Wear Elastic Beef Stew Recipe

Directions:

1. 1.Pour a thin coating of vegetable oil into a large, shallow skillet on med. heat.
2. 2. Dice stew beef & 2 of the onions into small, bite size pieces (about 1/2 inch cubes)
3. 3. You will want to stir beef until browned, adding the diced onions and garlic powder about halfway through the browning process.
4. 4. While the meat mixture is browning, get out your stock pot and add about 4-6 cups water and all of the boullion cubes and begin to simmer over a medium-high heat.
5. 5. While still keeping an eye on the meat/onion mixture, peel the parsnips and carrots. Dice the parsnips into 1/2 inch cubes and the carrots into 1/4 inch slices.
6. 6. Add the parsnips and carrots to the stock pot and mince and add the tarragon as well.
7. 7. The beef should be about done, turn off the heat and set aside.
8. 8. Slice or cube the (washed) and (peeled or unpeeled, your choice) potatoes and add to stock pot.
9. 9. Dice the remaining onions and add to stock pot along with the meat mixture and the wine.
10. 10. Stir everything thoroughly together in the stock pot and gradually sprinkle and stir in the coriander, cardamom and celery seed.
11. 11. Simmer until veggies are all tender and then get out a shallow sauce pan to make the rue to thicken the stew.
12. 12. Pour milk into a small, shallow sauce pan and heat on low to medium heat. Add the flour, stirring vigously with a whisk to avoid getting lumps. If you do not know how to make a rue as a gravy starter, you should find better directions than this to learn how!! What you want to do is make a paste-like consistancy and then quickly thin it down with additional milk to end up with a thick, gravy-like consistancy. How thick you want your stew is up to you!
13. 13. Add the milk/flour mixture to the stock pot and stir in thoroughly to change from soup to stew!
14. OR...if making the rue is too intimidating, just thicken with instant potato flakes until you have the desired consistancy.
15. 14. Add salt and pepper to taste.
16. 15. Simmer until ready to serve. The longer you simmer the better it will be! I like to make my stews and soups first thing in the morning and simmer all day. All of these instructions are approximate, I rarely use measuring devices so I had to guess how much of each ingredient I actually used. Just keep stirring and tasting and adjusting until you are happy!