Want to make Beef Stew,,,,,Help

S

Sliverfox

Well-known Member
Location
Northwest PA. Fifty miles south of Lake Erie.
Seems I can't make a tasty beef stew,,,need recipes or help.

Bought some stew meat today,
Thought about starting it tonight.

Do you sear the meat first?
What type of veggies do you use?

Bought celery , baby carrots,,have potatoes.
Chopped onion in the freezer.
 

I use my instant pot. I sear the meat in olive oil. Then add potatoes, carrots, celery, and beef broth. I can’t use onions. Spice I use is basil. I don’t salt until serving.

Cook for one hour under pressure to make sure the meat is really tender. And I love to use the celery tops chopped up. That’s my favorite part. You can add mushrooms too if you like.

I don’t use a lot of processed ingredients or seasoning when I cook.
 

A friend made a good stew - her secret was one of those prepackaged dry mixes.

I sear the beef first. Same vegetables as you. Bovril for some flavour. It’s been a long time since I made it so I forget what spices I used. Done in slow cooker.
 
I choose to sear stew meat first.
I sometimes also lightly flour the meat as well... lightly seasoned flour mix.

Your veggies sound right, according to my tastes, but I'm not a fan of frozen onions as they seem to lose flavor.
Also, not a big fan of "baby" carrots because they seldom are actually "baby"/young... just whittled down by mechanical means for optics. IDK?
 
I make my in the crockpot or I slow cook it in the oven; covered. I found no difference if I browned the stew meat or not. I use a good beef broth for the liquid. For veggies, I use carrots, celery, red potatoes, and onion. If you can find pearl onions, those are nice. Seasonings are salt, pepper, chopped garlic, fresh thyme, and a tad of brown sugar, and a bay leaf. I thicken it a little with a little Minute Tapioca (Made by Kraft in a red 8 ounce box). I serve it with some homemade buttermilk biscuits. We like it!
 
Salt and pepper the stew meat; take a cast iron dutch oven, put a little olive oil in it on top of the stove, heat the oil til it just begins to act like it will smoke; toss in some of the stew meat and sear it quickly. Don't put in too much of the meat or it will steam rather than sear.

When each batch of meat is deeply browned on all sides, take each batch out and place it on a paper towel on a large plate and drain. When all the meat is done and out of the dutch oven, chopped up a large onion and cook and stir (braze) that onion until it is just barely under "burnt", crispy, rather clear in color.

Then add some salt and pepper to the onion; then add 2 cups (or more) of large chunks chopped celery, cook a bit l longer, til the celery is just a bit soft.

Then pour in a 1/4 cup of good red wine, in the dutch oven on top of the onion and celery reduce that down to about 50-70%. Put the meat back in.

Take a cup of cold water or pint of darker beer in a measuring cup, add a heaping teaspoon of flour OR corn starch, whisk it in until smooth, then pour that in the dutch oven over the onions and celery. Add a teaspoon of liquid smoke, stir; add 1 tsp of chopped garlic or 1/2 tsp powdered garlic, stir. Turn off the heat. Then place the lid on the dutch oven. Put it in the oven and cook in the oven at 225-250 degrees F for 2-3 hours.

Meanwhile: take 4-6 large carrots, 3-6 med potatoes, cut them up in large bitesize chunks, (and) any other veggies you might want - like turnip chunks.

Steam or parboil those until just barely soft. Set aside.

In last 45 minutes of cooking the meat in the oven in the dutch oven, take the veggies and put them IN the dutch oven with the meat, in the oven, give it a stir and a taste, adjust whatever seasonings you want to add, then put the lid back on and continue to cook the entire thing for the other hour in the oven, slowly.

(If it liquid isn't thick enough when it is done, add in a bit more corn starch to thicken it, but have never had to do that...)

Sometimes I find a good packet of stew seasoning OR a brown or onion gravy packet mix works as a good base seasoning, but those usually have far too much salt, so I wing it with my own spices/flavors until it tastes right; Worcestershire sauce is another addition that is good for flavor too. The searing, the wine, the cooking low and slow in a cast iron cutch oven are the the most important IMHO.

Make fresh biscuits...too.

I have done the celery both ways, my DH likes it when I don't sear the celery with the onion, but parboil or steam the celery and add when I add the veggies the last hour; leaves the celery more firm.
 
Hon buys blade steak cut...sears in the frying pan to seal in the juices. Into the crock pot with a can of Mott's or V8 for 5-6 hours. Add a can of frozen veggies for the last half hour of heating.
 
I use extra virgin olive oil and cube the beef. I put some flour in a bowl then add salt and pepper, paprika basil and a pinch of garlic powder. I flour the meat in this mixture coating each piece well. I place the olive oil in a large deep pan and saute a chopped shallot, a few fresh mushrooms and a couple of stalks of celery until tender. I add the meat to this and let it brown.Then I add a chopped sweet potato, a 2 carrots sliced in thin rounds and a large red potato. (Yellow works too.) Then add some water and beef boullion. Cover and simmer stirring occasionally until done. It's really delicious. I love my beef stew.
 
I usually cook the beef and chopped onions for about 5 minutes before adding the vegetables and stock, salt and pepper (I use sea salt and black pepper), When it starts to boil, turn the heat down and simmer for a couple of hours (or in a slow cooker). Beef is usually best cooked slow on a low heat.

As well as the vegetables you mention, you can add peas, red lentils and/or garlic. Tomato paste and Worcestershire sauce make the stock a little richer. I usually add a bay leaf and some thyme.
 
Pat your meat dry. Yes, every piece. If you have cornstarch dust the meat with a bit. I use some bacon drippings and oil if I have it. Otherwise oil is fine. No need to waste best quality. Brown small batches. Be patient! If you have a rock pot transfer otherwise in a bowl. Again be patient. You may have to add oil to sautee roughly chopped onions until they are clear. Add a tiny bit of tomatoes paste if you have it. Add other vegetables. Degrade with red wine or broth. Water if nothing else is around. Close the lid. Take a sip of wine and again be patient. Spices - salt and pepper. In my house paprika, some heat, bay leaf, garlic, bayberries.
The main ingredient is well seared meat, not too much added liquid and time. It freezes really well and does not mind to be in the fridge overnight.
 
Dave03 said:
I'm sorry, but I cannot help you at all with this.

I will tell you, though, my wife has been making beef stew since forever, and she bought this thing last year called Insta-Pot (not sure about the spelling), and she swears by it. Says it's made her life so much easier.
Click to expand...
We have an insta-pot also. They DO work great.
 
Start out with chicken leggs, slightly roast them and your vegetables with a bit of olive oil, add some garlic and a bit of salt. Cold water! Low heat if you use a pot with lid on the stove top. Medium heat in crock pot.
What starch do you want to use?
Let your soup cool down, fish out the chicken, debone, cut into spoon size pieces and check for bones/s!in in the pot. I like wearing medical gloves.
Some really like Insta pots. I rehomed mine.
 
My recipe depends on what I've got in at the time. I don't use stewing beef -- I go for beef with a bit of quality, pre-diced or stripped beef. I don't feel I need to sear as I'm already adding a lot of flavour.

Carrots & potatoes of course. Sometimes half a bottle of red wine or a large can of Guinness. Which I put in a pan and slowly raise the temperature to evaporate the alcohol and to reduce it down slightly.

I might use a packet of Schwartz or Knorr beef stock. Sometimes beef OXO cubes. I might even add soy sauce. I've also been known to put a small amount of pearl barley in it. Sometimes onions, including drained whole baby pearl silverskin pickled onions. Thyme & or rosemary.

It all goes into a Tefal slow cooker for at least 8 hours. After cooking, I put much of it into tubs and into the freezer.

It's a stew, experiment a bit. It's often a spontaneous thing for me.
 

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