Reviewed: Jun. 17, 2011

This was an excellent stew, but I'm not giving it 5 stars because after reading other reviewers, I did not use the water called for, I used only the honey, not the sugar, and I used a fruity wine since I didn't have any vermouth. I look forward to trying it with vermouth as called for.

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Reviewer:

Ruth

Cooking Level: Expert

Living In: Milton, Wisconsin, USA

Reviewed: Mar. 13, 2011

Amazing flavor! Didn't add the water and used dry vermouth instead- still had a really great slightly sweet and savory flavor.

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Reviewer:

faithirene

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Cooking Level: Beginning

Reviewed: Nov. 7, 2010

This is the best throw-it-together beef stew. This is consistently great with so little effort. Like others, I omitted all the liquid except for the vermouth. Used dry vermouth. Used only the honey to sweeten.

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Reviewer:

sunflowersinfrance

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Antelope Valley, California, USA

Living In: Norman, Oklahoma, USA

Reviewed: Dec. 26, 2009

I had the pleasure of preparing this with Elk meat which is higly recommended, but nonetheless, the results were superb! As per reccommendation, I ommitted the mass amounts of water and as I do with all soup recipes I substituted a portion of the broth for an herbal tea as to reduce salt and add some other nutrients - turned out delish!

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Reviewer:

MelissaReNae

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Living In: Laramie, Wyoming, USA

Reviewed: Apr. 17, 2009

We used half a cup of whiskey instead of the vermouth and hoo boy! Smelled knockout and tasted fab, once the alcohol had boiled off. We added in a little powdered vegie stock for flavour, and swapped all the sugar for honey. As out whiskey wasn't sweet we ended up adding another big spoonful of honey in. Also we omitted all the extra water and added in barley to make this stew extra thick and hearty. Worked really well and I'm itching to try it with the vermouth!

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Reviewer:

XZIGALIA

Cooking Level: Beginning

Home Town: Timaru, Canterbury, New Zealand

Living In: Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand

Reviewed: May 18, 2008

Smells FANTASTIC cooking and tasted amazing! I didn't read the reviews before started this cooking - but I allowed it to cook the entire time with the lid off - and I added 3/4 cup brown rice for the last half hour and it was perfect consistency! Another note, I didn't have any honey because I'd used it all for a loaf a bread I was cooking at the same time (doh!) so I just used 2 tsp of sugar. It was a bit sweet - and next time I do this, I'll use only 1 tsp. I'll also half the water and use only 6c of broth.

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Reviewer:

tang

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Duluth, Minnesota, USA

Reviewed: Dec. 27, 2007

This stew has an amazing smell and taste to it!!! I did omit a good amount of liquids due to reading the prior reviews, which I think helped make this recipe a success. I will be making this again sometime in the near future.

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Reviewer:

Adam

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Terre Haute, Indiana, USA

Living In: Aarhus, Midtjylland, Denmark

Reviewed: Nov. 7, 2007

Yum! Great flavor! I also left out the extra water. I didn't have tarragon but I added a small onion and there was plenty of flavor. I also cooked in the crock pot and it came out great.

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Reviewer:

Kim P

Reviewed: Oct. 21, 2007

I didn't read the reviews before I made this stew, but even without having read the reviews, I didn't add the water. It just made no sense. And I got the best beef stew I have ever tasted or made! Delicious! The aroma is fabulous, and yes, the result is slightly on the sweet side for a beef stew. Next time, I will double the meat and leave out the water again.

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