Almost Cafe 100: Beef Stew

2 lbs boneless beef stew meat

flour

oil

1 c water

1 onion, cut in chunks

1 stalk celery, sliced

3 carrots, cut in chunks

2 russet potatoes, cut in chunks

1 15 oz. can stewed tomatoes (broken up with hand blender or kitchen shears)

1 8 oz. can tomato sauce

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 tsp sugar

Pressure Cooker instructions: Dust meat in flour and brown in heated oil. Drain excess fat. Add water, bring to a boil and cook at high pressure for 15 minutes (may go up to 30 minutes if meat chunks are large). Use natural release method to lower pressure. Add vegetables and other ingredients and cook at high pressure for 5 minutes. Use cold water release method to lower pressure. Thicken gravy by mixing 1 tbsp flour with some water and add to stew. Return to a boil, then simmer until ready to serve.

Traditional instructions: Dust meat in flour and brown in heated oil. Drain excess fat. Add water, bring to a boil and simmer about 1 hour. Add vegetables and other ingredients and continue cooking until vegetables are cooked. Thicken gravy by mixing 1 tbsp flour with some water and add to stew. Return to a boil, then simmer until ready to serve.

Instant Pot instructions: Heat Instant Pot on Saute (high/more) setting. Add oil. Dust meat in flour and brown in heated oil. Drain excess fat. Add water, bring to a boil and cook at manual pressure (high) for 10 minutes and 5 minutes NPR. At this time, fat may be removed from liquid. Add vegetables and other ingredients. Cook at manual pressure (high) for 5 minutes and 5 minutes NPR. Combine 1 tbsp flour with some water. Place Instant Pot on saute setting (low is usually enough if stew is already hot) and add flour slurry to stew. Simmer until ready to serve.