Sunday, March 22, 2009

Beef Stew in Red Wine.

It’s officially spring on Friday but the weather here is still very cold. We love having stew in this wintery kind of weather. There's something so comforting about a bowl of deeply rich succulent braised beef with carrots, onions, and potatoes. It's hearty, wholesome and simply delicious. This beef stew is flavored with red wine, thyme, and orange peel. Sounds fancy, doesn't it? It's not, and it is really easy to prepare. I serve the stew with some homemade biscuits but you can have it with rice, warm crusty bread or mashed potatoes.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pound beef chuck shoulder roast, cut into 1 1/2" pieces (season with some salt and pepper)
4 carrots – clean and cut into big cubes
6 small potatoes - peel, clean and cut in half
1 large onions - cut into small cubes
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 cups of good quality red wine
2-3 cups of beef stocks
2 fresh thyme sprigs
orange zest strip ( about 3-inch)
2 bay leaves
4 tbsp of flour
Salt, pepper and sugar to taste

1. Warm up a large heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat with the 3 tbsp of olive oil. While the pan is heating, toss the beef in the flour to coat. Shake off the excess flour
2. Brown the beef in the hot pan, being careful not to over crowd the pan, you might have to work in batches. Thoroughly brown all of the cubes on all sides. Once all the meat has been browned remove it to a plate.
3. Add in a bit more oil if needed to the pan and add in garlic and onions. Sautee for a few minute and add in the wine to the pan and bring up to a simmer while you scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon being sure to loosen up all those tasty brown bits.
4. Once the wine has gotten hot add the browned meat, thyme, orange zest strip, bay leaves and beef stock. Bring the mixture up to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer, cover and cook on low heat for 2 hours.
5. After 2 hours add in potatoes and carrots. Turn the heat up slightly and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes more, until the vegetables and meat are tender. Check seasoning and you might need to add a bit of sugar to balance out the acid from the red wine. Serve warm.



Note : Homemade Herb Biscuits recipe coming up next.

17 comments:

vanillasugarblog said...

That looks good. I'm not a big stew person but hubby is. I just made some buttermilk biscuits for breakfast.

Dori said...

Woah, fancy... Cooked in wine, must taste amazing!

Cat Cat said...

I love beef stew too but MrR is so so only... I like it cooked it slow cooker till the meat turn soft and tender...

Anonymous said...

Firstly, your picture has nice color balance.

Also, regarding your tapioca cake recipe, may I know if you leave the tapioca to fry with lid on or off?

Gonna make some for the senior citizens group party this coming Friday.

Thanks, Trish

ICook4Fun said...

Dawn, my husband love stew too. Will check out your blog for the biscuit :)

Meeso, for us we like stew in wine :)

Cat, sometime I do put them in slow cooker :)

Trish, thank you. I am not sure which tapioca cake you are refering to and as far as I know I don't have a recipe here that has fry tapioca.

Debbie said...

Delicious looking stew. Love the large chunks of vegetables! The biscuits look good too!

Big Boys Oven said...

oh this is cool, something not difficult for me prepare this weekend, I love your stew! yum yum!

Jescel said...

yum.. this is ultimate comfort food!

Little Corner of Mine said...

Sure look hearty and comforting. It was warm last week but this week is getting cold again. :(

Christelle said...

Gotten cold again here too, stew definitely back on the table! :)

ICook4Fun said...

Debbie, thank you.

BBO, thank you.

Jescel, it sure comforting especially in this cold spring :)

LCOM, here too. Today temperature is only around 40's. Where is spring!!

Christelle, I guess the weather there is not better than here :)

Salt N Turmeric said...

I like the 2nd pic Gert!

Fitness Foodie said...

Being a dunker - I love the herbed biscuits with the beef stew.

ICook4Fun said...

Farina, thank you.

Parker, me too :)

Vincent, I will check out your website later.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for this delicious looking recipe - I just stumbled across your blog and now I'm adding it as a favorite. You must be a wonderful cook!

Anonymous said...

Hi. How many does this serve? Planning a small party of 5 or 6 and just wondering. Thanks Mary

ICook4Fun said...

Michelle, thank you.

Anon, this recipe easily feed 5 people and if you want to stretch it out to feed a few more you can always add a few more potatoes and carrots to it.