Mrs. Wilkes' Cookbook

Beef Stew Casserole

2 lbs. beef stew meat
1/3 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
Sprinkle of pepper
1 large onion, quartered
2 medium size cooking apples
3 carrots
1 cup celery
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1 cup apple juice
2 tablespoon shortening

Sprinkle meat with salt and pepper.  Dredge in flour.  Heat shortening in fry pan.  Brown meat and add onion.  Pour apple juice over meat; bring to boiling point.  Cover and simmer about 1 1/2 hours or until tender.  Cut carrots in long narrow strips.  Slice celery in 1/2" chunks.  Leave skin on apples and cut medium slices.  Place in casserole dish and pour stew into mixture.  Add spices and bake at 350 degrees about 30 minutes.  Serve over mashed potatoes or rice.  Serves 6 people.
(Cookbook: Famous Recipes from Mrs. Wilkes' Boarding House in Historic Savannah)

My favorite new dish so far.  The only substitution that I made was 1 cup of baby carrots, quartered lengthwise; I used Golden Delicious apples for my cooking apples (Publix listed them as such).  I served the dish with mashed potatoes; next time I'll try rice.  John commented that the taste was different, but he liked it. The flavor of beef and apples was interesting but very good.  Spices were right on and not overwhelming.  It was easy to prepare, which always scores points.  After the disaster of my last dish, this one was wonderful and will be added to my collection to use again.