THE BEST BEEF STEW

Serves 4-6 people

Ingredients:

2 lbs stewing beef, 1” cubed

½ large onion, small dice

1 Tbsp garlic, minced

¼ Cup all purpose flour

2 Cups, beef stock, unsalted

1 Can – stout beer

2 – Bay Leaf

1 sprig – Thyme

1 sprig – Rosemary

½ Cup – diced tomatoes, canned

Garnish:

2 ribs celery, 1½” sticks

2 medium carrot, 1½” sticks

2 medium parsnip, 1½” sticks

1 medium turnip, 1½” sticks

Method:

Set oven to 275°F. Pat cubed meat dry with paper towel and season generously with salt and pepper. Heat large Dutch oven (that has a lid) over high heat and add 1 Tbsp oil. Sear meat in small batch size, browning all sides, and transferring seared meat to a large bowl. Deglaze pan with water or stock as necessary. Once all the meat has been seared and removed from heat, deglaze the pot with either more  water or stock. Turn heat to medium.

Add another tablespoon of oil to pot and sautee onions until softened, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook over for another minute. Season with salt and pepper. Turn heat to medium low. Add flour and stir until well combined and all the flour has been distributed evenly and moistened. Stir in tomato paste, cooking for another minute. Slowly add beef stock and beer. Stir until mixture just slowly starts to thicken. Season generously with salt and pepper.  Using butcher’s twine, tie together bay leaves, thyme, and rosemary (can alternately add to a tea bag) and add to liquid. Cover with lid and put into oven for about 2 hours, checking every 30 minutes to stir and check tenderness of meat.

While the stew is in the oven, bring a medium sized pot of salted water to boil. Cook the vegetable garnishes one at a time until desired doneness, shocking in ice cold water then draining. Set all cooked vegetables aside until stew is done. When meat is tender, remove stew from the oven, remove tied herbs, stir in the tomatoes and cooked veggies. Serve with creamy mashed or roasted potatoes.

Curated by Anna Borys for the December 2022 edition of Cattle Country.