Speedy Beef Stew

Tonight for dinner I made a lovely beef stew. In record time. Instead of stewing for hours, I used a high heat technique involving cooking the veggies separately. Aside from my mistake of steaming the veggies all together (the potatoes were slightly al dente), it worked out remarkably well. Next time I'll start the potatoes first, then add the rest. In fact, I don't know why I didn't just microwave the veggies to steam them instead of using a steam insert and the stove. It would have been faster and more even.

Anyhow, it turned out nicely. The meat was almost roasted tasting instead of stewed, which was nice. It was still moist and tender, too. I was surprised, since most of my other beef stew recipes have involved hours of simmering. This is definitely a new favorite for its speediness.

Yet again, I did not take a picture. Beef stew isn't the prettiest, although I suppose I could have taken a picture of the bowl I gave Rich to eat. It was nice and colorful. I will work on this food photo phobia. If I put even a little bit of effort into it, I can do it. I just have had a policy for a while, so I'll get over it.

So, this is a master recipe set which starts out with the basics: meat, basic aromatics, and then gives sets of herbs/spices and liquids you can use to achieve the 3 cups necessary to braise the meat. It also provides sets of suggested vegetable combinations to make the stew more southwest feeling or more Italian. I went with the classic flavor set here, with bay leaves and thyme as my herbs and a combination of red wine, water, and chicken broth for my liquids. My veggies were carrots, turnips, potatoes (Rich insisted), and peas. Other suggested options are below.

Speedy Beef Stew
adapted from Fine Cooking Magazine, Feb/Mar 2004

Serves 4-6
Prep time: 30 minutes
Total time: ~2 hours

Ingredients

Basics:
3 pounds boneless beef chuck (I used less, closer to 2 pounds)
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil or vegetable oil, more as needed
3 cups diced yellow onion (~2 medium)
6 large cloves of garlic, minced

Seasonings*:
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons dried thyme

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 cups stewing liquid (I used 1 cup red wine, 1 cup chicken broth, 1 cup water)
4 cups prepared vegetables (I used 2 carrots, 2 medium yukon gold potatoes, 2 medium turnips, and a handful of frozen peas from our garden last year)
3 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions:

Place a rack in the oven towards the lower half of the oven to accommodate a dutch oven. Preheat the oven to 450 degress

Pat the beef dry and cut into 1" cubes. Season generously with the kosher salt and pepper.

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a heavy-based Dutch oven over medium-high heat. When it just starts to smoke, put in about half the meat. Do not touch!!! Leave it there to sputter and brown for at least three to four minutes. It will not burn! It just needs to get really well caramelized. Turn once and brown another side. Remove to a bowl and repeat with the remaining beef, adding oil if necessary. Turn the heat down if the pan appears to really be burning. Browning is the goal and the pot will be pretty browned by the time the meat is all seared.

Reduce the heat to medium and add the onions and garlic. Add oil if the pot looks dry. Saute until softened, about 5 minutes.

Add the seasonings and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Season with salt and pepper.

Stir in the flour and then add all the liquid. Return the meat and any juices to the pot.

Get a square of heavy-duty aluminum. (If you don't have heavy-duty aluminum, which comes in extra-wide rolls, use double sheets of regular aluminum foil. You'll probably have to use them double-wide, too, to get enough width.) Using a potholder or a heavy towel, push the center of the foil down the pot and then press against the sides. You're essentially trying to push the foil down so that there is very little air above the surface of the liquid. Crimp the foil around the edge of the put and place the lid on the pot.

Turn the heat to medium-high. When you hear the pot bubbling, place the whole pot in the oven. Leave it alone for 90 minutes.

Meanwhile, take your vegetables and either steam or saute them until just tender. If using vegetables of different densities, saute/steam separately or add the lighter ones after the denser ones have gotten started. (The microwave may well be your friends for this part.)

When you take the pot out of the oven, add the cooked vegetables. Cover again with the foil and let it stand for fifteen minutes to let everything get happy and the meat to rest.

Take the foil off and check everything out. I like my stew a little soupy, so I added a little water to the pan to deglaze some of the pan drippings and reincorporate everything. Okay, okay, I confess. I actually put the stew in a separate pot and THEN deglazed the pot I used in the oven to make sure I was getting all the good stuff. I let it cook down a little and then added that liquid to the (new) stew pot.

Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. If you used bay leaves, remove them.

Add the freshly chopped parsley and serve.

If I had been slightly more motivated, I would have whipped up some polenta or grilled some bread to serve with the stew.

*There are some seasoning options. The options I'm likely to try in the near future are:
1. Southwestern: 1/4 cup chili powder, 2 teaspoons ground cumin, 1 teaspoon dried oregano with a can of diced tomatoes (use the liquid from the can) and add a cup of wine and then water to bring it up to 3 cups of liquid) and swash and bell peppers as the vegetables. Pinto beans are also recommended.
2. Hungarian: 1/4 cup sweet Hungarian paprika and 1.5 teaspoons crushed caraway seeds with red wine as the liquid (1 cup red wine, 2 cups water), with red bell peppers, mushrooms, and pearl onions
3. Italian: 2 bay leaves, 1 1/2 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary, with tomatoes and wine (see southwestern option above), and zucchini, eggplant, and white beans as the vegetables.