BEEF STEW

Fall, stew...enough said.

2-3 lbs boneless chuck, cut up into 1 inch cubes

3 large carrots chopped

3 stalks celery chopped

1 large yellow onion chopped

3 cloves garlic small dice

2-3 lbs red potatoes, quartered

2 bay leaves

2-3 sprigs fresh rosemary

2 sprigs fresh thyme

10 cups (2 1/2 quarts) beef stock  (enough to cover the meat)

3 Tbs. tomato paste

1 cup dry red wine

Salt and pepper

1-2 rinds of parmesan cheese

¼ cup flour

4 Tbsp butter, room temperature

1. Heat heavy bottom pot coated with olive oil.
2. Season meat (liberally) with salt, pepper. 
3. On medium high heat, brown meat on all sides, then remove from pan.  Add more oil as needed.  You do not want the bottom of the pan to burn.  Once all meat is browned and set aside, coat pot with more oil.
4. Sautee onions until translucent followed by carrots and celery for 10 minutes.  Add garlic; sauté until fragrant.  Mix in tomato paste and stir to incorporate.
5. Wrap and tie thyme, rosemary and bay leaves in cheesecloth to make a bouquet garni (and there’s more French to come).
6. Add wine, beef stock, bouquet garni and bring to a boil.  Be sure to scrape the goodness at the bottom of your pot (aka, fond) to incorporate into the other ingredients.
7. Add potatoes and stir.  Leave lid off pot and let wine reduce.
8. Knead butter and flour together with a fork until combined (called buerre manie, if you want to be fancy).  Add to pot and stir.
9. Lower heat to a simmer. Add parmesan rind(s)
10. Add reserved meat and continue simmering until meat is fork-tender (falling apart) and potatoes are cooked through; at least 1.5-2 hrs
11. Remove bouquet garni and cheese rind.
12. Salt and pepper to taste and for heat, add a pinch of crushed red pepper.
13. To further thicken: add knead more butter and flour together and add to pot.  To thin out, add more stock.
14. Serve with bread on the side.  Easy bread recipe following.

Quick Tips:

Best to buy whole chuck roast and cut it to the size you want instead of buying that cubed “stew meat”.  These packaged pieces are usually not even the same cuts of meat and won’t cook the same.  

You can ask at the deli counter for the parmesan rinds and buy a bunch to keep in the freezer. 

If you don’t have cheesecloth on hand, use a mesh tea ball, or better yet, buy a large mesh tea ball (3’’)  and you won’t have to waste your cheesecloth. 

Variation:

Instead of wine, add beer.  Guinness or any dark ale works really well in stew.  Same with the wine, cook with something you would normally drink since the flavors intensify when you reduce the alcohol.  NEVER buy “cooking wine” in a grocery store….better to just leave it out.