beef stew – another variation

Ooo, ooo – now two people read my blog and have left comments! My friend Lori (who lives, conveniently, upstairs from me) may even comment more, now that we have “twin” dutch ovens and will be exploring and sharing recipes for this wonderful type of cooking vessel.

As to Stacey – as I noted in a previous post, I discovered her cooking blog, which is light years beyond this one and from which I have already gained wonderful inspiration:

https://justbraise.blogspot.com

I have not yet used my dutch oven for beef stew. I adapted other recipes for the pressure cooker, especially one with tons of onions and mushrooms from The Meat Cookbook, and would have used that recipe today since it calls for a dutch oven and cooking in the oven rather than on the stove top. (Cook’s Illustrated test results are in favor of the slow oven – 300 degree – method rather than stove top.) But, alas, no mushrooms on hand – or red wine…SO… I am blending two recipes/techniques and using what I have on hand.

First, I will just salt and pepper 3 lbs (less, after trimming) of chuck chunks – NOT dredging in flour and brown for 5 or so minutes, probably in two batches.

Then I’ll remove the meat, add oil if needed, and saute sliced onions for a bit until soft, add minced garlic for 1/2 a minute or so, then, as noted in a Cooks Illustrated recipe, add 3 tablespoons of flour and cook for 1-2 minutes or so. Then I will add 1 cup comprising of 1/2 C OJ, a tbsp or so of red wine vinegar and water to make a cup (my red wine substitute) an scrape the pan of browned bits. Then I’ll add at least two cups of chicken stock made with just boiled water, and then add the rest of the ingredients sans the meat. Bring to a simmer, add meat, return to simmer, then cover and put in the oven for an hour.

Next, I’ll add chucks of potato and carrots and simmer for another hour until meat is tender. And, who knows what else I’ll add. I just wanted to get the merged techniques and order of ingredients written down instead of having to look at two recipes at once. Here goes – will post later.