Beef Stew
RECIPE
▪5lb/2.5kg beef chuck
▪Olive oil
▪Salt
▪200g or about 2c pearl onions, peeled
▪400g or 3.4-4c carrots, cut into big chunky pieces
▪300g or 4.5-5c mushrooms, cut into large pieces
▪115g/1stick unsalted butter
▪125g or 3/4C + 3Tbsp AP flour (gluten free works well too)
▪1800g or 1.8L/qt good beef stock (OR see my flavorful beef stock dupe below) ▪450g/1pint dark stout beer (a flavorful GF beer works too)
▪500g/4c small golden potatoes, partially peeled and cut into very large chunks
▪2-3 bay leaves
▪2-3 sprigs of thyme
▪150g or 1 heaping cup frozen peas
▪fresh cracked black pepper
▪4 packets powdered gelatin
Preheat oven to 500F/260C.
Remove band of fat in the center of the pieces of chuck. Reference video @0:36.
Cut the rest of the meat into cubes. You should be left with about 3.5lb/1.5kg of meat.
Add meat cubes to a bowl and drizzle with generous amount of olive oil and 2 large pinches of salt. Toss to coat and spread beef onto a half sheet tray and load into 500F/260C oven to sear for about 20-25mins until well browned.
Preheat a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium high. Add a generous glug of olive oil followed by mushrooms, carrots, onions, and pinch of salt.
Sweat the veg to par-cook for 3-5mins until its beginning to soften and caramelize.
Transfer veg into a bowl and set aside.
Return pot to stove over medium heat and add stick/115g butter.
When butter is melted, add 100g or 3/4c of flour. Stir to cook, scraping up brown bits from bottom of the pot. Fry for 60-90 seconds until smooth and taking on color.
Add beef stock and beer. Bring to a simmer, stirring and scraping frequently.
Once simmering, add in beef.
Add a splash of water to the beef cooking tray, scraping up beef fond. Add into pot with beef. Stir to combine.
Load pot, uncovered, into 300F/150C oven and cook for 2 hours, stirring halfway through.
Add potatoes into the bowl with the par-cooked vegetables and mix with 25g/3Tbsp flour. Toss to combine. (NOTE: if your stew is relatively thick at this point, omit tossing the veg in the flour or add less flour here).
Remove stew pot from oven to carefully add potatoes/veggies into stew and gently stir. Add in bay and thyme.
Return stew pot to oven to cook for 1 more hour.
At this point, check the beef and potato for doneness. Beef should be tender and shreddable, but not shredded. Potato should be fork tender, but not mushy.
Ladle off excess fat from top of stew (or allow to cool slightly, refridgerate, then scrape off fat from top once cooled). Stir peas into hot stew.
Taste for seasoning and add salt if needed.
Ladle into bowl, top with fresh cracked black pepper, and serve with a piece of rustic sourdough bread.
BEEF STOCK DUPE / FLAVORFUL COOKING LIQUID
▪1800g or 2 boxes store bought beef stock
▪30g better than bouillon
▪30g tomato paste
▪30g worcestershire
▪28g/4 packets of powdered gelatin
Stir ingredients to combine and dissolve gelatin.
