Made in Adana (click here to learn about the Made in Adana category)

I have to admit that I don’t have much to compare today’s homemade beef stew to.  It’s not a meal that I grew up eating. As far as I can remember, it wasn’t until I was a college student with a microwave and a budget, that I developed a taste for beef stew.  I think you know where this is going.  Dinty Moore (yuck).  In those days, canned soup felt like health food compared to chips, frozen pizzas and fruit loops, and thus I developed a taste for the stuff.

Well, it’s 2011 and we don’t do much processed food or meals in a can at home anymore, but when I saw the recipe for Beef Stew on page 135 of the “I Need Help in Turkey Cookbook,” I was transported back to that college dorm room reminded of that microwave with beef stew and chili spattered all over the inside.

The thought of making a homemade stew with real foods, sounded like a perfect late-winter lunch.  It was.  The stew was amazing, and I can’t wait for leftovers tomorrow.  I hope you try this recipe!

Here’s how you make it.

Step 1: Combine ½ cup flour, ½ t salt, ½ t pepper in a big bowl. Add 1kg* of beef (dana sote) that has been cut up into 1” chunks.  (they’ll do the cutting for you at the market obviously.) Roll the meat in the flour mixture until it’s nicely coated with the four.

Step 2: Heat 2T of oil in the pot where you’ll cook the stew.  When the oil is hot, add the meat and brown it.

Step 3: Add 5 Cups of Whey* and 1 tsp garlic powder.  Bring it to a boil, then reduce heat and let it simmer on the stove for 1 hour.

So the beef and Whey don't look that appetizing at this point.

Step 4: Add the following vegetables: 4 sliced carrots, 6 Potatoes, cut into chunks, 500g of skinned little onions (arpacik soğan) , 1 bag of frozen green beans (or 400g fresh green beans.) Let it all come back to a boil, then reduce heat and let it simmer for 30-40 minutes.

When this was done, it was so good.  Rana and I both just loved it. It was so hearty, so healthy, so full of real fresh food and so easy to make.

Let me know if you make this, I’d love to hear how it turns out.

I try to post a Made In Adana article post most Wednesdays.

*Note #1 : Obviously most people don’t have 5 cups of Whey in their fridge.  It’s a byproduct of my cheese making habit and I love to put it to use, this was a perfect use for it.  The recipe actually calls for beef broth, or 3 bouillon cubes in 5 cups of water.

Note#2: One way that I made it a bit easier was to peel and cut up the carrots and potatoes the night before and soak them in water (so the potatoes don’t get brown), I also skinned the onions the night before too.  This was super easy, I just threw them in a pot of boiling water and let them boil for 3 minutes, then sliced off the root end and squeezed the skin… the inside of the little onions pop right out.

With this stuff all prepped, making the stew went super smoothly

Shopping list:

½ c Flour

½ tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

1KG Dana Sote (beef cut into 1” cubes)

2T oil

1 T garlic powder

5 cups Beef Broth (or Whey, or 3 bouillon cubes and 5 cups of water)

4 carrots sliced

6 potatoes cut into chunks

500g little onions (arpacik sogan) peeled

1 bag frozen green beans.