Ok, so I forgot to take a picture of what I made yet again! I really need to remember that part.
For dinner last night I made a version of Rachael Ray's Turkish Beef Stew.
This is the recipe as it reads on her site.
3 1/3 TBS butter
1.5 lbs stew beef
1 cup canned chopped tomatoes with juice
1 cup beef broth
1 TBS white wine vinegar
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground cloves
salt
pepper
1/2 lb wide egg noodles
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1. In a large saucepan, melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat, add half of the beef and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 5 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a plate. Repeat with another tablespoon butter and the remaining beef. Set aside.
2. Stir the tomatoes and beef broth into the saucepan, reduce the heat to low and stir, scraping up any browned bits. Add the reserved beef, the vinegar, cinnamon, cloves and 1/8 teaspoon pepper; bring to a simmer over low heat. Cover and cook until the meat is fork-tender, about 1 hour.
3. About 10 minutes before the stew is ready, cook the egg noodles according to the package directions. Toss with the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons butter and season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir the parsley into the stew and serve with the noodles.
The changes I made were substituting a can of crushed tomatoes for the diced, and completely taking out the beef broth, instead using a bouillon cube. It made for a thicker, heartier sauce.
All in all, with having the spices at home already, it only cost me a whopping $3.87 to buy the stew beef, the noodles, and the crushed tomatoes. I took advantage of beef that was going out of date the next day so it had a discounted coupon on it! Great way to save a bit of money if you know you will be using the meat that night or freezing immediately.
