The Best Beef Stew Recipes

Steps:

• In a small bowl, toss beef and 1/4 teaspoon salt. In a large bowl, combine 4 tablespoons flour and paprika. Add beef, a few pieces at a time, and toss to coat. , In a Dutch oven, brown beef in oil over medium heat. Stir in tomato paste, herbes de Provence and garlic; cook until fragrant and color starts to darken slightly. Add wine; cook until mixture just comes to a boil. Simmer until reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Stir in broth, 1 teaspoon rosemary and bay leaves. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer until meat is almost tender, about 1-1/2 hours., Add potatoes, onions and carrots. Cover; simmer until meat and vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes longer., Discard bay leaves. In a small bowl, combine remaining 1/2 teaspoon rosemary, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and remaining 2 tablespoon flour. Add cold water and vinegar; stir until smooth. Stir into stew. Bring to a boil; add peas. Cook, stirring, until thickened, about 2 minutes. If desired, top with additional fresh rosemary.

Steps:

• Put flour, salt and pepper in a large ziploc bag.
• Heat oil over medium heat in a large dutch oven.
• Place meat in bag with the flour and shake until well coated.
• Shake off meat pieces and add them to the oil and stir until slightly browned, Add remaining flour from the bag and the finely chopped onion.
• Stir until well browned.
• Add finely chopped carrot and next 4 ingredients.
• Cover and cook over low heat for 1 1/2 hours (stirring every 15 minutes).
• Add diced potatoes, carrots, and onions, cook for another 45 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

Steps:

• Heat oil and brown meat well.
• Add garlic and saute lightly and then add wine, beer, broth, tomato paste, sugar, thyme, bay leaves and Worcestershire sauce.
• Bring to a boil. At this step you have a choice. You can dump the contents in a crock-pot to slow-cook for about 5-6 hours before you add the veggies, or you can reduce the heat and simmer for about an hour stirring occasionally -(I've even done this step in a pressure cooker). Either way, this brings us to the next step.
• Melt butter and add onion, potatoes and carrots. Saute until golden. ** If using russet potatoes see my tip at the bottom and then proceed with the sauteing.** If using any additional veggies, you can add this to the saute mix as well.
• Add sauteed veggies to the stew and let slow-cook for another two hours or so, or if cooking this stove-top let simmer for about another 40 minutes.
• Taste for salt and pepper and garnish with the green herbs.
• **Thickening: If you like a thicker pot liquor, then there are a few ways to do this. You can make a flour and butter roux and add it to the stew. Now a roux-thickened liquid must boil to become thick, so if using a crock pot you'll have to remove liquid out of the crock and boil it with the roux to make a thick gravy and then add that back to the crock pot. Another method is to mix some cornstarch in a 1:2 cornstarch to liquid ratio. You could use the pot liquor for the liquid but you would want to cool it off a bit to avoid lumps. Then boil it all before adding it back to the stew. If you're cooking this stove-top you can just add the cornstarch slurry to the pot and then simmer the whole thing. Two other thickening tricks are to add a bit of oatmeal or tapioca to the mix. Oatmeal does add it's own flavor and texture if you've got thick cut oats, the quick-cook oats will completely dissolve. Instant tapioca pearls dissolve away and about 1.5 tablespoons should do it.
• **Tip for Russet Potatoes**.
• 1/3 c water.
• 1 T. sea salt.
• Peel and chop potatoes. Dissolve the salt in the water and pour over the potatoes in a microwave-safe dish. Microwave, covered, on high for six minutes. This is not intended to cook the potatoes, but they are now ready to use in your recipe. This process really changes the texture and flavor of the potatoes from same-old, same-old into WOW!

Steps:

• Arrange a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 275 degrees F. Tie the parsley, thyme, rosemary and bay leaves together with kitchen twine.
• Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven or other heavy pot over medium-high heat. Working in batches, cook the beef in a single layer spaced about an inch apart, turning a few times, until the pieces are browned on at least three sides, 8 to 10 minutes per batch. As the beef finishes browning, transfer to a large plate.
• Reduce the heat to medium. Add the onion and garlic to the pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are tender and beginning to brown, about 6 minutes. Add the carrots and celery and continue to cook until they are brightly colored and fragrant, about 4 minutes. Stir in the wine, scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the pot, and cook until it evaporates, about 4 minutes. Sprinkle the vegetables with the flour, stir to evenly coat them and cook for 1 minute. Add the broth, potatoes, tomatoes and the reserved beef with any accumulated juices. Season with 3 tablespoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Add the herb bundle and bring the stew to a simmer.
• Cover the pot and then transfer to the oven. Bake until the beef is tender but still holds its shape, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Let the stew cool for 30 minutes before serving. Discard the herb bundle and serve topped with chopped parsley.

Steps:

• Add oil to an oven proof casserole or metal stewing pot and heat until it is smoking. If you want to use a slow cooker then just do all the steps in a large pan and transfer to the slow cooker when the strew is simmering. It is good economy to buy a whole role of brisket from your butcher. When you are about to start cooking, rince it under the tap to remove that 'sweat' that it generates in the fridge.
• Preheat the oven to 160C. Sear the beef in batches on all sides to get brown caramalisation of the meet. Remove from the pan and set to one side. Add the onions to the pan and cook down, stirring all the time. When done stir in the flour and mix. Add the water, stock cubes, red wine and tomato purée. Mix and make sure everything is dissolved. Return the beef to the mix and throw in the carrots and mushrooms. To give it some extra flavour richness, add 2 tbs Worcestershire Sauce.
• Transfer the cooking pot with the lid on to the oven for 1 hour 40 minutes with the lid on, or in the slow cooker on high for 1 hour then 5-6 hours on low (or just 6-7 hours on auto).
• crank the oven up to 200C. Throw the bread into a food processor and blitz! Throw in the baking powder, salt and herbs. Throw in the butter and blitz again until the butter disappears. Add the eggs and blitz again until a wet sticky dough is formed. You can of course do this by hand using a grater for the bread and mixing with a spoon. Open the stew pot and take small pieces of dough and form into dumplings (around the size of a small orange). Add to the stew and close the lid. Put the stew in the pre-heated oven for 20 minutes. If using a slow cooker, add when the cooker goes down to the 'low' setting.
• Serve ladled into a bowl with some fresh chopped parselly spinkled on top. Goes great with a glass of robust red wine or English Pale Ale.