Mid-Century Recipe 1 - Beef Stew

This is the first vintage recipe I have attempted with our new menu. I often make stew, usually a 'clean out the fridge' stew at the end of the week, with a tin of tomatoes or beans added.  This recipe looks very basic, but the flavor was quite surprising.  Everyone loved it, even the teenage daughter, and we turned the leftovers into pies (using frozen puff pastry and muffin pans) the following day, which were fantastic (much better than four'n'twenty but a similar flavor).

Beef Pies

So what you need is this:


Recipe - see below
Time - takes about 15 minutes to put together and two hours to simmer.

• Diced beef (stewing steak) about 700g (1 1/2 pounds)
• 2 onions
• Stock (beef, or I used Vegemite in water) 2 cups (1 pint)
• Fat (dripping, or I used coconut oil) about a tablespoon
• Flour about 1/2 cup (1 1/2 ounces)
• Vinegar, 1 teaspoon
• Salt and pepper
• Herbs (bunch of mixed fresh or spoon of dried, I used a stick of 'mother of herbs')

Serve with mashed potatoes and a green veg medley.

Recipe from GoodHousekeeping's Practical Picture Cookery, 1950s ed

Enjoy!  ♥ Deb