Yummy In My Dutch Oven - Updated

I must have been smoking crack last night when I posted this, because I left out half the instructions. MicroTot is stealing my brain cells.

When most people hear the word etouffee they think of a seafood concoction with a tasty sauce over rice. Or they think, "What's that?" I will confess - I'm not a fan of seafood etouffee. It's just not my favorite. However, many many years ago my mother and I discovered a recipe in an ancient, falling apart Justin Wilson cookbook that was probably published before I was born for a beef etufe. It's one of my favorite things in the entire world. And it's simmering in my dutch oven on my stove RIGHT NOW.

Ok, it's actually our version of it, but it's pretty close. The original recipe looks something like this.

My version is actually kinda close, but a little different. It looks something like this:

Beef Etouffee

1 - 1 1/2 lbs beef steak, chuck, round steak (I use whatever's cheap, it'll braise tender)
olive oil
1/2 - 1 cup onion (to taste)
1 small jar pominter (optional)
1/2 tbsp dry parsley
1/2 tsp celery seed
2 cans mushroom steak sauce (you can use one can for less sauciness)
1/2 cup cooking wine
1/2 tbs soy sauce
3 drops hot sauce
1 clove garlic, chopped
1-2 tsp salt
pepper to taste
rice, cooked (I use brown, but whatever)

Chop the meat into bite size pieces. Brown with onion in a large cast iron skillet or dutch oven with a small amount of olive oil. Don't cook it, just brown off each side. If you cook it through it has a bigger chance of being tough. You want it to cook in the liquid (braise) so it will be tender. Add all other ingredients except the rice. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer over low heat for at least 25-30 minutes. Or longer. Let it sit as long as you dare to let the flavors get all yummified. Serve over rice.

Now, this is a very adaptable recipe. As a matter of fact, it's all kind of an estimation, Mom and I aren't big on measuring exactly. This is a half recipe version of what we used to make, because the original makes enough to feed a starving hoard. If you have a starving hoard to feed, feel free to double it, although you probably won't need 4 cans of steak sauce, 2-3 is fine.

I can't wait to eat this for lunch tomorrow. It was very hard to nom on spaghetti for dinner tonight while smelling it cooking in the kitchen! Greg won't go near it, but I'm hoping Kaycie will so that I can make it for lunch more often. I'm also going to see if it freezes. If it freezes ok, I can make a full recipe for the starving hoard and eat on it for a couple of months.