One of my readers sent me this great recipe for canning your own beef stew!
Beef Stew with Vegetables (so much better than purchased canned stew!)
4-5 lbs beef stew meat (whatever is on sale)
8 cups sliced carrots
3 cups chopped celery
3 cups chopped onions
12 cups pared potatoes
10 cups water
4 T. beef soup base (good price at Costco or Sam’s Club)
I make this outside in a vented garage or on the porch so it doesn’t heat up the house. Also, it’s very good if you have a very sharp knife to do all the chopping (the first time I made this I got blisters!). Brown the meat in a Dutch oven on the cache cooker, using a little oil if necessary. Remove meat to a container to keep warm. Wipe extra oil out of Dutch oven with a paper towel and discard. Add onions to the Dutch oven and simmer until the onions are cooked. Stir in water and beef soup base and boil together.
Divide the meat into 7 quart jars. To each jar, add 1 ¾ cup potatoes, 1 cup plus 2 T. carrots, and a scant ½ cup celery. Add ½ tsp. salt and a dash of pepper per quart. Ladle beef broth with onions into each quart leaving 1-inch head space. Remove air bubbles. Adjust caps. Process quarts 1 hour and 15 minutes at 10 pounds pressure.
T. Wilson (Grantsville, UT)