Beef, Beer, and Onion Stew

This recipe appealed to me in my rainy season stupor in Seattle. Of course, by the time I made this recipe we began having sunny weather, but oh well. I wanted it, so we had it. There are a few problems with this dish. Basically, you need to be around for it (unless you’re okay leaving the oven on while you’re gone), and you have to smell it that whole time while being super hungry. Or maybe that’s only if you decide to workout before prepping dinner and then feeling really weak with hunger. Hopefully you will make better choices than I did for this.

 

One choice you should not change is to have mashed potatoes with it. They were awesome with the sauce! I added chives to the mashed potatoes and it worked well with the stew flavors. At first we were going to make roasted potatoes, but this was one of those times when having a double oven would have been super useful. There was room in our oven for another tray, but the temperature would not have worked.

 

I boil the potatoes, then use my potato ricer. Next, I add some seasoning and butter (or alternative). Next I stir in just a bit of milk.

Because I found this on Tracey’s blog, and she adapted it from Cook’s Illustrated, I am crediting both. I want to make this again and add carrots to it because I think they would go really well. I almost did, but I started to run out of room in my pot. I might use a bit less broth and a bit less beef to add in some carrots. If you try it that way, let me know how it turns out!

Directions for Beef, Beer, and Onion Stew

Slightly adapted from Tracey’s Culinary Adventures/Cook’s Illustrated

• About 3 pounds chuck roast cut into 1-inch (bite-sized pieces)
• 2 large onions, chopped (about 2 pounds)
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1 Tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1.5 cups beef broth
• 1.5 cups beer (coppery Belgian ale if you can get one; 12 ounces)
• 2-3 Tablespoons fresh thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 Tablespoon cider vinegar
• Salt and pepper
• Oil

 

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F, making sure there is enough room for your dutch oven (or equivalent oven-safe pot) with a lid. Pat the beef dry with paper towels, and sprinkle salt and pepper all over. Brown the meat in the pan with a bit of oil in batches.

I needed about 4-5 batches for all of the meat in my pot. Add more oil as necessary between batches. Set the beef aside.

Don’t cook the meat all the way.

Over medium heat in the same pot, saute the onions, sugar, and tomato paste.

Scrape up the bits on the bottom of the pan, then after about 10-15 minutes, when the onion has softened and slightly caramelized, add the garlic. After 30 seconds, add the flour, stirring constantly. Wait a couple minutes before adding the beef broth.

Make sure to continue to scrape the bottom and sides of the pot. Add the beer, beef (plus accumulated juices), and cider vinegar. For the thyme and bay leaves, you can put them in a spice pouch or tie with kitchen twine to easily remove later.

Add them at this time, too. Sprinkle in some salt and pepper, then raise the heat to medium high and bring the mixture to a simmer. Cover the pot most of the way with the lid, then place it in the oven.

Cook for about 2-2.5 hours until the beef is fork tender.

When you first take the pot out of the oven….

 

Remove the thyme/bay leaf package and add more pepper/salt as necessary.

Directions for Beef, Beer, and Onion Stew (without pictures)

Slightly adapted from Tracey’s Culinary Adventures/Cook’s Illustrated

• About 3 pounds chuck roast cut into 1-inch (bite-sized pieces)
• 2 large onions, chopped (about 2 pounds)
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1 Tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1.5 cups beef broth
• 1.5 cups beer (coppery Belgian ale if you can get one; 12 ounces)
• 2-3 Tablespoons fresh thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 Tablespoon cider vinegar
• Salt and pepper
• Oil

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F, making sure there is enough room for your dutch oven (or equivalent oven-safe pot) with a lid. Pat the beef dry with paper towels, and sprinkle salt and pepper all over. Brown the meat in the pan with a bit of oil in batches. I needed about 4-5 batches for all of the meat in my pot. Add more oil as necessary between batches. Set the beef aside.

Over medium heat in the same pot, saute the onions, sugar, and tomato paste. Scrape up the bits on the bottom of the pan, then after about 10-15 minutes, when the onion has softened and slightly caramelized, add the garlic. After 30 seconds, add the flour, stirring constantly. Wait a couple minutes before adding the beef broth. Make sure to continue to scrape the bottom and sides of the pot. Add the beer, beef (plus accumulated juices), and cider vinegar. For the thyme and bay leaves, you can put them in a spice pouch or tie with kitchen twine to easily remove later. Add them at this time, too. Sprinkle in some salt and pepper, then raise the heat to medium high and bring the mixture to a simmer. Cover the pot most of the way with the lid, then place it in the oven. Cook for about 2-2.5 hours until the beef is fork tender. Remove the thyme/bay leaf package and add more pepper/salt as necessary.