Impending winter storm – check.
Stocked up on supplies so I don’t have to go outside for 2 days – check.
Sunday plan for dinner – check.
I love a good beef stew. But I feel like I’ve been searching for a “good” beef stew my whole life.
I’ve tried versions in restaurants, recipes, prepackaged at the store, you name it!
It wasn’t until I found, made, and tried this version that I could honestly say, “Now that’s a good beef stew!”
Many of you know how much I love cookbooks…I read them like a book. Years ago, I fell in love with Ina Garten’s books, and many of my recipes are inspired by her approach to cooking. This recipe, Parker’s Beef Stew, is from her 2008 book Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics. Honestly, there are SO many recipes that I absolutely love in this book: Roasted Shrimp Cocktail, Roasted Potato Leek Soup, Cape Cod Chopped Salad, Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Warm Cider Vinaigrette, Roasted Tomato Caprese Salad, Easy Sole Meuniere, Indonesian Grilled Swordfish, Spring Green Risotto, Confetti Corn, and Parmesan-Roasted Broccoli. There’s also a handy cooking guide at the beginning of the Lunch chapter to help us all modernize our cooking temps to prevent ending up with dry, overcooked meat.
Here it is in all it’s glory…
Parker’s Beef Stew
Ingredients
- 2 ½ lbs good-quality chuck beef, cut into 1 ¼ inch cubes
- 1 750-ml bottle good red wine, such as Cabernet Sauvignon
- 3 whole garlic cloves, smashed
- 3 bay leaves
- 6 oz bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 2 c + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour, divided
- Kosher salt + freshly ground black pepper
- 2 c chopped yellow onion (2 onions)
- Good olive oil ( I use California Olive Ranch Global Blend)
- 2 tbsp minced garlic (6 cloves); use a garlic crusher if you have one
- 1 lb carrots, peeled and cut diagonally into 1 ½ -inch chunks
- 1 lb small potatoes, halved or quartered (I like baby red potatoes, no need to peel)
- 1 14.5 oz can beef stock
- 1 large branch fresh rosemary
- ½ c sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and chopped
- 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 10-oz package frozen peas (not petit pois)
Preparation
- Place the beef in a bowl with the red wine, smashed garlic, and bay leaves. Cover the bowl and marinate the beef in the refrigerator overnight.
- Brown the bacon in a large (12-inch) sauté pan for 5 to 7 minutes, over medium-low heat. With a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a Dutch oven. Combine 2 cups of the flour, 1 tbsp salt, and 1 tbsp pepper in a large bowl. Lift the beef out of the marinade and discard the bay leaves and garlic, saving the marinade.
- In batches, dredge the beef cubes in the flour mixture and then shake off the excess. In the same sauté pan, brown half the beef over medium heat for 5 to 7 minutes, turning to brown on all sides. Place the browned beef in the Dutch oven with the bacon and brown the remaining beef. Add the second batch to the Dutch oven. (You might need to do this in 3 batches, depending on the size of your sauté pan.)
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
- Lower the heat under the sauté pan to medium-low, add the onions, and cook for 5 minutes, adding olive oil if necessary. Add the minced/crushed garlic and cook for 1 minute more.
- Add the carrots and potatoes and cook for 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Place all the vegetables in the Dutch oven with the beef. Add 2 ½ cups of the reserved marinade (discard the rest) to the sauté pan and cook over high heat to deglaze the bottom of the pan, scraping up all the brown bits with a wooden spoon.
- Add the beef stock, rosemary, sun-dried tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, 2 tsp salt, and 2 tsp pepper.
- Pour the sauce over the meat and vegetables in the Dutch oven and bring it to a simmer over medium heat.
- Cover the pot and place it in the oven for 2 hours, until the meat and vegetables are all tender, stirring once during cooking. (I do this at the 1-hour mark.) If the stew is boiling rather than simmering, lower the heat to 275 degrees.
- When the stew is done and the meat is tender, discard the rosemary branch. Ladle 1 cup of the pan juices into a bowl and whisk in the remaining 2 tbsp of flour. Pour it back into the stew, stir gently, and simmer for 3 minutes, until thickened.
- Stir in the frozen peas, season to taste, and serve hot.
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