When one of my coworkers ‘accidentally’ stated he had a fantastic soda bread recipe, I asked for him to share it with me. St. Patrick’s Day was just a few days away, so it was the ideal moment!
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 3 hrs |
| Total Time: | 3 hrs 15 mins |
| Servings: | 6 |
| Yield: | 6 servings |
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 pound beef stew meat
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 4 cups water
- 1 ½ cups sweet vermouth
- 2 cups new potatoes
- 2 large carrots, quartered
- 4 cloves garlic
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh tarragon
- 1 bay leaf
- ½ cup Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon white sugar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Melt butter In a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Add the beef stew meat, and fry for 2 to 3 minutes, or until evenly browned on the outside.
- Pour the chicken broth, water, and vermouth into the stock pot. Add the potatoes, carrots, and garlic. Season with tarragon, bay leaf, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, honey, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and cover. Cook 2 1/2 hours to blend the flavors.
- Remove cover and continue cooking 20 minutes, or long enough to evaporate enough liquid to reach your desired thickness.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 450 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 30 g |
| Cholesterol | 77 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 21 g |
| Saturated Fat | 9 g |
| Sodium | 424 mg |
| Sugars | 14 g |
| Fat | 20 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Wonderful! I left out the water based on reviews and added 1/2 c. of barley after the 1st hour. Delicious. I think next time I will skip the sugar completely. I did use chicken broth that I made myself so it came out very, very rich. Great flexible recipe.
I always read the reviews before trying, and I found that everyone said there was way too much liquid. Instead of reducing the water, I added more potato and carrots, and also added finely chopped kale, and sauteed onions and celery. The kale was for extra nutrients, and the sauteed onions and celery because…well it’s just good! The stew turned out fabulous! The kale wasn’t noticeable (for those of you who aren’t kale fans) and the onion and celery complimented the tarragon. Yummo!
A nice stew with a tangy, slightly sweet flavor. I had to substitute seasoned vinegar for the the Worcestershire sauce because my husband is allergic to fish. I also omitted the water and boiled the stew with the lid off for most of the cooking time, as other reviewers suggested.
This was an excellent stew, but I’m not giving it 5 stars because after reading other reviewers, I did not use the water called for, I used only the honey, not the sugar, and I used a fruity wine since I didn’t have any vermouth. I look forward to trying it with vermouth as called for.
Amazing flavor! Didn’t add the water and used dry vermouth instead- still had a really great slightly sweet and savory flavor.
This is the best throw-it-together beef stew. This is consistently great with so little effort. Like others, I omitted all the liquid except for the vermouth. Used dry vermouth. Used only the honey to sweeten.
I had the pleasure of preparing this with Elk meat which is higly recommended, but nonetheless, the results were superb! As per reccommendation, I ommitted the mass amounts of water and as I do with all soup recipes I substituted a portion of the broth for an herbal tea as to reduce salt and add some other nutrients – turned out delish!
We used half a cup of whiskey instead of the vermouth and hoo boy! Smelled knockout and tasted fab, once the alcohol had boiled off. We added in a little powdered vegie stock for flavour, and swapped all the sugar for honey. As out whiskey wasn’t sweet we ended up adding another big spoonful of honey in. Also we omitted all the extra water and added in barley to make this stew extra thick and hearty. Worked really well and I’m itching to try it with the vermouth!
Smells FANTASTIC cooking and tasted amazing! I didn’t read the reviews before started this cooking – but I allowed it to cook the entire time with the lid off – and I added 3/4 cup brown rice for the last half hour and it was perfect consistency! Another note, I didn’t have any honey because I’d used it all for a loaf a bread I was cooking at the same time (doh!) so I just used 2 tsp of sugar. It was a bit sweet – and next time I do this, I’ll use only 1 tsp. I’ll also half the water and use only 6c of broth.
This stew has an amazing smell and taste to it!!! I did omit a good amount of liquids due to reading the prior reviews, which I think helped make this recipe a success. I will be making this again sometime in the near future.
Yum! Great flavor! I also left out the extra water. I didn’t have tarragon but I added a small onion and there was plenty of flavor. I also cooked in the crock pot and it came out great.
I didn’t read the reviews before I made this stew, but even without having read the reviews, I didn’t add the water. It just made no sense. And I got the best beef stew I have ever tasted or made! Delicious! The aroma is fabulous, and yes, the result is slightly on the sweet side for a beef stew. Next time, I will double the meat and leave out the water again.
I didnt like this at all
This smells so good the moment you put it on! I could barely wait the 3 hrs to taste it!
Ditto the other comments!!! Waaaay too much liquids,, yielding waaay too much broth. But great flavor! I would improve by cutting out the water altogether and cutting back on a cup of the chicken broth. I added peas as another reviewer recommended. My husband thought it was very tasty, albeit too much broth.
Great flavor, different. Agree with other reviewers that this has too much liquid, however. Cooked in cast iron pot over low heat for several hours and house smelled wonderful! Will reduce liquid next time and probably add more meat. Very good second day.
Oh the flavors and the aroma while cooking was wonderful! I loved the unique flavor to this stew. I, too, reduced the liquids to fit in my stockpot but the taste was still great. I thickened the broth with cornstarch for gravy. Tonight I will reheat the stew and add some baby peas and mushrooms for a little variety. Thanks Christine!
Too much liquid for ingred., but added some veggies & pasta & thickened the broth & it was very tasty.
I did not like this recipe at all. Apprx. 12 cups of liquid is too much for one lb. of stew meat. Also, my husband and I found it to be a bit much on the sweet side. I had to thicken the stew with flour/water as 20 minutes to evaporate all that liquid wasn’t going to happen. I will not make this again.
This was the best stew I have ever made. I omitted the water and after browning the meat I put everything into a crockpot and let it simmer on low for the day – just before serving I thickened the sauce. Thanks to Christine for sharing!