Pioneer Beef Stew

While looking for Pioneer Day celebration inspiration, I came across a bunch of suggested recipes in the cookbook “Essential Mormon Celebrations” by Julie Badger Jensen. This stew was one of the suggestions. We actually ended up making a Dutch oven dinner on pioneer day instead, but we enjoyed this stew a day or two later. The recipe makes a lot of yummy stew!

1 cup flour
2 tablespoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
3 pounds round steak
½ cup butter or vegetable oil
6 cups water
2 tablespoons vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
2 bay leaves
4 carrots, peeled and sliced
4 potatoes, peeled and diced
2 onions, chopped
2 cups chopped tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, minced

Combine flour, salt, and pepper and place on the surface of a cutting board. Place half of round steak on top. With a mallet, pound flour into both sides of meat. Repeat process with other half of meat. Cut meat into bite-sized pieces. In a Dutch oven or other large oven-proof pot, heat butter or oil over medium heat. Add stew meat and brown well. (You may need to do this in batches so the meat will brown rather than steam). Add water, vinegar, sugar bay leaves, carrots, potatoes, onions, tomatoes, and garlic. Cover and bake at 325°F for 2 hours. Remove covering and cook for an additional hour or until meat is tender and stew is thickened. Season as desired with salt, pepper, and/or herb mixture of your choice. Makes about 12 cups.

Recipe Source: Essential Mormon Celebrations by Julie Badger Jensen