Beef Stew, January 11, 2015

Last night, I redeemed myself for the horrible pork chops I made earlier in the week. I started Sunday dinner, a long-cooking beef stew, Saturday night and cooked it an hour and a half then. Yesterday, I popped in into the oven in the early afternoon and let it cook the rest of the way. We'd planned to have Pie and Bubbles over for Sunday dinner, as we usually do, and had a beautiful round of crusty Italian bread, a honeydew melon (and blackberries to scatter on it), and a store-bought chocolate pudding cake all ready to serve them with the stew. However, we got a text shortly before serving time telling us that Pie wasn't feeling well, so we were on our own for dinner. They missed out on the best beef stew I've ever had or made. Next time you have a block of time during which you can run your oven, you should absolutely make this!

Sunday Dinner Beef Stew

3 lb. lean beef, cut into 2" or so cubes

6 slices bacon, diced

1 small onion, chopped

5 larger-sized red potatoes, quartered

3 large or 5 small carrots, peeled and cut into 1" chunks

8 oz. mushrooms, halved

3 medium onions, quartered

A big handful of mixed fresh parsley and dill, chopped

1 c. dry red wine (I used Gnarlyhead cabernet sauvignon)

10 oz. can beef consommé 

6 oz. can tomato paste

1/2 tsp. each salt, pepper, and thyme

1 tbsp. minced garlic

3 bay leaves

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Brown beef, bacon, and chopped onion in a Dutch oven or oven-safe soup pot, about 10 minutes. Add everything else, stir well, cover, and bake, covered, about one and a half hours. Uncover and bake another 2-3 hours, stirring every so often. Remove bay leaves before serving. Serves 6-8. 

Good, Old-Fashioned Beef Stew

With all the single digit and below-zero temperatures and snow we're having, you won't be surprised to know that we're really digging comfort food this month. Last week, I made a big pot of soupy beef stew, plenty for nice hot lunches, too. I served it with a beautiful loaf of Pugliese bread (Jeannene has fun calling it "pugilist bread") from the grocer's bakery and my new favorite orange, the pink-fleshed Cara Cara. Have you tried them? Fab!

Old-Fashioned Beef Stew

2 lb. beef, cubed (I buy the pre-packaged stew beef for convenience.)

2 tbsp. butter

Flour 

3 cloves garlic, halved

1 tsp. thyme

2 bay leaves

48 oz. beef broth

3 potatoes, diced

7 small carrots, sliced

1/2 lb. frozen pearl onions

1 can diced tomatoes

Salt & pepper

Melt butter in soup pot. Toss beef with enough flour to coat all the pieces, shaking off any excess. Brown in butter. Add the rest and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook 1 1/2-2 hours.