I was inspired by all the discussion in the pressure cooker thread and made beef stew for dinner. I don’t have a pressure cooker, so I did this in my stockpot on the stove top.
Ingredients
3 lbs of stew meat cut into 1/2 inch chunks
2 sweet onions cut in half and sliced thin
1 whole head of garlic cloves, peeled
5 turnips (I used these instead of potatoes, if you’re a potato person, use potatoes) chopped into cubes
1 bag of carrots chopped
2 bay leaves
Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste
Concentrated beef jus to taste
Worcestershire Sauce or A1 to taste
1/2 a bottle of your favorite dark beer (or if you prefer red wine)
12 cups of water
Roux (melted butter and flour) or cornstarch as a thickening agent – cook’s preference
(stew meat and veggies cooking down)
Directions
Take a large stockpot, place over medium high heat, and once hot coat the bottom with extra virgin olive oil and 1/3 of a stick of unsalted butter. Once they are hot add the meat with salt and pepper, mix, and sauté until the meat is browned. While the meat is browning, chop, slice, and peel your vegetables. Add the sliced onions and the hole cloves of garlic to the meat, stir, and sweat off the onions and garlic. Add the concentrated beef jus (I used the better than bullion brand) and the Worcestershire or A1 and combine. Deglaze the beef, onions, and garlic with 6 to 8 ounces of the dark beer (I used Guinness stout today because they were out of Chimay Blue at the store) Add the chopped root vegetables, combine, and cook down. Add more salt and pepper to taste. Once the veggies have begun to soften add 12 cups of water, bring to a boil, and then cook until the meat and the root veggies are fork tender. Check to see if you need to adjust seasoning and do so if necessary. Then add your thickening agent of choice to bring the stew broth to your desired thickness. Serve and enjoy.
Open thread!
Who’s Hungry? A Hearty New Year’s Day MealPost + Comments (187)