beef stew

Sunday's are great for stews and soups. Especially if you have some time to yourself due to some sports game being on somewhere. Don't make this if you don't have a good 3+ hours to spend at home. if you do, you're in luck because it's quite good.

The recipe is adapted from The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook, the test kitchen of Cook Illustrated Magazine. They also have a show on public access. It's a good one! Its full of really useful tips on everything from brands of chocolate to best non-stick pans. The book is amazing and I can't think of anything I have made from it that hasn't been delightful. So kids, let's get to it!

Beef Stew
serves 6-8
prep time 30 minutes
total time: 3 hours (includes 2 hours of simmering time)

Serve with crusty break or mashed potatoes. Since the flavor of beef stew improves with time, plan on making it a aday or 2 before serving

1 1/2 lbs beef chuck roast (trimmed and cut into 1 1/2 in cubes)
1 1/2 lbs beef round roast (same as above)
*the original recipe calls for 3 lbs beef chuck roast only, but I'm was too lazy to go to whole foods so I'm used whatever I could find in my dumb gristedes
3 tbsp vegetable oil
2 onions, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp tomato paste
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 cup dry red wine (I used a homemade zinfindel)
2 cups low-solium chicken broth
1 tsp dried thyme (you could sub for 1 tbsp minced fresh)
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 plbs red potatoes (5-6 medium) scrubbed and cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks (skins on!)
4 carrots, peeled and sliced thin
1 cup frozen peas (NOT CANNED PEOPLE!)

1. Preheat the oven to 300°F with the rack in the lower-middle position. Dry the meat with paper towels throughly, then season with kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a large dutch over over medium-high heat until just smoking. Brown half the meat, about 10 minutes (mine only took about 8 minutes) then transfer to a plate. Return the pot to medium-high head and repeat with 1 more tbsp of oil and the remaining beef.

2. add the remaning tbsp oil and return the Dutch oven to medium heat. Add the onions and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, and garlic, cook for 30 seconds. Add the flour and cook for 1 minute. Things will really start to thicken up now! Slowly stir in the wine, scraping up any brown bits on the bottom and sides. Stir in the broth, thyme, bay leaves cooked beef and any accumulated juices. Bring to a simmer, cover and transfer the pot to the oven. Cook for 1 hour.

go knock out a few things on your DVR.

3. 10 minutes before the hour is up, prep the carrots and potatoes.

Stir in the potatoes and carrots. Cover and continue to cook in the oven until the beef is tender, about 1 hour.

4. remove the pot from the oven and remove the bay leaves. Stir in the peas and let stand off the head for 5 minutes. season wth salt and pepper to taste before serving. I suggest a healthy few cracks of freshly-ground black pepper

TATKFC gives some tips for cooking ahead: This stew can be prepared through stop 3, cooled. covered, and refrigerated for up to 3 days or fozen for up to 1 month. Reheat over low heat, adding additional water or broth to adjust the consistency, before proceeding with step 4.


FYI, This tasted AMAZING 3 days later.