Can I Make "Beef and Bacon Stew, With Substitutions Encouraged?"

I got this email from Bon Appetit and this Beef and Bacon Stew looked good! If you think it's a little warm for Beef & Bacon Stew, pump up the AC! Haha! :) The subject of the e-mail said with substitutions encouraged and I made a bunch! Haha! :)

https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/beef-and-bacon-stew

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Attempt #1:

I divided the recipe by 5 roughly -- used 8 oz. of beef -- instead of 2 1/2 pounds. I used stew beef because it's already cut up for you.

I also used dried herbs instead of fresh ones and didn't have any fresh veggies.

I don't have red wine, so I used a little Apple Cider vinegar for acidity.

I did order miso paste because I thought it was interesting to use it in beef stew and you can use it in lots of different recipes -- even desserts!

What I used:

- 8 oz. of stew beef

- 2 teaspoons of onion powder

- 2 or 3 pieces of Hormel fully cooked bacons

- dried carrots (which rehydrate when put in the soup)

- 2 teaspoon of miso paste

- 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder

- 1 teaspoon of thyme

- 2 teaspoon of corn flour (as a thickener; saving my flour for baking bread :) ) - not shown

- 1 tablespoon of Apple Cider vinegar

In the recipe they use a Dutch Oven (which is a ceramic pot.) I didn't have a Dutch Oven. I decided to hack one together, which I had done successfully when baking bread.

https://www.wearegoodatthis.com/post/can-i-make-no-knead-artisan-cinnamon-raisin-bread-tip-hack-to-make-a-makeshift-dutch-oven

For the stew, instead of a steel mixing bowl for bow, I used a cast iron pan for the bottom and then used a steel bowl as a cover -- the pan lids I have have some plastic on them (so I didn't want to put it in the oven).

Once the beef was browned, I added some water and then put it in the oven with a steel bowl on top as "Dutch Oven" for a couple hours.

Afterwards, I added some corn starch to thicken it up (saving my flour for baking bread). It was not so "stew" looking. However, I accidentally let all the water evaporate and it got charred a little. Haha! :)

However, then I just added more water to make soup again -- AND then it actually looked more like the original picture. Haha! :)

Photos: Second photo is where I kind of forgot about it and the water evaporated. Oops! Haha! :)

RESULT: Success.

We are good at this. I would say for this #quarantinelife -- especially because I burnt it and then fixed it and then it still tasted good -- I give myself a Success with just a period, not an ! though because I did burn it. Haha! :)

It's a tasty recipe and the miso adds some umami to the stew. :)

Give it a try! We are good at this!