The Philosophy of Food, Issue #012: Beef-and-Vegetable Stew/Chili Thing

This is something I haven't made for a long time.  Not since undergrad.  It was born out of an attempt to do something dignified with beans and has evolved to become. . . okay, I'm not going to lie, this is basically my krupnik recipe sans barley.

The Ingredients:
-2 15 oz cans of chili beans.
-3 slices of bacon.
-2 medium yellow onions, chopped.
-Brown sugar.
-1 lb stew beef.
-1 large can of stewed tomatoes.
-Creole seasoning.
-Beer.
-Beef Stock.
-2 medium russet potatoes, cubed.

The Process

Is it edible?  Toss it in the pot!

Okay.  I'm not going to lie.  The basic instructions for this dish are "toss stuff in a pot and boil it 'till it's done."  The important bits are that you use beans, beef, and beer.  The more detailed instructions follow.

Fry up your bacon and prepare the onions as per pretty much everything I've made since stoofvlees.  Crumble bacon and add it, and the caramelized onions to a stew pot along with. . . everything but the potatoes.  For my own mix I used two bottles of Newcastle Brown Ale and a little less than half a 32 oz carton of beef stock, but the important thing here is to cover the solids by an inch or two.  Also, use a liberal amount of Creole seasoning.  I used all my leftover homemade seasoning in addition to a hefty amount of spicy Tony Chacharie's, and it was perfect.

Bring it to a boil and cook for an hour.  There's not barley in this dish, so you don't have to worry as much about stirring, but don't neglect it.  After an hour add in the cubed potatoes and cook it for another hour.

Enjoy.

The Results

Aside from the level going down, this really doesn't look that much different from when it started. . .

Delicious and simple, if time consuming.  You can use ground beef instead of stew meat if you want, and ground turkey works just as well.  The bacon is optional.  The onions can be added raw or sauteed in butter and the dish will come out fine.  Other veggies, such as carrots and celery, can also be added.  I didn't this time because my celery had gone bad. . . been a little too long since I made krupnik.

I promise you, it shall be tasty!