Beef Stew, that is!
On our recent trip to New Orleans I made a concerted attempt at gathering family recipe 
favorites from my mother and mother-in-law. One of the recipes that caught my eye was a beef stew concoction that originated from the files of my Grandmother Marjorie Christoffel who was originally from Texas, but lived in Pineville, Louisiana until her death, and she was also a really good cook in her day. My mom said it was a very good recipe and easy to make too. It looked easy from the title on the index card….. No Peep Stew
So I Googled “No Peep Stew” and it seems there are a few variations on this recipe, and I did find one that matched the exact ingredients, amounts and order of preparation exactly. And the author could not verify the origin of it either. I wonder where this recipe originated, but it seems similar to one of those you would find on the back of a can of soup or soup mix, considering that two of the ingredients are canned cream of mushroom soup and dry onion soup mix.
Beef bottom round was on sale at the local grocery for $1.99/lb. so I bought a 3 lb chunk and decided it was time to try out this mysterious recipe. Let me tell you, about an hour after it was in the oven the house was permeated with a wonderful fragrance that brought back memories from days of yore. Yup, this stuff is that good! Funny how smells are associated with memory, and that is a subject for another post! The wonderful aroma filled the house with that loving made from scratch meal smell that only my mother could do when I was boy growing up. I used to tell my parents at the dinner table that we should open up a restaurant because their food was always better than any other place to eat. My mother’s pat answer was “you can open up one, that’s hard work and I already have a full time job….no thanks!”
So here it is, the memory lane recipe that must be 40+ years old, and still proven to please even today! I also include a variation that I plan to attempt the next time around.
No-Peep Stew
Ingredients
2 lbs Boneless beef stew meat
1 pkg Onion soup mix
1 can Cream of mushroom soup
½ cup Red wine
1 can Mushroom stems and pieces (4 oz)
To taste Pepper
¼ cup Water
Procedure
- Place meat in bottom of roasting pan or casserole and pour all other ingredients on top of meat, then add ¼ cup water.
- Cover and cook in 325° F oven for three hours.
- Do not peep while cooking.
- Meat will be very tender and you will have a good, rich brown gravy for rice, etc.
Serves four to five.
Variation on the theme; the next time I make this recipe I will be adding the following ingredients as in step 1 following the same procedures as listed above.
1 cup Pearl onions, skin peeled
2 cups Carrots, peeled and very large diced
1 cup Peas
1 Tbsp Garlic, minced
2 cups Red New Potatoes, quartered
2 responses so far ↓
1 Frank // Jun 24, 2008 at 10:18 am
The onion soup mix in your No-Peep Stew reminded me of my great aunt’s chicken stew recipe.
Nan’s Chicken (Stewed Chicken)
Serves: 6
Bertha Marie Ruty Morel, (1898 – 1989), “Nan”, fixed this dish for anyone who was ill, had a death in the family or for anyone who just needed cheering up. This was her true “comfort food”. Nothing makes a better stew than an old black cast iron pot.
Ingredients:
• 1 3-4 pound fryer, cut into 8 pieces
• 1 Tablespoon Creole Seasoning
• 4 strips bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces
• ¼ cup sherry
• ½ cup flour
• 2 cups yellow onions, diced
• 1 cup celery, thinly sliced
• ½ cup bell pepper, diced
• ½ cup carrots, diced
• 1 Tablespoon garlic, chopped
• 6 cups water
• 1 envelope Lipton ® Onion soup mix
• ½ cup green onion tops, thinly sliced
• ¼ cup parsley, chopped
Method:
1. Rinse chicken well under cold running water and cut into 8 serving pieces.
2. Drain the chicken well in a colander and season to taste using Creole Seasoning.
3. In a black cast iron pot, fry the bacon pieces over medium high heat until bacon is crisp. Remover bacon set aside.
4. Fry the chicken pieces in the hot bacon fat, a few at a time, until golden brown on all sides. These pan drippings will be used when making the roux. When done, remove chicken and set aside.
5. Deglaze the pot with the sherry.
6. Sprinkle in ½ cup flour, and using a wire whisk, stir until a golden brown roux is achieved.
7. Add onions, celery, bell pepper and garlic. Sauté until vegetables are wilted.
8. Stir in envelope of Lipton® Onion soup mix. Mix thoroughly.
9. Return fried chicken to the pot. Add additional water if needed to cover chicken. Bring to a rolling boil, reduce heat to simmer and cook until chicken is tender, approximately 45 minutes.
10. Add green onions and parsley. Blend well into the sauce mixture.
11. Serve over noodles and add reserved bacon bits as garnish
2 Ryan Boudreaux // Jun 24, 2008 at 12:33 pm
Frank, thanks for sharing the recipe! It sure does sound like a family fav! I’ll have to try it out soon!