucepan, drizzle some olive oil and bring to medium/high heat. Add the beef, and cook until browned. I recommend throwing some salt and pepper into the mix, since the beef will not be added until the end, so this will help impart some more flavor.
3) Once the beef is cooked and removed from the pan, throw the onions in and cook until caramelized. Set these aside with the other vegetables.
4) In a large pot, dump the stock along with all the spices/sauces. Heat up to medium heat, add the vegetables, and turn it down to low heat.
5) Let the soup simmer for about 2 hours. By then, the potatoes and carrots will be very soft, and the broth will have broadened it's flavor. If it tastes lacking, feel free to reseason!
6) In another bowl, add the cornstarch, and spoon in about a half cup of broth from the pot. Stir well, then dump the thickened broth back into the soup. You may have to add a second dose of stock to the bowl to get all the cornstarch clumps out- don't just throw them in the soup!
7) Stir the soup well, until all the broth is uniformly thickened.
8) Add the beef in, and serve!
Now, with that amount of cornstarch, the soup thickens up a LOT. We were trying to go for a very thick, canned soup imitation, but feel free to add less or no cornstarch if that is not your thing. It won't affect how it tastes!
Jason here. Canned soups have always been one of the foods I
kept around the house. They made fairly healthy meals, kept almost forever, and
were super quick to make. Ever since having to go gluten free, I have missed
the taste of those canned soups. I grew up with them, and there were a staple
for me. I suspect many people have their own homemade soup recipes, but every
time someone offers me a homemade soup, it has both the taste and texture of
being watered down. So this recipe was designed to pack as much flavor into a
thick soup as possible, and it certainly delivers. It really did remind me of
the canned soups I used to enjoy. So if you find yourself wanting a soup with a
little more kick, go ahead and try this out for yourself and tell us what you
think.
