Beef Stew for Halloween Eve

The last three times I made a slow cooked meat dish I bought the meat at the local supermarkets (Safeway & Lucky).  I bought chuck roasts for cutting up into chunks for beef stew and chili con carne. Each time the meat came out tough and without a lot of good beef flavor. I belive they were selling beef round as chuck in both cases. Either way they always do a poor job of specificaly labeling the cuts of meat.

So today I decided to buy my meat from Guerra Quality Meats, a local butcher shop that I have driven by many times. I had heard good things about the shop; great quality; and bad things, a little pricey and service seems to be better for the regular customers than the walk-ins. Well the service was excellent and yes the stew meat was a little more expensive, but I was saved the trouble of cutting up a chuck roast myself and the meat was delicious., so it was well worth the extra dollars.

The shop was very busy at 4 PM on a Saturday, but the service was fast and friendly and it was the first time I ever saw butcher in suit and tie serving customers. I can tell you that Guerra Quality meats has a new regular customer.


I bought the meat to make some of Mom's Old-fashioned Irish Stew. I'll print the recipe below. i was running a liitle behind schedule so I substited some petit potatoes for the red potatoes. In a new twist, because my dinner guests demanded it, I served the stew over a bed of egg noodles. I also added one cup of red wine to replace a cup of chicken broth. It added a nice full body flavor to the stew with a hint of pepper.

It felt like Halloween with a big pot (cauldron) bubbling away on the stove for three hours. The stew came out flavorful and the meat was fork tender. Here's a quick video clip. I am considering experimenting with other videos in the future.

Here is the recipe if you want to try it.

Mom’s Old Time Beef Stew

Ingredients

Approximately 2 lbs. of stew meat cut into 1” to 11/2” pieces. – I recommend buying stew meat from a butcher. If you shop at a supermarket buy a chuck roast and cut up it yourself. If you buy pre-packaged stew meat from the market make sure it is chuck and not round.

4 cups beef or chicken broth ( I prefer Swanson low-sodium organic chicken broth)

(You can substitue one cup of broth for a cup of red wine or beer. If using wine see change in red)

1 large onion – chopped

1 clove garlic minced

½ can of tomato paste

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon Worstershire Sauce

½ teaspoon paprika

½ teaspoon pepper

2 bay leaves

pinch of Allspice

3 springs of Thyme tied in a small bundle

1 pound baby carrots cut in half (or 6 whole carrots cut in 1” pieces)

1 ½ pounds petite red potatoes cut in quarters (or 6 medium potatoes peeled and cut in to 1” pieces)

½ bag of frozen pearl onions

3 tablespoons of oil

¼ cup water

½ teaspoon plain gelatin

Kosher salt

Fresh ground pepper

• lay stew meat out on tray lined with paper towels. Season with kosher salt and put in the refrigerator for an hour. Assemble all your other ingredient
• Put 2 tablespoons of oil in dutch oven and heat over medium high heat.
• Take meat out and pat dry all over with paper towels. Season with fresh ground pepper. When oil is shimmering add 1/3 to ½ of the meat to the dutch oven and brown on all sides. About 12 minutes. When the meat is browned remove it to a plate and add the next batch of meat. Do not over crowd the pot. Repeat till all the meat is well browned. If grease splatters lower heat slightly, but keep hot enough so meat browns and forms a nice dark crust.

• After all the meat is browned and removed from the pot pour off any grease at the bottom into a small bowl. Do not scrape out the bottom with a spatula. Add another tablespoon of oil to the hot pot and let it heat up for a minute or two. Then add the chopped onion and sprinkle with a dash of kosher salt.
• Allow the onion to cook until nicely caramelized and reduced, about 10 to 12 minutes.
• Make room in the center of the pot and add the clove of minced garlic. Allow garlic to cook for about 30 seconds until it turns the color of straw and then stir in to the onions.
• Add tomato paste and stir into onions and cook for about two minutes
• Stir in lemon juice, sugar, worstershire sauce, paprika, pepper and allspice. Allow spices to bloom for about 30 seconds. Add in a teaspoon of kosher salt.
• If using wine, add 1 cup now. Use wooden spoon to scrape fond off bottom of pot (de-glaze) simmer and reduce wine by half
• Add chicken broth (and beer if using) and stir using wooden spoon to scrape up all the brown bits (fond) on the bottom of the pot.(skip this de-glazing if you used wine in previous step)
• Bring to boil. Add a dash of kosher salt.
• Add browned meat. Include any juices that have collected on plate
• Skim off fat from the small bowl of liquid collected after browning the meat and add remaining liquid to the pot.
• Stir and bring to boil. Then reduce to simmer. Add bay leaves and thyme bundle. Add a dash of kosher salt. Cover and allow to simmer for 2 hours, stirring every 15-20 minutes
• During simmer time wash and cut your potatoes and carrots
• After 2 hours remove bay leaves and thyme bundle. Add potatoes, carrots and frozen pearl onions and a dash of kosher salt. Bring to boil and reduce to simmer. Simmer for 1 hour until potatoes can be easily pierced with a fork. For a thinner stew simmer with the cover on for the full hour. For a thicker stew simmer with cover off for last 30 minutes.
• Sprinkle ½ teaspoon of unflavored gelatin into ¼ cup of water and let sit for 5 minutes. Add water gelatin mixture to stew and stir. Simmer 5 more minutes. Salt and pepper to taste and serve.