If you come across a nice-looking cut of beef stewing meat, cut the meat into large chunks and make yourself a comforting stew on a rainy afternoon.
Braised Beef Stew with Bacon, Carrots, & Potatoes
If you come across a nice-looking cut of beef stewing meat, cut the meat into large chunks and make yourself a comforting stew on a rainy afternoon.
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 4 oz thick-cut bacon, (cut into 1/8” strips, or lardons)
- 32 oz top round or other stewing meat with fat on it, (cut into large chunks)
- ¼ cup red wine
- 4 Tbsp butter
- 2 large white onions, (medium dice)
- 3 carrots, (cut into large chunks)
- 1 stalk celery, (small dice)
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 fresh sage leaves, (finely sliced)
- 32 oz fortified beef stock
- 2 Tbsp corn starch
- 2 Tbsp cold water
- 3 Yukon gold potatoes, (washed, peeled, and cut into large chunks)
- 1 tsp sherry vinegar
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper, (to taste)
- 4 scallions, (finely sliced, as garnish)
Instructions
- Heat 2 Tbsp vegetable oil over medium heat in a heavy-bottomed large saute pan.
- Add the bacon lardons, and cook gently over medium heat until the bacon is cooked, but before it is crispy.
- Remove the bacon using a slotted spoon, and drain the cooked lardons on paper towels, leaving the fat in the saute pan.
- Cut the beef into large cubes, roughly 1.5-2” on all sides.
- Salt the beef chunks with kosher salt.
- Heat the cooking fat over high heat, until the oil is very hot, but before it is smoking.
- Add the beef pieces and brown them on medium-high heat until the pieces are lightly browned.
- Remove the browned beef and allow the pieces to drain on paper towels.
- Deglaze the saute pan with red wine, using a wooden spoon to remove any brown bits from the bottom of the pan.
- Add 4 Tbsp salted butter to the saute pan, along with your diced white onions, and increase the heat to medium-high.
- Cook the onions until all of the liquid has evaporated, and the onions are translucent.
- Add the chunks of carrot, and the diced celery.
- Continue to cook the vegetables for an additional 5 minutes over medium heat, stirring frequently.
- Add the fresh thyme sprigs, bay leaves, sliced fresh sage, and fortified beef stock.
- Increase the heat to high, and bring the stock to a simmer.
- When the stock is simmering, reduce heat to low and add the browned beef pieces from earlier.
- Cook on very low heat for 2.5-3 hours, or until the pieces of beef are tender.
- *Note here that the beef can easily dry out if it is boiled or cooked too aggressively.
- While the stew is very gently simmering, boil the Yukon Gold potatoes in salted water until they are tender.
- When the potatoes are cooked, drain the water and set them aside.
- When the beef is fork-tender and easily falls apart, add the mixture of the corn starch and water into the simmering stew liquid, and whisk until the corn starch is dissolved in the stew and the liquid has thickened.
- Add the cooked potatoes and bacon lardons from earlier to the stew.
- Add a teaspoon or two of sherry vinegar to the stew, and taste to see how the flavor changes.
- Season the stew with kosher salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste.
- Serve hot, garnished with fresh scallions with crusty slices of toasted, buttered bread served on the side.
Notes
This stew will taste even better when gently reheated the following day.
It is fine if you don’t have “fortified” beef stock in your freezer or fridge. To make a fortified beef stock, take a few pounds of beef or veal bones, coat them in a small amount of vegetable oil, and roast them in the oven at 425F, turning them every 5 minutes or so until they are golden brown. You can then add those golden-brown bones to a beef stock, and cook that stock with some onions, carrots, and celery for about 4 hours before straining and freezing.
It is fine if you don’t have “fortified” beef stock in your freezer or fridge. To make a fortified beef stock, take a few pounds of beef or veal bones, coat them in a small amount of vegetable oil, and roast them in the oven at 425F, turning them every 5 minutes or so until they are golden brown. You can then add those golden-brown bones to a beef stock, and cook that stock with some onions, carrots, and celery for about 4 hours before straining and freezing.