Beef Stew
Beef stew is a classic. However, if like me, you grew up in an era when beef stew mostly meant that stuff you get out of a Dinty Moore can, it's not precisely synonymous with high cuisine. But since it's a simple dish, it can be easily improved and personalized. With a few minor adjustments, an old standby can be transformed into something new and surprising. So I'm going to share a few tips and my personal recipe for beef stew.
Classic beef stew is essentially chunks of beef, potato, and carrot simmered until tender in a roux-thickened gravy. Each of these components can be improved. Let's take a look at each of them.
It's called beef stew, so you might think that beef would be the most important ingredient. Yet most of the time people go their supermarket or butcher and acquire a package of mysterious stew beef, that mixture of unidentifiable chunks of lean, flavorless cow. So the easiest thing anyone can do to improve their beef stew is to use a different cut of meat. I recommend something tough and still on the bone. My preference is for cross-cut shanks with the bone (and its flavorful marrow) still attached. The meat will start tough but end up more tender than a leaner cut of meat, and the bone and marrow will add a lot of flavor to your base.
Potatoes are second-most important ingredient in any beef stew. The choice of the wrong potato can be disastrous. You want a waxy, thin-skinned potato like a red or a Yukon gold. They will keep their shape and they won't fall apart as easily as a baking potato. Also, whatever you do, do not peel your potatoes. Potatoes are not the most nutritious things, but what nutrition they do have resides almost entirely in that skin.
Now we come to vegetables. This is where you can really start to get creative. Feel free to experiment. I keep it simple with carrot and onion, but you could go wild. Though bear in mind that this will be simmering for awhile so if you're adding a vegetable that's best when it's not cooked to death, add it towards the end of the cooking process.
Most beef stews are thickened with roux. A roux is just fat like butter or oil mixed with an equal amount of flour and gently cooked until it thickens. As it's just flour and fat, it doesn't add much flavor to the party. So you might want to experiment with different ways of thickening your stew. I used crushed tomatoes. You could use another vegetables like bell peppers in a similar way. At this point you can add other flavoring agents like herbs and spices that traditional stews do without. It's an easy way to change the flavor profile of the stew and make it your own.
When it comes to cooking your stew, there are a few things you can do to bring out the best flavors in your ingredients. It is essential that you brown your meat in the same pot or pan that you make the stew in. The browning process creates a lot of flavorful compounds that you'll want. The same goes for your vegetables, like carrots and onions, that will be in the pot for the long haul.
Another challenge to producing the perfect stew is getting all the ingredients to be done at the right time. It's not always easy to know when the meat is going to be perfectly tender or quite how long it will take the cook those potatoes. If you have the time, there is a surefire way to get it right - cook them separately. I cook the meat until it is tender and remove it from the stew to let it rest. Then I add the potatoes. Once the potatoes are done, I cut up the meat (which is rested so it won't lose it juices), and add it back to the stew just long enough to warm it up. That way your meat and your potatoes are both perfectly done.
Now that you know the theory, here's an example of how I do it.
SILVIO'S (KIND OF) ITALIAN BEEF STEW
Serves: 8-12
Total Cooking Time: 4-6 hours
Active Cooking Time: 1 hour
INGREDIENTS
3-4 lbs. Beef shank (about 4 pieces of shin bone center cut)
2 lbs. red potatoes, very large dice
1 large red onion, diced
1 lb. carrots (I use baby carrots because I'm lazy), sliced (or just cut in half)
1 bunch green onions, sliced. Separate the white/light green parts of the onion from the dark green ends. Reserve the ends for garnish.
1 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes
2 c. beef stock
2 tbsp. canola oil
1 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
2 tsp. Italian herbs
Salt
1. Place a 5 qt. saute pan or dutch oven over medium high heat. Add 1 tbsp canola oil. Once the pan is heated (a drop of water will actually dance when it hits the surface), add two pieces of the beef. Let the beef brown 4-5 minutes, flip and brown the other side 3-4 minutes. Remove the beef from the pan (I usually use a spare cooking sheet or a metal mixing bowl). Add the remaining pieces of beef and repeat the process.
2. Once beef is removed from pan, reduce heat to medium, add remaining oil, 1/2 tsp. of salt, onion, carrot, and the white/light green parts of the green onion. Stir occasionally. Saute 7-10 minutes or until the onion is translucent.
3. Add the crushed tomatoes, beef stock, Italian herbs, and black pepper. Stir and let simmer a couple minutes. Reduce heat to low.
4. Add the beef shanks back to the pan. Stir and spoon some liquid over any exposed parts of the shank. They should be about 90% submerged. Cover.
5. After 20-30 minutes, remove cover, flip the shanks, stir, and spoon liquid over any part of the shanks that are still exposed. It should be gently simmering. If it is boiling rapidly, lower the heat. If there are no bubbles at all, raise the heat slightly. Replace cover. Repeat every 20-30 minutes.
6. After an hour or two, you may treat yourself. Take a little fork or spoon and dig the marrow out of the shin bones. After cooking for that long the marrow should already be mostly separated from the bone. Just eat that shit. Yes, it's pure fat. Yes, it's probably one of the best tasting things you've ever had.
7. In about 3-4 hours, the shanks should be tender and about ready to fall off the bone. Take the shanks out and rest them in tin foil or a metal mixing bowl. Add the potatoes to the pan, and stir.
8. In 30-60 minutes, the potatoes should be tender. Turn off the heat. Take the resting meat, cut it into bite sized chunks (discarding the bone and any unwanted connective tissue), and add it back to the pan. Salt to taste. Cover the pan, and let rest for another 5 minutes.
9. Serve with the green part of the green onion as a garnish. Enjoy!