MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05

     Title: Ketcham Canyon Stew
Categories: Soup/stew, Meat
     Yield: 6 Servings

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     8 ea Strips thick-sliced bacon
          -chopped
   1/3 c  All-purpose flour
     1 ts Salt
   1/2 ts Fresh ground black pepper
     1 ts Dried thyme or sage (opt)
 2 1/2 lb Beef chuck or bottom round
          -cut into 1-1/2" cubes
   3/4 c  Onion, chopped
    12 fl Strong coffee
     3 tb Chili sauce or ketchup
     2 tb Molasses
     2 tb Worcestershire sauce
    18 ea Small boiling onions; peel
    24 fl Water
     6 sm Red potatoes; peel; quarter
     4 ea Carrots; peel, cut into
          -1-1/2" lengths
          Chopped fresh parsley for
          -garnish; optional

 In 1870, a fierce blizzard caused my great-grandfather's cattle to
 drift away from his Wind Mill Ranch near Cheyenne, Wyoming. The
 cattle were found in a sheltered canyon nearly twenty miles south,
 in the Chalk bluffs of northeastern Colorado. Benjamin Franklin
 Ketcham took this as a sign and staked his claim in what is now known
 as Ketcham Canyon.

 Men did the cooking on trail drives and roundups. My father's uncles
 Will and Herb Ketcham -- old-style open range cowboys -- were used to
 "doing for themselves". Uncle Herb could whip up a batch of biscuits
 in a flash and cook almost anything in his old Dutch oven. Bacon or
 coffee left from breakfast became part of a hearty stew served to
 ravenous cowboys at the noon time dinner. Serve this stew with hot
 biscuits.

 DIRECTIONS: In a Dutch oven over medium-low heat, cook the bacon
 slowly to render the fat. Remove the cooked bacon with a slotted
 spoon and set aside.

 Combine the flour, 1 teaspoon of salt, the pepper, and thyme. Pat the
 beef cubes dry and toss with the flour mixture.

 Over medium-high heat, brown the beef in the bacon drippings, working
 in batches if necessary. Remove the browned meat and set it aside.

 Add the chopped onion to the pan and cook 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the
 coffee, chili sauce, molasses, Worcestershire, and reserved beef and
 bacon. Cover and simmer over low heat for 1 hour, stirring
 occasionally.

 Add the boiling onions and 3 cups of water. Simmer, covered, for 30
 minutes. Stir in the potatoes, carrots, and more water, if necessary.
 Continue to simmer the stew, partially covered, for about 30 minutes,
 or until the potatoes and carrots are tender. Add salt to taste and
 serve garnished with fresh parsley, if desired.

 Source: Spirit of the West by Beverly Cox and Martin Jacobs; as
 published in the Oregonian FoodDay; typos by Dorothy Flatman 1997

 From: Dorothy Flatman
 Date: 11-21-97

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