The ultimate comfort food, beef stew recipe warms the soul and replenishes the heart. This is a simple recipe for stew flavored with split peas. Other ingredients used to make this savory and tasty stew include onions, carrots, turnips, potatoes, and salt and pepper to taste. Stew is the perfect method for tenderizing otherwise tough cuts of meats. Its inexpensive yet never fails to satisfy and uplift any dour mood. Cooking even the toughest inexpensive meat slowly for long hours over a low fire will turn it into a melt-in-your-mouth dish for a memorable healthy dinner meal.
To keep the meat juicy and moist even after hours of cooking, a crucial method that you shouldn’t neglect is browning the meat in hot oil before adding the liquid to simmer the meat. The beef pieces should be dredged in flour and browned on all sides to give it a nice color. The flour also helps to thicken the stew as it cooks. Another crucial factor to consider when making healthy recipes stews are the kind of pan you will use. The best kind of pans for stewing is a Dutch oven, cast iron, or a slow cooker. The pan must be heavy bottomed so that it won’t burn the ingredients even after long hours of cooking and will distribute the heat evenly throughout.
Ingredients: 28 3/4 oz. beef stew meat, 5/6 cup cold water, 1 large chopped onion, 4 tablespoon oil, 1 tablespoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, 1 slice carrot, 1 small turnip, sliced, 2 medium potatoes, 2 cups split peas
Preparation Instructions: 
Season the chopped beef meat with salt and pepper. Set aside. In a saucepan, heat the oil. Dredge the beef in some flour. Add the beef to the pan, cooking every side until browned. Add the water and cook for 2-3 hours. Fill a separate saucepan with water, add the peas, and cover. Bring to a boil. Keep the meat covered with water and, when half-done, add the vegetables, cut fine, and the seasonings. Remove the meat and place in a serving platter. Rub the peas through a puree strainer and, after removing the fat from the meat liquid, add the peas to the latter. Serve hot.
This is a very basic recipe that does not even require too much seasoning or herbs. The flavor will come from the meats and the vegetables, which fuse together and mingle to create a fantastic tasting dish. Once the meat is melt-in-your mouth tender, the liquid is strained and set aside so that it can be made into a thicker gravy flavored with the boiled peas, which are passed through a sieve and made into a puree. You can pour the resulting gravy over the meat when you serve the stew or you can serve the gravy separately from the beef.
Source: www.gourmandia.com
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