I think I've mentioned before that I am a recipe-follower, meaning I don't often concoct things on my own. I like to adapt and tweak recipes, but I usually have a recipe that I start with. It's just how I work.
But this stew is all mine, start to finish. I had an idea of what I wanted and did a cursory look online for what I was thinking of and when I couldn't find anything even remotely close, I just made it up myself.
Oh, and I'm calling it a stew because it's thick. So even though it uses ground meat instead of traditional stew meat, it seemed more like a stew to me.
And since it's mine, I get to call it whatever I like.
So imagine my delight when Brian says at the table, "Wow, this is my new favorite meal... and it's a surprise- I wasn't even expecting it!" I think he meant that meals based around stews wouldn't normally make him think "favorite meal." He's more of a chicken or hamburger type of guy. Made my day, I'll tell you.
I served the stew with bean and cheese quesadillas after starting the meal with a green salad dressed with a homemade vinaigrette with a bit of hot sauce added.
Who knew such a humble meal would be elevated to "favorite" status?
The other thing about this stew is that it is incredibly cheap to make. Start by cooking 1-1/2 pounds of ground meat (I used venison that a friend had gifted us with) until browned, mixing in some taco seasoning (cayenne, cumin, oregano, onion, salt, paprika, and garlic). Then add half a chopped onion, some garlic, and about 1/2 cup of chopped Anaheim peppers. You can use a can of chopped green chilies, but I used some I had in the freezer from last season's garden.
Did you know you can freeze chopped peppers? They are perfect for soups, stews, and casseroles- basically any recipe that you would normally saute the peppers first.
For spiciness, add a handful of chopped jalapeno peppers (from the freezer, too) that should be about the equivalent of one pepper. You'll want to adjust this to your taste, but don't leave it out- live a little! To thicken it, add about 1/4 cup of flour to the meat and stir it around before adding 2 cups of beef broth.
Throw in 2 cans of diced tomatoes and 2 cups of frozen corn (from the garden, of course!) and let it all simmer on the stove for 30 minutes.
Oh, did I mention how easy this is? Oooh, I can't believe that something this easy and frugal is a "favorite" meal!
Because I was given the meat and half the vegetables came from the freezer, this whole pot of stew cost me about $1.50- seriously. When I do buy ground meat, it's usually turkey at about $1.50/lb, so even then the pot would only be up to $3.75 because I always have garden produce in the freezer for meals like this (hint, hint...grow what you can!). And there's eight hearty servings here, about .46 per serving at the $3.75 cost. Good grief, that's a good price.
With that in mind, you might want to see if it could become one of your family's favorite meals, too.
Spicy Beef, Tomato, and Corn Stew
- 1 TB. oil
- 1-1/2 ground meat (beef, turkey, venison, etc.)
- 2 TB. taco seasoning (a mixture of cayenne, oregano, onion powder, salt, paprika, and garlic)
- 1/2 onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 c. chopped Anaheim peppers (or other mild green chili)
- 1 jalapeno, chopped
- 1/4 c. flour
- 2 c. beef broth
- 2 cans diced tomatoes
- 2 c. frozen corn kernels
- Heat oil in a large soup pot. Add ground beef and cook until browned. Add seasonings, chopped onion, garlic, and both kinds of peppers. Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes.
- Stir flour into mixture, mixing well, then add the broth, tomatoes and corn.
- Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
-Jami
This is linked to Ultimate Recipe Swap at Life as Mom.
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