I'm making this for dinner tonight. Think of the cowboys making this in a Dutch oven over the campfire. They've got a big pot of boiled coffee, and it makes a good addition to whatever's cooking. The coffee acts to tenderize the meat.

Cowboy Stew
2 pounds chuck steak or roast, cut in even 1 inch dice
Flour for dredging
Salt and pepper
Shortening for browning
1 small onion, diced
2 - 3 mushrooms, sliced
2 cups boiling water
1 cup hot coffee (or however much you have)
2/3 cup tomato juice or V-8
(1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce)
2 tsp salt
1 bay leaf
Pinch of cloves
4 - 5 carrots, sliced
4 - 5 potatoes, diced
1 cup peas

Dredge the meat in flour that has been seasoned with salt and pepper. Brown well in shortening and remove to crock pot. Cook the onion and mushrooms in the pan until the onion is transparent but not browned. Scrape into the crockpot and put 1 cup water in the pan. Cook, stirring, to get up the browned bits in the pan. Pour it into the crockpot with the rest of the water, coffee, tomato juice, Worcestershire sauce, salt, bay leaf, and cloves. Cover and cook on high until the meat is tender. Add the vegetables and continue cooking until done.

If the broth is not thick, remove the vegetables and thicken it with 3 tablespoons flour mixed into 1/4 cup water. In the crockpot, this will take awhile to thicken up. Combine the gravy with the meat and vegetables and spoon into a large casserole. Top with biscuits, dumplings, or a pastry crust and bake in a 400 degree oven until done.

The stew part freezes well.

I'm going to top it with some cornmeal dumplings. I have a chive plant at my other house, so this summer I'll make this with the chives. Today, I'm going to put a little bit of dried thyme in the dough.

Cornmeal Dumplings
1/2 cup corn meal
3/4 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon butter, melted
(2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives)

Combine corn meal, flour, salt and baking powder; stir to blend. In a smaller bowl, combine eggs, milk and butter. With a spoon, make a well in the dry ingredients; pour liquid ingredients into it and stir to blend. Don’t over stir. Drop by teaspoonsful into boiling stew, cover pan lightly and simmer 12 to 15 minutes, until dumplings are cooked through.