Weekly Recipe: Fall Beef Stew

I've been waiting for the last few weeks for it to be cold enough to justify making beef stew. Today, with the few drops of rain that I got on my drive home, seemed like the perfect day to break out the dutch oven.

A word of warning: this recipe takes about four hours, start to finish. It is not something to cook on a tight schedule! That said, it's really tasty, and makes great leftovers. It is definitely a hearty stew, as well, although it also gives you some vegetables-- there's a reason I waited through summer to cook this!

This recipe started its life as the Beef Carbonnade, from the Silver Palate Cookbook, which I made once, and declared both boring and bitter. This recipe adds vegetables, beef broth, and starch.

2 medium yellow onions, cut into thin half-circles
1/2 lb. bacon
1 c. flour
1 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. fresh ground pepper
2 lb. stew beef, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 12 oz. can dark beer (I used Guiness)
1 qt. beef broth
3 large carrots, cut into 1/4 inch slices
2 stalks celery, cut into 1/4 inch slices
Either cooked barley, potatoes, or your choice of starch
You may also need some additional cooking fat-- I keep leftover bacon fat in the fridge and use that.

Cut bacon into 1/2-inch pieces, and fry in a medium skillet. Reserve all runoff bacon fat; you will need it! Leaving all remaining fat in the pan, drain the bacon and set it aside.

Add the onions and extra bacon fat to the pan. Cook over medium heat, covered, until the onions are translucent and limp-- about 20 minutes.

While the onions are cooking, put the flour, thyme, salt, and pepper in a 1 gallon plastic bag. Add about a dozen pieces of the beef, seal the bag, and shake until the pieces of beef are covered in the flour mixture. Remove the beef from the bag and put it on a plate. Repeat until all of the beef is covered.

If you still have a bit of time before the onions are done, now is a good time to cut your carrots and celery.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees-- yes, now. If you do it earlier, you're just wasting energy while waiting for the onions to cook.

Once the onions are done, strain them into a dutch oven (or similar large, oven-safe pot). Pour any cooking liquid left in the pan through the strainer with the onions. Over medium heat, add about six pieces of beef at a time, browning all sides. Once all sides are brown, remove the beef from the pan and repeat until all the beef is browned. If you run out of drippings, use your supplementary cooking fat. The beef should not be cooked through-- that's what the oven time is for!

Leaving the heat on, add the beer to the dutch oven. Using a large spoon, scrape the bottom of the pot to loosen all those delicious bits of partially burned-on flour and thyme. Add the beef, onions, bacon, and vegetables, followed by the beef broth. You can leave the pot on the stove until the broth is boiling or your oven reaches temperature.

Cover the dutch oven and place on the lowest rack of the oven. Cook, covered, for at least 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Serve over starch-of-choice. Serves 6-8, depending on how hungry you are.

Substitutions/additions: Let me know of any you make! The last time I made this, in late spring, I used golden beets and turnips in addition to the carrots and celery. Peas are also good, although they have a tendency to get mushy.

Note: I'm going to try to post one recipe each week (time allowing). Let me know if you have any questions, or if something in the recipe is unclear. Happy eating!