Beef Stew by Dolores Stargell - from "A Treasure Chest of Pirate Recipes" (1971)

RECIPE

1 lb. beef stew chunks or 1 lb. ground steak 

1/2 cup flour

salt, pepper, garlic salt

1 small onion

2 green onions

1 envelope Lipton's Beef Flavor Gravy Soup

1/2 cup cooking oil

1/2 small bell pepper

1 1/2 cups water

*rice or noodles, as suggested below

Flour and season meat with spices, then brown meat with cooking oil at medium high heat in skillet.

Pour off almost all oil and add dry soup and water.  Add chopped onions and bell pepper.  Simmer until meat is tender about 1-1/2 hours.

Serve over rice or noodles.

Wilver Stargell, aka Willie, aka Pops, a Pittsburgh Pirates legend.

In 1971, Stargell was approaching the midpoint of his 21-year career, all of it played in the Burgh. He led the NL in home runs with 48, and was named NL Player-of-the-Month twice as he led his club to the division title and World Series.

By decade's end, Stargell would be one of the faces of the franchise.  He was the clubhouse leader who introduced the "Stargell Stars" that were awarded after a good game or key play.  These stars can be seen on most Pirate players' caps in the late 70s.

Here we have one of the dishes that gave Pops his pop.  

This beef stew is warm and comforting, and I served it over some wide egg noodles as suggested by Dolores Stargell.  Coating the meat with flour before browning elevates the comfort level.  As you can see, the recipe is flat-out simple and the only thing that takes time is the simmering.

I wasn't able to find an exact envelope of "Lipton's Beef Flavor Gravy Soup" but any powdered gravy mix will do.  The end result was delicious.  

Hang a Stargell Star on this one!