Beef and Noodles

This is so simple, but one of my favourites – and the Royal Taster’s favourite for sure. It takes a long time to cook, but it’s worth it.

There’s not a lot of ingredients to deal with – just chop up a little onion and garlic.

some onion

Then slice up the beef into bite size pieces, and that’s all the chopping involved which makes ME happy.

slicing beef

Once it’s all chopped, toss it all in some flour and fry in a little oil.

flour and frying

You can brown half the beef, remove and set aside, and then brown the remaining half with the onion and garlic. At least, that’s what it said to do. I did that the first couple times I made this one, then I started just browning all the meat at once. I don’t get the difference! Seems to work fine.

add the onion

After the beef has browned a little, get the onion and garlic in there and keep it all frying. You’re almost ready to go sit down and watch TV for awhile (no kidding!). So measure out your beef broth, but try not to be as clumsy as me.

what a mess

Yeah. Anyway, if you’re using Campbell’s beef broth (in the soup size cans), 3 cups works out to just over two cans – about 2 1/4. When I make this recipe, I reserve the rest of the can and add it with the noodles. If you think that might be too rich, you could use water instead. The recipe actually calls for frozen noodles, which I am guessing add a fair amount of water. Because I use egg noodles, I find you need to add some more liquid along with them. So I just use the leftover broth, although it does increase the flavour.

ready to simmer

Add the broth, along with the last couple ingredients, and be prepared to sit back for awhile.

first check

Still a long way to go…so a long while later, it’s finally time for the last step.

adding the noodles

Finally, you get to add the noodles – and more broth or water if you prefer. I like these egg noodles because they’re a lot lighter than regular pasta and don’t take as long to cook.

all done!

Hooray…by the time we get to this point, I’m starving. I always forget to start this soon enough.

presentation is not my strong suit

Recipe? This one is again from Better Homes & Gardens.

1 pound boneless beef (stewing beef like chuck roast or beef round)
1/4 cup flour
1 tbsp cooking oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cloves of garlic, minced
3 cups of beef broth
1 tsp dried marjoram or basil, crushed (i like basil)
1/4 tsp black pepper
8 ounces frozen noodles
2 tbsp parsley if you want

1. Trim the fat from the meat and cut it into cubes (about 3/4 inch each). Coat the meat with the flour in a small bowl. In a large saucepan, brown half the meat in the oil. Remove it and set aside, then brown the remaining meat with the onion and garlic (add more oil if you need it). Drain off the fat and return all meat to the saucepan.

2. Stir in the broth, basil, and pepper. Bring to boiling, then reduce heat. Simmer, covered for about 1.5 hours or until the meat is tender.

3. Then add the noodles. Bring to boiling again, then reduce heat and cook uncovered for 25 or 30 minutes more or until the noodles are tender (if you do use the egg noodles it won’t take this long…more like 15-20). Sprinkle with parsley to serve.

So if you have some time on your hands, this is a must-try!