Last night I gave the Pioneer Woman's comfort meatballs a go. By the end of what became a two-hour escapade, the result was absolutely fabulous. My husband literally had thirds. Once I had filled my own plate of dinner, I felt like the time it took to make the meal had been worth it. But not during the preparation! I've made note of a few ways to make the experience easier (namely, making then freezing the meatballs ahead of time so all I have to do for dinner is toss them in a pan with that scrumptious sauce).
All in all, there is a time and a place for kneading, rolling, dipping, frying, baking comfort meatballs. (Just be sure not to drop the pan of 50+ raw meatballs onto your kitchen floor...which is carpeted...) The lunch of leftovers I just had was absolute heaven.
But I would like to share with you a recipe that is always easy, always perfect, and always satisfying to your taste buds. This beef stew is slowly cooked in the oven for about four hours which makes for the most tender meat I've ever been able to muster.
And the directions are literally
chop, chop, chop;
add, add, add;
stir, stir, stir;
bake.
Now that is something I can handle every day of the week.
Easy Beef Stew
1 pound stew meat, cubed
1 pkg. fresh mushrooms*, sliced
2 stalks celery, coarsely chopped
2 medium carrots, cut into chunks
3 medium potatoes, cut into chunks
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
1 can condensed tomato soup
2 cloves garlic, minced
a few sprinkles of Worcestershire
Preheat oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix all ingredients together in a 9x13 baking dish. Cover tightly with foil. Bake for four hours or until meat and vegetables are tender and caramelized.
Serve over rice or egg noodles, or omit the potatoes and serve over mashed potatoes.
*Feel free to experiment with different veggies; these are just my tried-and-true faves. When the tomatoey sauce has been cooking for four hours, it gets pretty sweet so go for heartier vegetables.