Deanna Taaffe with her daughter Linda during a camping trip in the 1970s.

While we were growing up, the kitchen was the quietest room in our Los Altos Hills house. Despite a long tradition of well-groomed cooks in the family spanning back to the old country in Tuscany, Italy, my Mom preferred to direct her energies elsewhere. She would repeatedly tell us that her dream house wouldn’t have a kitchen.

No matter her grumblings, Mom did manage to make a few signature dishes that my two sisters and I can pass down to future generations. Mom’s beef stew is one of these. It is my favorite. Knowing this, Mom still treats me with a bowl of her stew on special occasions.

Mom learned the recipe from her mother, but she put her stamp on it with a few changes. The end result is a simple and easy recipe that takes less than half the time to make than the original one, thanks to Mom.

- Linda Taaffe, associate editor

Ingredients:

1 pound beef stew meat

2 teaspoons oil

6 large carrots, cut into ¼-inch slices

5 celery stalks, cut into ¼-inch slices

1 medium yellow onion, peeled and quartered

1 12-ounce can tomato sauce

1 4-ounce can tomato paste

2 tablespoons ketchup

1 can water

salt and pepper to taste

4 medium russet potatoes, cut into chunks

Using a pressure cooker, brown stew meat in oil on medium-high heat. Add vegetables and brown. Add tomato sauce, tomato paste, ketchup, water and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover pot. Cook 30-45 minutes. Add potatoes. Cook another 30-45 minutes or until potatoes and meat are tender.