Beef Stew

285 degree oven

Braise beef chunks for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Add in potatoes and cook for 10 minutes. Add in carrots and cook for 15 minutes. Add in celery and onions and cook for 20 minutes.

Variations:

Ancho Mole Beef stew: use 1 Tbsp ancho chili powder, 1 tsp dried oregano, 1 tsp ground cumin, 2 Tbsp mole paste to season beef. No celery, add 1 (14oz) can of diced tomatoes and 1 (15oz) can of hominy.

Vietnamense Beef stew

Beef Bourguignon: 1, 2
1/4 lb (4oz) or 4 slices of bacon, diced
1 lb frozen pearl onions
1 lb fresh shiitake, cremini, or button mushrooms, sliced
1 bottle Pinot Noir (we used a $10 bottle)
1/2 C brandy or cognac
2 Tbdp tomato paste
1 C chicken stock
2 C diced shallots (can use onions instead)
1 lb beef chuck, cut into 1" cubes (ask the butcher to slice into cubes)
1 lb potatoes
1 lb carrots
1 lb celery

1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F
2. In a dutch oven over medium heat, cook the bacon in water until crispy then remove and reserve
3. In butter, brown the mushrooms for 10 minutes then remove and reserve
4. Dry the beef cubes with paper towels then season with salt and pepper. Toss with 2-3 Tbsp of flour.
5. Over medium high heat, brown the beef. Remove and reserve, Deglaze with some wine
6. Brown the shallots, 1/4 of the carrots, and 1/4 of the celery. Cook for 2-3 minutes then add the garlic and 2 Tbsp tomato paste. Cook another 2-3 minutes.
7. Add in the 1/2 C brandy and boil down by half or 1/2 C cognac and ignite with match off the heat.
8. Add back the beef, 1 bottle of wine, and enough stock to almost cover the beef. Bring to a simmer and place in the oven uncovered for 1 hour 15 min or until meat is very tender when pierced with a fork.
9. After about 1 hour, add in the potatoes and the rest of the carrots for the last 30 min. 10 min later, add in the rest of the celery.
10. Strain all solids from the stew and boil down the sauce until reduced by about half?
11. Return all ingredients to the sauce. Add in the reserved mushrooms and frozen pearl onions and bring to simmer.

Notes: delicious! Used a $10 Pinor Noir bottle of wine. Only had like 1 Tbsp of VSOP brandy. Took a while, but was delicious. Take out the beef if it seems like it will overcook.