Friday, January 15, 2010

Beef and Rice Stew

Last winter I tried this recipe for Hamburger Barley Stew. I had barley in my pantry and it looked like a good recipe to use it in. It made a LOT, and it was good, but it wasn't an instant favorite for Daniel and me (good enough to make it into my recipe book, though).

It wound up on my menu for last night, and I decided to tweak it a bit. Not much, but some. We like it alot better the new way. It was meatier, heartier (Daniel doesn't like really juicy soups) and a more reasonable amount for the two of us. We had some rolls in the freezer that I heated and served with the stew. It was a great meal, and we have enough leftover for Sunday :) This recipe would work in either the crockpot or on the stove. It was supposed to be in the crockpot yesterday but I got a late start and it ended up cooking on the stove :)

Oh, and the best part? I used up the last "rubber" potato that was hiding out in my pantry!!

Beef and Rice Stew
1 lb. lean ground beef, browned (Daniel suggested that stew beef would be good, too)
1 1/2 cups water
2 cans stewed tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano
2-3 carrots, sliced
1 stalk celery, sliced
1 small - med. potato, diced
1 small onion, diced
1 1/2 tsp. beef bouillon or cubes
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 ts. pepper
1/3 cup rice*

Brown beef in large pot, add remaining ingredients except for rice. Simmer on low heat for about 1 1/2 hours. Stir in rice, simmer for 20-30 minutes more. Enjoy :)

For the crockpot, brown the beef, dissolve the bouillon in water, stir everything (except rice) together in the crockpot. Cook on low all day, or high for 5-ish hours. Stir in rice 20-30 minutes before serving.

*I used white rice. If using brown rice, back up the rice-cooking time accordingly since brown rice takes longer to cook.

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3 comments:

Candi said... [Reply to comment]

Sounds yummy! My husband Kevin doesn't like juicy soups either. In fact, when I made the potato soup yesterday, I had to drain away most of the broth with a slotted spoon. What is it with men and the soupy-ness of soup?

Unknown said... [Reply to comment]

It must be a man thing. My husband likes a thing soup and wants big chunks of meat. It's hard to keep a lean hamburger in large chunks.

I printed this recipe and will give it a try!

Cate said... [Reply to comment]

This looks tasty! I really like rice in soups (especially wild rice), but I don't know that I have even one soup recipe that uses it. Hm.