My 10 year old son really wanted Beef Stew… even though it is July.

On the way home from the store I suddenly remembered I don’t have any beef broth…or any kind of broth for that matter.

I had a brief oh no moment then realized I could probably make it work anyway.

The best broths are super flavorful.. and let’s be honest store bought broth is just a base that needs additional flavor anyway…at least on my opinion.

This turned out to be a very happy accident.

This was one of the best broths I’ve ever made.

Here is how I made it:

To a skilled I added one whole stick of salted butter and let it melt down.

While the butter melted I took one very large yellow onion (Costco sized) and chopped it up.  I chopped it into different sizes.

Some of the onion I chopped as thinly as I could so while it sat in the butter cooking it practically melted into the butter.  This was probably about half the onion.

The rest of the onion was cut into a mix of smaller and medium size pieces. The smaller pieces cooked down to little bites and the medium where little bites of flavor.

I look two huge carrots (Costco sized) washed but did not peel. I chopped the carrot up into different sections.  The smaller thin pieces and the large pieces. The thin pieces I cut as thin as I could into circles. The hope was they would melt into the butter in a similar was as the onions. The larger pieces of carrots where chopped and quarters and also tossed into the butter.

I cooked this mix with some salt and pepper. I stirred occasionally until the onions started to caramelize.

I took a couple of yellow potatoes and cut them up.  I set them aside in the pot.

To the skillet I added my package of stew beef. I used 1.75 pounds approximately.  I cooked it into the skillet until the beef started to brown.

Once the beef was browned everything was added to the small stock pot. I added some additional black pepper.

Once the mix was transferred it was covered with water until fully submerged.

I brought the stew up to a boil then turned down to simmer for about an hour.

As I mentioned earlier forgetting to buy broth turned out to be a very happy accident.  The broth turned out better than I could have expected.

It was also a great reminder that you can always make something great with what you have.

Recipe :

Ingredients:

One stick of butter

One extra large onion

Two extra large carrots

2 large or 4 small potatoes

Stew beef ( 1 – 2 pounds)

Water to cover

Salt

Pepper

Directions:

Melt one stick of butter in skillet

Chop half onion into fine slices and add to skillet

Chop other half of onion into desired sized and add to skillet

Chop half of carrots into thin circles and add to skillet

Chop remaining carrots to desired sized and add to skillet

Cook stirring occasionally until caramelized

Chop potatoes until desired sized. Add to stock pot

Add beef to onion and carrots in skilled. Cook until browned

Add onions, carrots and beef to stock pot. Be sure to get all the melted butter too!

Cover with water. Note i used a small stock pot. If using a larger pot you should consider measuring your water. I filled two pasta sauce jars that have become repurposed for drinking glasses with water.

Here are the jars I used

Bring stew to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer.

Cook until beef is fully cooked and potatoes are fork tender.  I simmered for approximately one hour. Would have been longer but my son wanted his stew 🙂