Beef Stew

I made beef stew for dinner the other night and I meant to take a picture of it and I forgot and now it's gone. Leftovers and all. There will be no visual aids in today's post. Just picture a big bowl of hot, chunky, beefy stew. Beef Stew screams fall to me. With the cool weather that we've been having I thought this was the perfect dinner this week.

I like stews because they're one of those all-in-one rounded meals: protein, veg & starch all in one neat little package. My husband, on the other hand, does not like beef stew for exactly that reason. It's not that he doesn't like my beef stew; I have a theory is that he can't eat dinner out of a bowl. Dinner just isn't as satisfying from a bowl. If it's in a bowl it's a snack to him. When I make beef stew I always get the feeling he's looking at it like, "Where's the rest of it?". So, this time I kicked it up a notch and served this with fresh French rolls. I used to serve his beef stew on a plate. No joke!

I also love stews because they're so unfussy. I don't have to stand over it while it cooks. Once I put it together I can forget about it. I like that I don't have to spend time dicing the vegetables just so, or making sure the pieces of meat are all the same size. I like my stew rustic but maybe that's just me being lazy. Onto the recipe.

Beef Stew

1 lb Stew Beef
Kosher Salt
Cracked pepper
2 tsp garlic powder
.5 c flour
3 TBSP Extra Virgin olive Oil
1 small onion chopped into large chunks
6 gloves garlic, minced
5 carrots cleaned and chopped into large chunks
4 celery stalks roughly chopped
4 medium red potatoes cubed
.5 c red wine
1 can beef broth
2 bay leaves

.5 TBSP Cornstarch
2 TBSP cold water

Heat Olive Oil in dutch oven or large skillet over medium-high heat. I like to use the dutch oven because it reduces splatter. I always have my little one hanging out in the kitchen while I'm cooking.

Place carrots, celery, potatoes and bay leaves in large Crock Pot.

Season beef liberally with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Toss beef with flour to coat.

Add beef to hot pan. Brown on one side, turn beef to start browning the other side, add onions and garlic. Cook until beef is browned, stirring frequently.

Add beef mixture to crock pot. Deglaze pan with .5 cup of red wine. I used Pinot Noir because that's what I had handy. I also didn't measure the wine so I may have used closer to 1 cup.

Once all of the brown bits have been scraped off the pan, add the reduced wine to the Crock Pot along with your can of beef broth.

Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6 hours.

To thicken the stew, make a slurry with the cornstarch and cold water in a small dish. Slowly add the mixture to the stew while stirring. You may not need all of it. This will thicken even more as the stew cools. It doesn't take much.

Serve with crusty french bread. Enjoy!

Pot Roast

I never liked pot roast. That's not fair: I didn't think I liked pot roast. I had never really given it a chance. I always grouped it into that gray beef category that contains prime rib. Delicious to some, but too reminiscent of a luke warm dish at a banquet hall for my liking. I would rather take my red meat in the form of a NY Strip thankyouverymuch.

Last winter we made the long trip north to visit family and my Mother in Law said she had made a pot roast for dinner. I was ambivalent about it, but made myself a plate all the same. Good Golly, was I pleasantly surprised! This was not a watery, gray meat dish at all. This dish was, quite simply, delicious. I think I ate 4 pounds of pot roast with gravy over the course of our trip. My Mother in Law graciously told me how she prepared the dish and when I got back home to Texas, I made a version of my own.

This pot roast is now a staple in our home. It's inexpensive and so easy to make in the crockpot. I can put it on in the morning and not give it another thought until it's time to make the gravy; My favorite part!


Pot Roast

3 1/2 lb of beef shoulder or boneless chuck roast
2 large onions thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 TBSP Extra Virgin Olive Oil
.5 c red wine
1.5 c. good quality beef stock (Beef Consomme is perfect)
Salt
Pepper
Garlic Powder

Heat EVOO in a deep skillet or dutch oven over high heat.

Season meat liberally with salt, pepper and garlic powder.

Brown meat over high heat on all sides. Remove meat form skillet and place in crock pot.

Lower heat to medium and add onions and garlic to the skillet. Deglaze pan with red wine and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in beef consomme.

Pour mixture over beef in crock pot and cook on low heat for approximately 5 hours.


Gravy
Don't skip out on this step...this is the best part!

2 tbsp Butter
2 tbsp flour
1 cup liquid from crock pot.

Make a roux by melting flour in a skillet or saucier and whisking in the flour.

Over medium-low heat, stir the mixture until the color starts to deepen.

Slowly stir in the reserved liquid from the crock pot and whisk until thickened. This may take up to 5 minutes. Don't worry if some onions sneak in there. This is a party, after all.


I usually serve this dish with mashed potatoes and carrots. I use baby carrots because I can toss them right into the crock pot at the beginning of the cooking process. And there's nothing wrong with vegetables being cooking in beef broth. Nothing at all.