Beef Stew and Orange Tapioca Pudding

One of my favorite busy-day recipes is Gone All Afternoon Stew.  I first found this recipe in 1994 in a cookbook binder distributed among my youngest son’s fellow engineers at McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) – Bits & Bytes. It is easy to throw together and bake in a slow oven for the afternoon.

GONE-ALL-AFTERNOON BEEF STEW

• Servings: 4-6
• Print

• 1 lb. round or chuck steak, trimmed and cut into small pieces
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 3 medium carrots, sliced (I use 9 baby carrots, sliced lengthwise)
• 2 large potatoes, sliced
• 1 tsp. salt
• Grinding or two of black pepper
• One 10-3/4 oz. can tomato soup
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup dry red wine
• 10 oz. package frozen peas (add during last 15 minutes of baking)

Preheat oven @ 275 degrees F for 4 hours’ baking time or 250 degrees F for 5 hours’ baking time.

Put all ingredients except peas in a large casserole.  Mix well, cover and bake in preheated 275 degree F oven for 4 hours or 250 degree F for 5 hours.  Add peas during the last 15 minutes of baking.

Yield:  4-6 servings 

This makes a thick, delicious stew.  If the stew is too thick, it can be thinned with a little bit of water.  I like to serve a good homemade yeast roll with this dish.

After a hearty dinner, it’s nice to have something lighter for dessert.  I had come across a bargain on oranges this week.  They were super-large and I had way more than I would be able to eat out-of-hand, so I went looking for a dessert to use some of them.

I found this recipe for an easy tapioca pudding that sounded just right.

ORANGE TAPIOCA PUDDING

• Servings: 4
• Print

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 Tblsp. quick-cooking tapioca
• 1-1/4 cups fresh orange juice
• 1 tsp. orange zest
• 1-1/4 cups frozen whipped topping, thawed (divided)

Mix sugar, tapioca and orange juice in a medium saucepan.  Let stand for 5 minutes.

Heat mixture to boiling over medium high heat, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat and let cool for 20 minutes.

Stir the tapioca mixture, then fold in 1 cup of the whipped topping until smooth.  Divide mixture between 4 serving dishes and top each with one tablespoon of the reserved topping. 

This is such a pretty dessert with a bright, fresh flavor.

It was a good meal.