A Hearty Stew and a Concert

In August, a local college formed a band for the first time in many years. Last night, they presented a concert that was well-attended. The program was short, only about 45 minutes long, and, along with tunes for the season like "White Christmas," it included a John Philip Sousa march, and the spiritual, "Amazing Grace." We thought the band did a great job, considering that they have only practiced together one day a week for about three months.

Since yesterday was a bit nippy, I decided to make a pot of warming beef stew to enjoy for supper before we went out into the cold to attend the concert. I figure there are as many beef stew recipes as there are people making them, but here's mine:

BEEF STEW

1/2 to 1 lb. beef stew meat
2 quarts of water
1 envelope Golden Onion Soup Mix
2 beef bouillon cubes
2 large onions, chunked or quartered
4 large carrots, cut into chunks,
or equivalent in baby carrots
2 celery ribs, cut into chunks
5 banana peppers, chopped
1/2 tsp. chopped garlic (bought in a jar)
Seasoning salt to taste (my recipe is in another of my blogs)
Pepper to taste
4 large potatoes, quartered
1/2 cup macaroni (opti0nal)
Kitchen Bouquet

Roll stew beef in flour and brown in canola oil on medium high heat (I use a Dutch oven for this). Add 2 quarts water, soup mix, garlic, celery, carrots, onions, and banana peppers. Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover pan, and simmer until beef is well done and vegetables are tender, about one hour. Bring stew to full boil and add potatoes and macaroni. Cook about 30 minutes, until potatoes and macaroni are tender. Add just enough Kitchen Bouquet to make the broth a golden brown. If the broth is not thick enough, blend about two tablespoons of corn starch with a little water and add to boiling broth, stirring vigorously to avoid lumps. This recipe makes about 10 one-cup servings.