WHEW. What a fucking election we had last week, huh?
If you’re wondering why I’m not posting this before Halloween to ~maximize the potential of this content~, the answer is because I’m busy and disorganized. But last week, when our country re-elected a whole ass felon for the presidency, I canceled my weekend plans to cook up a storm with one singular end game: eating my feelings, and feeding Rob’s, too.
And before anyone starts in with “fOoD iSn’T pOlItIcAl”, that is factually incorrect. Google things like “food deserts” while considering how frequently politicians have used cutting programs like SNAP benefits and funding to food banks as part of their platform.
So it’s fitting that this recipe started with my grandma, Joan – the family matriarch who held it all together, who did everything in her power at her job to help people in poverty get what they need, who set up a food pantry in the corner office instead of moving into it when she made it to the top.
What makes this “Halloween Stew?”
It’s always been called Halloween Stew because, back in the day when it used to be cold on Halloween, it was a perfect stick-to-your-ribs food to keep the kids warm when they went out to trick or treat. When I was in middle and high school, my mom would make it every year for my friends too.
It became such a staple that my friends asked for it if they knew they’d be coming to our house for Halloween which they usually did, because our neighborhood was the perfect size, busy, and had GREAT candy.
I tweaked a few things to punch the flavor a little more. My mom and grandma made it with Campbell’s tomato soup; I did not, but you can if you decide you want to make this a little more cheaply – you just need to add in however much water is called for on the soup can. They dredged chuck cubes in flour, salt, and pepper; I dredged the meat in flour and a ton of seasonings listed in the recipe below.
How do I keep beef stew meat from getting dry?
I was admittedly nervous about this. Even though the meat is always tender when my mom makes it, I wanted to explore other ways to not just tenderize the meat, but keep it juicy. This article from J. Kenji Lopez-Alt is a GREAT read for anyone curious about methodology. Deciding to compromise a little on moisture retention for a slightly easier time searing and cutting, I followed the article and bought a chuck roast, cut it into steaks, dredged them in flour and seasonings on all sides (packing seasoning into crevasses when necessary), and then seared the meat.
It was certainly quicker than browning cubes in batches, and I definitely noticed that when everything was finally done, the meat was still pretty moist. I had a slightly panicky moment when I tasted a piece of beef about halfway through the cooking time and it was stretchy and tough. Just remember that stew requires patience: keep waiting and cooking, and it’ll turn into a melt-in-your-mouth experience when the time is right.
Anyway, make this on a chilly and lazy day, setting aside several hours of cook time, but not a whole lot of active time. Decline invitations to do other stuff because you need to keep an eye on the stew. Sit by a window and read a book.
Joanie's Halloween Beef Stew
Ingredients
- 3 lbs chuck roast
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 bay leaves
- 4 white onions
- 3 lb bag of Yukon gold potatoes
- 3 32 oz. containers of cream of tomato soup
- 1 lb bag of baby carrots
Beef Seasoning
- 2 tsp dried rosemary
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 – 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 2 TBSP flour
Instructions
- Dice onions and set aside.
- If you purchased full-size potatoes, chop them into 1½” pieces.
- Pour all the soup into a large stock pot and heat on low. This amount of soup will take a while to heat through, so don’t worry about burning it.
- Cut the chuck roast into thick steaks (I cut mine into three, but my roast was 2.75 lbs, not 3) and pat them dry with a paper towel.
- Quickly sprinkle the flour and seasoning mixture onto all sides of the steaks, smearing it on if necessary for even coating. You might have some seasoning leftover. Press the coating very gently into the steaks if it doesn’t look like it’s sticking well.
- Heat 2-3 tbsp oil on high heat in a large enough skillet to arrange all three steaks in one layer.
- Put all the steaks into the pan as quickly as possible after they’re seasoned and the oil is hot (you can find more about this method here).
- Brown the steaks on all sides. This should take about 10 minutes total because you’re only cooking the surface, not the entire steak. The rest of the meat will cook in the stew.
- Transfer to a plate and set aside to briefly cool.
- While the steaks rest, brown the onions and crushed garlic in the same pan. Once they’re brown, dump them into the pot with the soup.
- Cut the steak into 2″ x 2″ cubes, holding the meat steady with a fork if it’s still too hot to hold with your hands.
- Put the piece of beef into the soup, followed by the bay leaves.
- Bring the whole thing to a boil over high heat, then immediately cover and reduce to low heat.
- After 1 hour, add the chopped potatoes and carrots.
- The stew is done when the meat and potatoes are fork-tender.
Notes
If you get baby Yukon gold potatoes, you don't have to chop them, cutting down on prep time. Check periodically to see if the potatoes and the meat are tender – yours might be done sooner than mine, since I accidentally chopped the potatoes way too big and cut them smaller in the middle of cooking otherwise it probably would have taken even longer.
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