Chilly Weather is Stew Weather!

Beef Stew

With the weather getting cold out I thought it would be a good time to break out the soups and stew recipes. One of my favs is beef stew. It is such a comfort food. The beef and taters fill your tummy with yummy goodness. I also love any food that you can cook in one pot. I still have not mastered the slow cooker. Word on the street is once you master it, you will never use the stove top again for soups/stews. Well I'm not there yet. Besides I love my dutch oven.

Ingredients:

Cast of Characters



3lbs stew beef or chuck roast

1 large yellow onion

3 carrots

4 celery ribs

3 garlic cloves

6 roma tomatoes

6 to 7 small red potatoes

6c beef stock

1/4c flour

3bay leaves

2T Worcester sauce

1T paprika

1T pepper flakes

1t thyme

1/4t cloves

salt/pepper to taste

First thing you want to do get all your chopping done. So chop your celery, onions, tomatoes and garlic, but in a bowl and set aside. Don't chop the carrots or potatoes just yet you are not going to need them until your stew has been cooking for about 2 hours. If you decide to chop them now keep them separate until it's time to use.

Trim the beef of all the big chunks of fat. Icky to bite into, but don't take off all the fat. Fat=Flavor. Remember this line when you think you are getting soft in the belly. It's not fat it's FLAVOR!

Season your beef with salt and pepper and place in a mixing bowl. Sprinkle the flour on top and mix so the beef is fully coated with flour. This is going to be the thickening agent for the stew. There are other ways to do this including using corn starch, but I like this method best.

Next get your pot with about 3T of oil very hot. Then add your beef. I do mine in batches (this took 3) so I can get the meat a nice and crispy. Once the last batch was finished I put all the beef back into the pot.

I could have just stopped here and ate this with a loaf of bread!

Then add all the fresh chopped veggies except for the carrots and taters.

Cook the veggies down for about 5 min. Then everyone else in the pool, except for the carrots and potatoes!

Make sure you use the spoon to scrape all the crusty goodness from the bottom!

Should look something like this. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer and let cook for about 2 hours.

Check in on it from time to time and give it a stir. Make sure you scrape the bottom again.

After about 2 hours the meat should be very tender. Add the potatoes and carrots. I would love to say that baby carrots taste better, but the truth is I use them in soups and stews cause I don't have to peel and chop them. I put in a small bag of baby carrots (1lb) instead of 3 regular carrots.
Give it a taste and this is where you will add more salt, if needed. Don't go crazy and add a lot in the beginning. Just a little, stir in, then retaste in 5 to 10min. Whenever you add salt you don't taste it as soon as you have added it. You need to wait at least 5min so the salt can break down and absorb in the food. If you taste right after adding, you may add more cause you think it needs it. Then when you taste it later, it may be too salty.
Anywho, after you add the taters and carrots let it cook another 35-45min so the taters are fork tender, but not mushy!

And there you have it Beef Stew. Time to Eat!