CLASSIC BEEF STEW

CLASSIC BEEF STEW

#SIAintheKitchen

It’s nearly winter over here in Canada so all of my stews and soup recipes are coming out, naturally. All I want is to be wrapped in a ginormous blanket with a bowl of classic beef stew and watch something on Netflix. Beef stew is one of the first recipes I made when I first started cooking and I honesty haven’t revisited it since then.

Back then, I used cooking books and AllRecipes.com religiously. I found this super easy recipe that started off in the stove and finished in the oven with a braise. I remember it tasting amazing but using shortcuts like condensed tomato soup and using way too much flour to thicken the sauce. It was tasty, yes - for my family and for my 10-year old palette.

Although I can no longer recall the details of that recipe, I came up with my own this time around without the added salt from canned soups and whatnot. This classic beef stew, from scratch, is perfect for those cold winter days and even better with crusty bread. My version is very sauce - feel free to half the amount of liquids if you prefer the sauce to be thicker.

CLASSIC BEEF STEW - serves 6 - 8

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil

• 2lbs stewing beef, cut into 1” cubes

• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

• 1 onion, diced

• 6 cloves garlic, minced

• 3 celery stalks, cut into 1” pieces

• 3 carrots, peeled and diced

• 1/2 cup white wine

• 1 (6oz) can tomato paste

• 1 (16oz) can tomato sauce

• 2 cups vegetable broth

• 3 red potatoes, diced

• 2 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves only

• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves only, chopped

• 2 tbsp kosher salt

• dash fish sauce

• freshly ground black pepper

• 1 bay leaf

1. In a Dutch oven, heat the vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Coat each piece of stewing beef in flour and begin to brown in the oil. Ensure that all the meat is browned on all sides and remove from heat. Set aside.

2. Add in the onions and garlic to the pan and cook until translucent, about 3 - 5 minutes

3. Add in the celery, carrots and potatoes and cook until the carrots and celery begin to soften. Stir in the tomato paste and toast. Deglaze the pan with white wine and scrape the bottom of the pan.

4. Add in the tomato sauce and vegetable broth. Bring the stew to a boil and lower to a simmer over low heat. Add in the herbs, salt, fish sauce, pepper and bay leaf. Cover and simmer for at least 1 - 2 hours or until the sauce reduces.