2014 US MRE Menu # 9: Beef Stew

[BTemple]

Enjoying a nice Labour Day at home while dying with a cold (little guy has only been at daycare for a few days and brought home a cold already)...decided to go with a classic menu for dinner!

There was a nice assortment of components here so I was rather excited to dig in. I have never had the hazelnut cocoa beverage powder before so I was especially looking forward to trying that out.

First off, the FRH was the hottest one out of the whole case. It became boiling hot instantly, so much so that my thumb was burned by the steam as I was folding the top over.

Having two beverages instead of one was a nice addition... I don't drink coffee, so sometimes I'm left with no beverage if they use an Irish cream or French Vanilla cappuccino. The raspberry drink is not loved by all but I always enjoy it. The hazelnut cocoa beverage powder smelled amazing when I opened the pouch, but I used cold water to mix it and I think it detracted a bit from the taste. It was basically just regular cocao beverage powder, no hint of hazelnut at all.

With respect to the other items, like sides and dessert, i was a little disappointed seeing the multigrain snack bread. I always find it much dryer than regular wheat snack bread, but at least the peanut butter and blackberry jam combo with it made it better and more edible. The pretzels... well what can you say about standard pretzels? They were in fairly good shape, weren't too dry and they also made a good accompaniment to the remaining peanut butter!
Lastly the nut raisin mix might seem a little boring to some, but I always love it. And this time there were actually SEVERAL almonds to be found... a cause for celebration indeed!

The main entree is the final piece to discuss. I have never actually had a beef stew MRE before so I was very happy to see that it was a fairly sizeable portion. And most surprising of all was the fact that there was more meat present than vegetables. It tasted much like a standard canned beef stew, but I would argue that it tasted a little better. The meat wasn't tough or dry, the sauce was nice and the veggies weren't too mushy. The only thing it needed was a little black pepper. I really wish MRE's came with some pepper along with the salt. Sometimes Tabasco doesn't accentuate the flavour of an entree, it overpowers it, and this was a time where I'm sure Tabasco wouldn't have helped.

Overall this was a great MRE and I finished every morsel.
Thanks for stopping by, have a good one!

[Mpitt]

So far, this is my favorite US MRE menu of the ones I have had so far. I agree that it is a lot like canned beef stew but just a little bit better. I prefer to get the crackers instead of snack bread to crumble into the stew.

Yeah, the pepper thing....current service members may want to ditch their side-arm and load their holster with a drill-pepper-mill as per the Alton Brown innovation.

[BTemple]

So far, this is my favorite US MRE menu of the ones I have had so far. I agree that it is a lot like canned beef stew but just a little bit better. I prefer to get the crackers instead of snack bread to crumble into the stew.

Yeah, the pepper thing....current service members may want to ditch their side-arm and load their holster with a drill-pepper-mill as per the Alton Brown innovation.

alton-brown-pepper-drill-0414.0.jpg

Vegetable Crackers and Jalapeno cheese spread would have been the perfect accompaniment to this ration.

There's got to be a lot of black market pepper sales going on for sure. Hahaha