Hamburger Stew

It has been raining all day, really cool with a cold chill in the air, definitely a Manitoba fall day. Weather like this, your mind immediately goes to things like soups and stews. There really isn’t anything more comforting to eat in this kind of weather. Tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches made a great lunch, so stew for supper seemed like a perfect idea.

My wife said she had saved a hamburger stew recipe she saw on-line which would be good. When she pulled it up and read it again it seemed a little strange. Rice in stew didn’t make much sense and 3 teaspoons of salt is way to much. Salt and pepper were the only spices in it, which for use seemed like it would be bland. When she read some of the comments they were to salty and a lot of very bland, with lots of don’t use the rice. So that stew was out of the question.

The idea of using hamburger to make a stew isn’t something new for me. Meatball stew I have been making for year. What I decided to make is really a lazy version of meatball stew. No making meatballs just brown and drain the hamburger. I used chopped tomatoes but you can use a small can of diced tomatoes. Green cabbage I bought at the market garden because I wanted to try something I had read. It seemed like a good idea and the perfect way to keep green cabbage for a long time. Rather than cutting a chunk off the cabbage you peel the leaves off and then chop them. It keeps the cabbage intact and it doesn’t brown and go bad. So far it’s working, I have had it for two weeks and it still looks perfect.

1 pound ground beef browned and drained. Keep the beef in good sized chunks

1 large rib celery chopped

1 large carrot chopped

2 small onions cut in quarters

2 cups chopped green cabbage

1 and 1/2 cups chopped tomatoes

1 large potato cubed 4 cloves garlic minced

3 bay leaves

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon thyme

1/2 teaspoon rosemary

2 cups beef broth

1 tablespoon butter

cornstarch slurry

Preheat a large pot on medium heat. Add the butter, when it is melted add celery, carrots, onions, cabbage, salt, pepper, garlic, thyme, rosemary, and bay leaves. Cook for 5 minutes stirring often, add tomatoes, and beef broth and mix well. Dump the meat on top, cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a gentle boil, cook for 1 and 1/2 hours, stir ever half hour. Thicken with cornstarch slurry and serve.