Beef Stew

[pedi08]

I never cook the beef right in my stew. It's always tough and I am so craving a tender one! I use a dutch oven, I know many people use crock pots. Can anyone offer their beef stew recipes step by step. I usually put in herbs, garlic, potato, turnip, carrot, celery, onion. I am thinking about adding some collard, bok choy or kale this time for more calcium. I do use bone broth as well.

[redvlagrl]

NAK

Fry onion, garlic, celery, carrot in dutch oven in lard of CO or EVOO. Remove and add cubed beef, oxtail, etc. Bone in is best. If you eat flour then toss in seasoned flour first. Brown meat. Add your liquid - broth, tomatos (canned) or water if the meat has bones. Scrape yummy brown bits off bottom of pan to incorporate. Put veg back in and add more root veg - rutabaga is our fave. Chopped kale is good too. herbs, seasoning etc.

Leave dutch oven on low for 3-4 hours OR place in oven at 350 for same after stew has come to boil. You want a v gentle simmer. Boiling will make tough meat.

Liquid must just cover meat.

I think you are either not cooking long enough or you are boilling it.

[mbravebird]

I do mine in a dutch oven too.

Brown beef (taken off of bone in 1 inch chunks) in batches until all the beef has some nice brown sides to it. Set aside. Saute onions (about 2 medium) until beginning to soften and brown, add garlic (and a few TBS flour if using for thickener), cook for about a minute more, a bit longer if you are using flour. Add about a cup of red wine, scrape brown bits off the bottom, add at least 2-3 cups of broth, plus some dried thyme and a bay leaf or two. Bring to simmer, add meat back in (along with bones if you used bone-in meat), bring to bare simmer, keep at a bare simmer for an hour.

After an hour, add potatoes and carrots, or any other veggies you want to use. Add more broth if necessary to cover everything. Bring to a simmer, then keep at a bare simmer for another hour. Test meat for tenderness. Add parsley, peas, and salt and pepper, serve.

The most important thing is to keep at the low simmer. Don't boil it or vigourously simmer it for long amounts of time. If meat isn't tender after 2 hours, return to low simmer and test meat every 15 minutes or so. Remove as soon as it becomes tender.

ETA: Cover while simmering.

[sewchris2642]

I do a dutch oven (cast iron). I've tried a crock pot but it doesn't taste the same. Here's mine from my mom:

1 1/2-2 pounds of beef cut into cubes
1 onion, diced
4 cups boiling water (I use hot tap water; the water needs to be hot so it doesn't cool down the meat)
1 T salt
1 T lemon juice
1 t sugar
1 t Worcestershire sauce
1/2 t pepper
1/2 t paprika
2 bay leaves
1/8 t ground cloves

Brown the meat and onions in the dutch oven (I don't add any fat but you could if you want. I just use the fat in the beef and the cast iron is already seasoned anyway). Add remaining ingredients. Simmer 2 hours, covered.

Add vegetables. I use 6 potatoes and 6 carrots. I think that peas were in the original recipe but I don't remember mom ever adding them. Cook until vegetables are tender. All together, the recipe takes about 3 hours from start to finish. I think that flour was supposed to be added at the last to thicken up the broth but mom never did that either and it's not in the recipe she gave me. Besides the left over broth is great to use as broth in other recipes. I strain and freeze it after all the meat and vegetables are eaten.

[Magelet]

we do stew in the dutch oven in the oven. We keep it hot enough to keep bacteria at bay for days, topping off with water and more veggies (like potatoes) as we go. Last time, a chuck steak lasted about 4 days. It just gets richer and yummier and tender-er as we go.

[ursusarctos]

Magelet, interesting! That's like a medieval pottage. I didn't even think of doing that myself, but it sounds good!