Best Ever Beef Stew

Printed from: www.grandmotherskitchen.net

Ingredients

Serves: 6-8

3 pounds beef - we used very lean sirloin steak, bu you can use boneless beef chuck that is well-marbled (cut into 1 1/2 inch bite sized pieces) Our local butcher cuts the meat for us.

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

3 Tablespoons olive oil

2 medium yellow onion, cut into quarters

5 cloves garlic, we used Russian red (peeled and smashed)

2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 1/2 Tablespoons tomato paste

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 cup dry red wine

3 cups beef broth (or you can use 4 cups beef broth and eliminate the wine)

2 cups water

2 bay leafs

1 1/2 teaspoons granulated sugar

6-8 carrots, depending on their size (cut into 1 1/2 inch chunks, cut diagonally for a nice appearance)

6-8 medium size russet potatoes, peeled, washed and cut into quarters (so they are not too small)

Directions

1. Place the oven rack in the middle position and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

2. Prepare your the onions and cut into quarters being sure to cut off the ends so the onions will fall apart when cooking. Peel the garlic and smash it and set aside.

3. Put the beef into a large bowl and pat dry with clean paper towels.Season with salt and pepper.

4. Using a Dutch oven or a heavy soup pot, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat until it is hot and simmering. With 3 pounds of meat it will take 3 individual batches to sear nicely.

5. Once the oil is hot add a third of the meat and cook until nice and brown, turn over with tongs or a flipper. Don’t crowd the meat as it will not develop a nice brown crust unless it has room in the pan.Transfer the seared meat into a plate nearby and sear the next two batches. At the start of each batch you will add one tablespoon of olive oil to the pot.When all the meat is cooked you will see the bottom of the pot has a dark brown color from searing the meat which will add to the flavor of the stew. Shut the pan off for a few minutes and take off heat while you prepare the onions and garlic so you don’t burn the bottom of the pot.

6. Now put the onions and garlic into the Dutch oven and turn back on to medium high heat. Stir with a wooden spoon scraping the brown bits from the bottom of the pot and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook one more minute.

7. Toss the beef back into the pot and sprinkle on the flour. It is quite a bit of flour to work in so just do it a little bit at a time, stirring with the wooden spoon to coat the meat. This flour will thicken when the stew is baking and becomes the thickener for the gravy that forms from the liquids. Add the wine, broth, water, bay leaves and sugar. Stir with the wooden spoon and be sure to break up any bits from the bottom of the pot. Bring to a boil. Once it has come to a boil, shut off, put the lid on and transfer into the preheated oven.Braise for 2 hours.

9. Remove from the oven and add the potatoes and carrots. Stir together, put the lid back on and put back into the oven.

10. Raise the temperature of the oven to 375 degrees F. and cook for 30-40 minutes.

11. Do a poke test on the potatoes and carrots, if they are not done, raise the oven temperature to 425 degrees F. and bake another 20 minutes or until vegetables are cooked through. Serve.

ENJOY!

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