Beef Stew
I can’t say enough about this beef stew from Alice Waters. This is a winter staple in my home because it’s simply delicious. A typical beef stew, in my experience, is thick with potatoes and peas. This is not that stew. This has savory, tender beef, time-mellowed garlic, sweet onions, carrots, and tomatoes, spiced cloveyness (new word), orange brightness. I’ve been making this stew for years, and I still find myself stealing tastes checking the quality while it simmers all afternoon. And, although this a generously sized stew, I’ve learned not to expect much in the way of leftovers.
I’d recommend using high quality beef stock, homemade if possible… but the honest truth is I’ve used both amazingly good stock and, in a pinch, so-so stock filled out with water and this always turns out amazing. The flavors here are solid, in part because Alice recommends you sear everything before you toss it in the pot. It’s a little extra work, but it makes a difference — instead of muddled flavors, you get depth and nuttiness from the browning. If you use a cast iron, you can deglaze (and sip) with some red wine, then just wipe it out and move on with your life, making this an almost-one-pot recipe.
I’m including the recipe as Alice designed it here, but I find that I skimp at the beginning and end of the recipe. Very rarely do I render the bacon or add raw garlic as a garnish. I’ve tried both, and they’re great - but sometimes I just don’t have bacon on hand and quite often I’m too impatient to chop garlic before digging into my bowl. One thing I am loyal to is the orange peel; it’s small but adds significant brightness to the dish.
Beef Stew
Time: 1 hour active, 2-3 hours simmering || Servings: 4 || Source: The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters
Beef chuck - 3 pounds, cut into 1.5 inch cubes
Olive oil - 2 tbsp
Bacon - 3 slices, cut into 1/2 inch pieces (optional)
Onions - 2, peeled and quartered
Cloves - 2, stuck into onion quarters
Carrots - 2, cut into 2 inch pieces
Thyme, savory, parsley - 2 sprigs each
Bay leaf - 1
Peppercorns - a few, 5ish
Red wine - 1 3/4 cup
Diced tomatoes - 3, fresh or canned
Garlic - 1 small head, peeled and roughly chopped, plus a couple more finely chopped
Parsley - 1 tbsp, chopped
The day before you plan to cook, salt the beef generously and refrigerate.
Pull out a cast iron or other heavy bottomed pan and place it over medium-high heat. Also pull out a dutch oven or braising dish and place nearby. You’ll be cooking ingredients in the cast iron and then transferring them to the dutch oven to braise into deliciousness.
Put olive oil into the cast iron. When it shimmers but isn’t smoking, add bacon, if using, and cook until the fat has rendered and it’s lightly brown but isn’t crispy. Remove from cast iron and place in dutch oven.
Place beef cubes in the cast iron without crowding. You’ll probably need to cook the beef in multiple batches. Turn beef every few minutes until browned on all sides. The beef will not be fully cooked; it’ll cook through when it’s braising. When browned, transfer beef to the dutch oven.
Turn down the heat. Pour off most of the fat from the cast iron, leaving a thin layer; add more oil if the pan is dry. Add onion, cloves, carrots, herb sprigs, bay leaf, and peppercorns to pan and cook until lightly browned, turning every now and then. This is just for additional flavor - they’ll get plenty of cooking time as they braise. When lightly browned, transfer to dutch oven.
Raise the heat to high. Pour red wine into the cast iron and let it bubble down by two-thirds. While it’s boiling, use a wooden spoon to scrape up all the yummy bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. When reduced, pour into the dutch oven over the beef and vegetables.
Add the tomatoes, roughly chopped garlic, orange zest, and stock to the dutch oven. The liquid should come at least three-quarters of the way up the beef and vegetables. If not, add more - water is fine if you don’t have more stock on hand.
Bring the stew to a simmer and cover. At this point, you can reduce the heat and let it barely simmer on the stovetop, or transfer to a 325° oven. Let stew barely simmer for 2-3 hours, checking occasionally to make sure the heat isn’t too high and to add more liquid if needed.
When the beef is tender and your home smells amazing, remove the stew from the heat. Allow to sit for a few minutes so the fat will settle on top, then skim as well as you can. If you can fish them out, discard the bay leaf, cloves, and peppercorns (I usually just warn eaters and let them gamble with getting a spicy bite). Taste and add salt if needed. Garnish with parsley and finely chopped garlic, and then tuck in.
Variation: You can make this as a pot roast by keeping the meat whole and cooking for an additional hour. In this case, the liquid only needs to come halfway up the beef and vegetables.