This hearty beef stew is a delicious, nutritious, one-pot meal. It’s comfort in a bowl that will warm you from the inside-out. Serve with crusty bread, over egg noodles, polenta or rice. YUM!
Don’t let the length of the directions scare you, we just give you a lot of detail so you are sure you’re doing it right. It’s really as simple as searing the meat, sautéing the vegetables, putting it all together and simmering for hours.
Ingredients
- 3-4 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1 inch cubes
- 1-3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour plus 1 tablespoon
- 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 medium onions, large diced
- 3 carrots, cut into chunks
- 1 ½ pounds red bliss potatoes, cubed
- 3 celery stalks, cut in ½ in lengths
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 clove garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire, divided
- 1 cup red wine or amber beer, plus extra to finish
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme or 2 teaspoons dried
- 3 cups chicken stock
- 1 cup frozen peas
Directions
Mise en place
Chop onions, celery and carrots hours or a day in advance. Cube the potatoes and put in cold water. This too can be done a day in advance.
Begin to heat an empty large Dutch oven or soup pot on low.
Put flour and salt mixture into gallon-sized, zippered bag. Add beef to the bag, shake in bag to coat.
Add 1 tablespoons olive oil to the Dutch oven or soup pot and heat until a drop of water sizzles.
Over medium heat sauté batches of coated beef, in a single layer, do not crowd or it will steam, not brown. Let the cubes of beef cook undisturbed for 4-5 minutes, until the undersides develop a dark brown crust and come away easily from the pan. Toss and continue searing on all sides, another 4-5 minutes. Transfer the seared meat to a bowl and continue searing the remaining meat in batches. Add another teaspoon or two of oil between batches if the pan looks dry. A fond (caramelized drippings from the meat ) will form on the bottom of the pan, if it begins to smoke and burn while your browning the meat, deglaze the pan with a little wine or water and pour it on the seared beef in the bowl.
Once all the meat has been seared and transferred out of the pan, reduce the heat to medium and warm another teaspoon of oil.
Add the onions and celery, and cook until the onions are softened and translucent, 8-10 minutes. Add 1 Tablespoon flour and the garlic, cook until fragrant, 30 seconds. Stir in the tomato paste, salt, and one tablespoon of the Worcestershire sauce.
Raise the heat back up to medium-high and pour in the wine to deglaze the pan. The wine should immediately start bubbling and steaming. Scrape the sticky fond from the bottom of the pan; the wine will help it to dissolve. Continue scraping and stirring until the wine has reduced and thickened slightly.
Return the seared meat to the pan and add the whole thyme sprigs, the bay leaf, and the broth. Stir to combine. Bring the broth to a simmer, reduce the heat to low. Simmer uncovered for 1 1/2 hours. Stir occasionally. Make sure the stew stays at a very low simmer.
Add the potatoes and carrots to the stew. Cover the pot and continue cooking for 2 hours on a high simmer or 8-10 hours on a very low simmer.
Stir the frozen peas into the stew just before serving. Add the remaining tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce and a splash of red wine. Remove the thyme stems. Taste and add extra salt, pepper, or other seasonings as you see fit. The stew can be served right away, refrigerated for up to a week, or frozen for up to three months.