Quick and Easy Beef Stew

I've been eating hot dogs, burgers, and pizza for the last few days, hoping that biting into some of New York City's iconic foods will keep memories of the city fresh in my mind. After days of chowing down on junk food, it was high-time for a home-cooked meal. From my mother's arsenal of recipes, beef stew is my absolute favorite, so I made it for dinner yesterday evening.

Mom adds pineapples to her stew, but lacking pineapples in my pantry, I added an apple. Being more than three-quarters water, the apple dissolved completely in the soup, providing a natural and subtle sweetener to the broth, as well as giving the stew a heartier consistency. The carrots and potatoes were soft and the broth was sweet and savory. The beef cubes were firmer than I'd like, probably because: I used a lean cut of beef, the stew required simmering for an additional hour, and lastly, the beef needed to be sliced into smaller cubes for a more tender result.

Ingredients- 2 servings * 3 pounds beef, cut into quarter-inch cubes * 1 Fresno sweet onion, diced * 1 leek, chopped * 4 carrots, peeled, sliced into half-inch pieces * 4 fingerling potatoes, sliced into half-inch pieces * 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth * 2 teaspoons olive oil * salt * fresh ground Tellicherry black pepper * 1 Gala apple, cored, peeled, thinly-sliced * 2 cloves garlic, whole

Directions: 1) In a large pot, add olive oil over medium heat. 2) When olive oil is hot, stir in onions. 3) Allow onions to break down, stir in leeks. 4) Allow leeks to break down, stir in beef. 5) Season with a dash of salt and pepper and stir. 6) When beef is partially cooked, add chicken broth and garlic. 7) Cover pot. 8) Allow broth to come to a boil, then add carrots and potatoes. 9) Reduce heat. Cover pot. 10) Allow broth to come to a boil. Add apple slices. 11) Stir broth. Cover pot for one hour. 12) Stir occasionally. 13) Season with salt and pepper, to taste. 14) Simmer on low heat for an hour. 15) Remove from heat. 16) Enjoy.

 

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