Proper beef stew, part two.

A few days ago I blogged about how I’d finally learned how to make a proper beef stew, and included a recipe.  The secret appears to be baking the covered pot in the oven rather than on the stovetop.

That recipe was a somewhat complicated French one.  Wednesday I tried a "classic American" beef stew using the same technique.   It was much simpler, based on "Beef Stew with Bacon" from Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything, but employing the daube technique instead of the stovetop simmer:

• 4 oz       portabella mushrooms
• 1            boneless beef chuck eye roast (I used plain chuck), 3.5 lb, in 2-inch   cubes
• 1.5 tsp       salt
• 1     tsp       ground black pepper
• 4 Tbsp      olive oil
• 4 oz           smoky, salty bacon, snipped into small pieces
• 5                large carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
• 2 med        onions, sliced
• 2 large      baking potatoes peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
• Some garlic — probably 4 cloves.  I don’t remember.
• 2 Tbsp      tomato paste
• 1/3 c          all purpose flour
• 2 c              red wine (I used a boxed Merlot — classic American, remember?)
• 1 qt            beef stock
• 1 c              frozen peas
• 1/4 c          minced fresh parsley

Heat oven to 325 F.  Heat bacon and olive oil over medium-high heat; cook until bacon is crisp.  Remove to paper towels.  Crush one garlic clove and cook in the hot fat for a minute, then remove and discard  the garlic. 

Season beef with salt and pepper.  Brown in batches in hot fat and set beef aside.   Brown the carrots, onions, mushrooms, the rest of the garlic minced, and tomato paste in the pot, 2 minutes.  Add flour and stir 1 minute.  Deglaze pan with red wine.  Add broth and beef and potatoes, and bring to a simmer.  Cover and place in oven for 2.5 to 3 hours.

Remove from oven.  Allow stew to settle, 5 min.  Skim excess fat off the top.  Stir in parsley, peas, and bacon and serve.

Comments:

I deliberately omitted the thyme and bay that Bittman called for in order to test something more like my grandmother might have made (except she probably wouldn’t have used so much garlic.  The depth of flavor was still remarkable.  The sauce was beautifully thick, again more so the second day (when we fed it to Hannah and the other Mark in an impromptu potluck.)

Were I to make this stew again:  I think I might have left the potatoes in larger chunks, as they had almost disintegrated at the end of the long cooking time.  I also would have added something green, maybe green beans, a vegetable that I think is very nice when long-stewed.  A little cabbage might have been good too:  The other Mark claimed that he desired to mix sauerkraut into it.  Maybe he was wanting something acidic?  Perhaps I should have kept the sour little capers, or added tomatoes at the end.

I also think I would add back the anchovies called for in the Cook’s Illustrated recipe.  They really add a lot of depth of flavor.  Alternatively I could have spiked the stew with Asian fish sauce (nam pla or nuoc mam). 

The next thing I want to try is making one that’s gluten-free.  Hannah suggests that potato starch might be the best flour substitute, as it thickens things in an appetizing way (unlike, say, arrowroot or tapioca, which turn stuff kind of mucilaginous) and also has decent browning characteristics.