Recipe: Winter Beef Stew
Dec 1, 2024
Tags: recipes
I made a really wonderful beef stew this evening, and since one of the reasons I started this site was to have a place to put recipes I’ve decided to write up how I made this. It really was amazing.
Before Thanksgiving, Catrena had seen a Tik-Tok about beef stew and it planted the bug in our mind. Since we’ve been busy (💍) it had to wait until after we had gotten back for a quick vacation. I knew I wanted it to be a big, hearty stew and that I wanted it to be served on a bed of mashed potatoes. The beef I used was a smaller 2 pound chuck roast I had in the freezer. I broke the beef down in sizable cubes. I like when a beef stew has meat that you can cut with your spoon, larger pieces help make it feel more rustic.
Once broken down, I browned the cubes in some olive oil until both sides had a chance to get a good crust on it. This is my favorite part about cooking, the order of operations! Once you figure out the order a dish is best prepared in, its like magic. Anyway, remove the meat and sautée onions in the same oil (chances are you’ll have some of that beef fat still in the bottom of the pot). This is also when you add in your garlic! When the onions are clear and before the garlic turns, it’s time to deglaze!
I have been making my own red wine vinegar over the last year, which is really quite easy. A friend of ours had these big, beautiful antique 5 gallon barrels she’d been storing her leftover wine in and it was very tasty. So, inspired by that, I’ve been pouring any red leftovers into one bottle along with the mother from some homemade apple cider vinegar Catrena’s cousin sent us home with. It’s working quite well and is very mild, but it worked as an incredible base for the stew.
Deglaze with red wine vinegar, add back the stew along with any other vegetables you may want. For this stew, I had a big bundle of white button mushrooms that needed to be eaten, as well as some gold potatoes. These along with carrots and celery would make for the contents of the stew. There are two other things to consider here, the liquid and the spice.
CYBERBUFFALO SAYS:
Keep a container in your freezer & fill it with veggie peels and trimmings! Then you can make fresh veggie stock all year!
I am out of veggie stock, so chicken stock it is! this works out great because the beef is fatty, the wine and onions are heavy, the chicken stock compliments everyone by bringing a smooth, lighter stock to the party. With my liquid sorted, I turn my attention to the spice and seasoning. I’ve already salted the beef as it went in to brown, and we’ll adjust the salt later to taste, so what else?
- Worcestershire Sauce
- tamari (only gluten free soy sauce in this house)
- garlic powder
- onion powder
- smoked paprika
- cayenne pepper
- mustard powder
- cardamom (from the pod)
- cinnamon
- black pepper
- white pepper
This is the first time I’ve used cardamom pods! Cut the tips off, dump the peppercorn seeds into a mortar and pestle and grind em up. The cardamom, mustard powder and cinnamon (just a little, like a teaspoon) help bring up those classic stew flavors, and it gives it a warmth and brightness that really compliments the beef.
This is it, taste it, see if it needs anything, give it a touch more salt if necessary. It sounds more complicated than it really is.
- cut beef & brown
- cook onions
- add wine and additional veggies
- add stock
- add spice and seasoning
- salt and pepper
- simmer for a few hours
You’re checking to see if the connective tissue in the beef has broken down. There is a lot of fat and tendons in a chuck roast and the lower and slower you cook it, the more tender the meat becomes. I think I left mine go for about 3 hours. Time can be the enemy of your other vegetables, but luckily the Yukon golds (with peels) will hold up well. Russets (which I like for mashed) will begin to break down after too much cook time.
If you choose to make, I hope you enjoy!
