A short one

Basic Beef Stew for beginners!

1 1/2 lbs Beef Chuck/Stew Beef

6 Cups Water

1 Tbsp Butter/Margarine

2 Large Potatoes

2 Carrots

Flour!

This is a very basic stew. Follow these directions and add what you would like at any point.

Melt butter in large pot. Cut beef into 1/2 to 1" cubes and place in zip lock bag with flour to coat. Sear beef on medium heat. Add water and bring to a boil for 3 minutes. Reduce heat to simmer for 2 hours. The longer you simmer the more tender the meat.

After 2 hours add potatoes cut into 1/2" cubes and carrots cut into thin slices. At this point I usually add green onions and garlic. Add anything else you want at this point. Simmer for 30 minutes to an hour.

If the stew is too thin you can use butter/margarine and flour to create a roux. Add stew liquid into the roux pan until completely dissolved and mix in with stew. Simmer for another 20 minutes.

This stew is great with sourdough bread bowls. The longer you simmer the stew the better. I let this simmer for 6 hours once and the beef fell apart when I picked it up off the spoon. I have to credit my father in law Chester with helping me out. I really screwed this up the first time and he saved me!

Enjoy and please comment on any successful additions!

Fried Ramen

As promised here is the recipe for my famous Fried Ramen!

Ingredients:

1 packet Ramen

-I recommend Maruchan over Top Ramen. Flavor is your choice.

1 cup Water

Fresh Ground Pepper (optional)

Bring 1 cup Water to boil in medium sized pot. **DO NOT USE THE RECOMMENDED 2 CUPS OF WATER!** Keep heat on Medium High. Open packet of Ramen and add noodles. Use spatula to flip Ramen brick when the underside starts to become soft. When able break apart ramen brick so noodles are free. Add flavor packet.

Stir constantly till water is nearly gone (see below picture, Ramen should freely move, do not let it stick to the pan). Remove from heat.

Place 10" non-stick frying pan on burner and let it heat. Now is the perfect time to add pepper if you wish. Drop Ramen into pan and spread out evenly (see picture). Use spatula to break Ramen free when able, this will take a moment. Be careful not to let it burn. When Ramen is broken free

FLIP IT!

You can use the spatula to flip but using the pan handle is way more fun. I wouldn't recommend taking a picture while doing it. Or maybe do and post it as a comment. I bet it doesn't work very well.

Grab a plate! Once flipped the Ramen will only take 10-15 seconds to finish cooking.

Now enjoy alone or with friends as pictured.

This could be big!

Hello my non-existent readers! I'm starting this blog in order to see how well I can write about cooking. When I first struck out on my own, leaving the comfort of my parent's house, I was a terrible cook. I burned everything and I quickly became the worst cook I have ever seen. When I was 23 I married and I decided that I needed to take another shot at cooking. I discovered at that time that not only did I love to cook but I was pretty good at it. Or so my wife tells me.

I am currently working on a cookbook that holds my take on pretty much everything I cook. I find something interesting and I put my spin on it. My recipes are simple and easy to recreate. They also will allow experimentation by adding your own ingredients into the mix! My goal is to provide easy, cheap and fun recipes that anyone, no matter how bad they may be at cooking, can follow and enjoy.