Beef Stew & Rolls

While digging through my freezer the other day I discovered some stew meat. What is stew meat? I have never used it ever before in my life. And what do you do with it? Make stew apparently, hence the name. So I gave it a shot. I love stew and I always have because of my Great-Grandpa Wright. He owned a ranch up in the little town of St. Ignatius, Montana. Ever since I can remember, we would go visit every summer and we would get there just in time for dinner. And dinner was always the same; my grandpa's stew, the best stew I have ever had. If only I could make it like he did! Grandpa Stew is the best!!!

Anyways, I was pretty nervous about this recipe simply because I have never done it before but it turned out incredible! The smell of it cooking was fantastic and it tasted even better than it smelled. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 3 medium potatoes, cubed
• 3-4 medium carrots, sliced (or use whole baby carrots instead)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 celery stock, sliced
• 1/4 c. flour
• 1/2 Tbsp. paprika
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 lb. beef stew meat, cubed
• 3-4 c. beef broth
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 bay leaf (leave in for only half the time)

Directions:

1.  Combine the potatoes, carrots, onion, and celery in the slow cooker. 
2. In a large resealable bag, combine the flour, paprika, salt, and pepper. Add the cubed beef, a few pieces at a time and shake to coat. Place meat over vegetable mixture.
3. Combine the broth, garlic and bay leaf; pour over beef.
4. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until the meat and vegetables are tender. Discard the bay leaf.

You can really add whatever you want and whatever quantity of each ingredient you want.  


Rolls

For the rolls, I used my bread maker to make the dough. I used the quick dough setting to save some time. The way I cooked them though was my favorite that I have ever done. So here is how I did it:

1. Put the dough on a lightly floured surface and divide into equal quarters. Cut each quarter into 6 pieces. Shape each piece into a ball.
2. Place one ball in each of 24 greased muffin cups (2 muffin pans).
3. Cover dough and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 40 minutes to 1 hour.
4. Bake at 375 degrees F for 10-20 minutes or until golden brown.