Beef Stew for Steve and Robbin

     It's taking me a moment to go back to beef stew as I have been cooking so often lately that it is all becoming mush in my mind.  Ah!  Got it!  Okay, onto beef stew!
     Robbin and Steve Maloney are two friends of Scott (and now mine) who were nice enough to not only let us stay in their house from 12/26 to 1/5 but cooked for us, took us on a spontaneous trip to Maine and drove us to the airport way too early in the morning!  So, I wanted to thank them by cooking a meal.  Asking Robbin what she would like, I found that she had some foods that she couldn't/didn't want to eat (e.g., onions, spicy stuff, leafy greens [other than salad], cheese, etc.).  Looking over my recipe notebook, I didn't see anything that didn't have either onions or cheese.  Scott and I originally thought of making her American Chop Suey but when I found out she liked New England boiled dinners, I thought beef stew would maybe do the trick.  When I introduced the idea to her, she very definitely endorsed it.  Beef stew it was, then.
     I used to make beef stew back when I was just beginning to learn to cook (around 2004 or so).  It was out of (guess what?) my favorite and then brand new cookbook, How to cook everything by Mark Bittman.  I didn't have the cookbook with me in New England, but I did have the app on my iPod (amazing!), so I cooked out of that.  I also just discovered yesterday that I can actually e-mail the recipe from the app to someone!  So exciting!  No more hunting for the recipe on the internet or laboriously typing it all by hand.  Anyways, it had been years since I made it (and I remembered it being a bit of a pain), but I was enthusiastic to try again.  So, here you go:

Beef Stew
By Mark Bittman
From the How to Cook Everything^® app

Introduction:
Braised beef—which is what beef stew is—can be spiced in many different ways; I offer several versions here, but you can also make a chililike beef stew (add the seasonings from the recipe for Chili non Carne) or a beef curry (add the seasonings from Lamb Curry). The substitutions are easy and work perfectly. You can skip the initial browning if you're pressed for time, or you can use the oven: Heat the oven to 500°F and roast the meat in a large roasting pan with 1 tablespoon of the oil and the garlic clove, shaking the pan to turn the cubes once or twice, until brown all over. Other cuts and meats you can use: cubed beef brisket, pork shoulder or fresh ham (pork leg), leg of lamb or lamb shoulder.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons neutral oil, like grapeseed or corn, or extra virgin olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, lightly crushed, plus 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 2 to 2½ pounds boneless beef chuck or round, trimmed of surface fat and cut into 1‐ to 1½‐inch cubes
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 large or 3 medium onions, cut into eighths
• 3 tablespoons all‐purpose flour
• 3 cups chicken, beef, or vegetable stock (to make your own, see Quickest Chicken Stock; Beef, Veal, Lamb, or Pork Stock; or Vegetable Stock), water , wine , or a combination, or more as needed
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves or ½ teaspoon dried thyme
• 4 medium to large waxy or all‐purpose potatoes, peeled and cut into 1‐inch chunks
• 4 large carrots, cut into 1‐inch chunks
• 1 cup fresh or thawed frozen peas
• Chopped fresh parsley leaves for garnish

Steps:

1. Heat a large pot with a lid or a Dutch oven over medium‐high heat for 2 or 3 minutes; add the oil and the crushed garlic clove; cook, stirring, for 1 minute, then remove and discard the garlic. Add the meat to the skillet a few pieces at a time, turning to brown well on all sides, about 10 minutes total. Do not crowd or the cubes will not brown properly; cook in batches if necessary. Sprinkle the meat with salt and pepper as it cooks.
2. When the meat is brown, remove it with a slotted spoon. Pour or spoon off most of the fat and turn the heat down to medium. Add the onions. Cook, stirring, until softened, about 10 minutes. Add the flour and cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes. Add the stock, bay leaf, thyme, and meat and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to low and cover. Cook, undisturbed, for 30 minutes.
3. Uncover the pot; the mixture should be wet (if not, add a little more liquid). Add the potatoes and carrots, turn the heat up for a minute or so to bring the liquid back to a boil, then lower the heat and cover again. Cook for 30 to 60 minutes, until the meat and vegetables are tender. Taste and adjust the seasoning. (At this point, you may remove the meat and vegetables with a slotted spoon and refrigerate them and the stock separately. Skim the fat from the stock before combining it with the meat and vegetables, reheating, and proceeding with the recipe from this point.)
4. Add the minced garlic and the peas; if you're pleased with the stew's consistency, continue to cook, covered, over low heat. If it's too soupy, remove the cover and raise the heat to high. In either case, cook for an additional 5 minutes or so, until the peas have heated through and the garlic has flavored the stew. Garnish with parsley and serve.
   

Courtesy of John Wiley & Sons. Copyright © Double B Publishing Inc. All rights reserved.

     So, it is a bit of a pain in the butt (mostly cutting the beef stew bits down), but it is well worth it!  The beef came out tender, the broth was amazing, the potatoes were soft and everyone loved it!  I served it with french bread rolls (are you sensing a pattern here?) and enjoyed the sounds of "mmmmmm" and silence for the first five minutes or so as everyone (including me) enjoyed their stew.  The perfect thing to have in New England in the winter time!

Homemade beef stew

With french bread rolls

From left to right: Scott, Robbin and Steve