Beef and Mushroom Stew in Red Wine

Size matters when it comes to your pan and properly browning your stewing meat. I use a large 12 inch stew pot. If the cubed beef is too crowded it won't brown properly and steam instead. It's the browning that gives you that rich stew flavour. I usually buy a cheap cut of meat and cut it up in my kitchen. This way I can trim off as much fat as I like and have the size of cubes I like.

4 slices bacon
2 lbs. beef chuck

4 Tbsps. flour (I use rice flour)

1 tsp. ground rosemary

1 tsp. dried thyme

1 tsp. salt
Black pepper, to taste

2 garlic cloves

1 1/2 cups red wine

1 cup chicken broth

2 -3 carrots

1 lb. button mushroom

1. Start by creating the oil you will brown the beef in, and the best for a really rich, smoky flavor is bacon fat. Dice the bacon and cook in your stew pot over medium-high heat. Once the bacon bits are crispy and have rendered all their fat, remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and set aside. Then pour out all but a tablespoon of the fat and keep the rest handy.
2. Combine the flour, rosemary, thyme and salt with black pepper to powder the beef cubes until covered.
3. Brown half of the beef in the fat, browning on both sides - add fat if it isn't browning properly. Remove the first batch of beef and brown the second, including any left over flour mixture. Add fat as needed, then remove from the pot and set aside.
4. Reduce the heat to medium, mince garlic and add to pan, adding a little fat if needed. Once the garlic becomes fragrant, add the quartered mushrooms and cook until they sweat.
5. Add the red wine, stir to deglaze the pan, pour in the broth and throw in the cubed carrots and crispy bacon bits. Bring this all to a boil then reduce to a simmer.
6. Cover and cook on the stove-top until the meat is tender, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Boeuf aux carrottes

This is an odd recipe. While cooking, it smells good, then smells really bad, then smells good again.  But power through, because it's a really, really tasty stew. And it's good to be surprised.

Boeuf aux carrottes

4 lbs. stewing beef, cut into chunks (bones left on if there are bones)

salt and pepper to season

1 oz. of (preferably thick) bacon, cut into paper clip-sized pieces

2 Tbsps. oil, more if needed

2 medium onions, sliced

2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

2 Tbsps. Jerez vinegar or red wine vinegar

3 cups beef stock

3 cups dry red or white wine

1 bay leaf

1 celery stalk, cut into two

1 bouquet parsley (small bunch tied together with string to be removed later)

1 bouquet thyme (small bunch tied together with string to be removed later)

4 black peppercorns

3 lbs. large carrots, thickly sliced

1. Season the meat on both sides with salt and pepper. In a large casserole, fry the bacon until cooked, 7 minutes. Remove, and set aside. Add half the oil and fry the onions until soft, adding the garlic towards the end, 10 minutes total. Remove into the same bowl as the bacon. Add the remaining oil to the pot and brown the meat well in batches on both sides, 3 minutes per side. Remove into the bowl with the bacon and onions.
2. Deglaze the pan with the vinegar, scraping up the good bits from the bottom. When the vinegar has almost disappeared, add the wine. Now, put the meat, bacon, onions, and garlic back in the pot. Pour over the stock, adding more water if needed to cover.
3. Wrap the bay leaf, celery, parsley, thyme, and peppercorns together in a bundle, and tie with a string. Add it to the pot. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer for an hour and a half.
4. Add the carrots and continue cooking for half an hour, until they are tender. Discard the string-tied bundle of flavourings.
5. Cool the contents completely, cover, and refrigerate overnight. (You can actually eat it straight away, but it's one of those things which is always better the next day.) To serve, bring to a simmer for half an hour, until the sauce has reduced to gravy consistency.

Carbonnade à la Flammande - Beef and Beer Stew

Last weekend someone broke into our apartment and stole my laptop - the one with all my recipes on it... So now I'm starting from scratch and saving the ones I like to this blog. One such recipe is Carbonnade à la Flammande. I'd found a version of it on a few different sites and tried them all. They were all good, but then I tried Laura Calder's version (I'm afraid that my blog will become a fan site for Laura!) and it was great. I made it again last night for Keven, my brother-in-law visiting from North Hollywood, and it was ok, but didn't compare to the first one I'd made; instead of caramelizing the onions, I cooked them until soft and brown from the beef residue, making them sweeter. Here is Carbonnade à la Flammande or, as Laura has called it, Beef in Beer.

2 Tbsps (1oz/28gr) butter, more as needed

1 Tbsp. vegetable oil

3 lbs sirloin tip, cut into cubes

3 onions, sliced

4 cloves garlic, chopped

2 Tbsps. flour

1 Tbsp. brown sugar

1 and 1/2 cup beef stock

2 cups beer

1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar

Salt and pepper

Bouquet Garni (I usually use parsley, thyme and a couple of bay leaves)

1. Pre-heat the oven to 325F.
2. Melt the butter and oil together in a sauté pan and, working in batches, brown the beef strips on all sides. Remove. In the same pan, fry the onions until soft and brown, about 10-15 minutes, then add the garlic one minute. Set aside. (Check if there is fat in the pan. If not, add a good tablespoon of butter and let it melt.)
3. Add the flour and sugar to the pan and cook 1 minute to make a roux. Gradually whisk in the stock and bring to a boil. Add the beer and the vinegar to the boiling stock, and bring back to the boil, cooking until thickened, about 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and set aside.
4. In a large casserole, layer the onion mixture alternately with the beef, seasoning each layer as you go with salt and pepper (don't skimp on the salt as the beer is quite sweet). Tuck in the bouquet garni and pour the liquid over. Cover and bake for 2-1/2 hours. If you can wait a day before eating; cool the dish completely when it’s out of the oven, and refrigerate overnight. The flavour will be even better when you reheat it.

EXPERIMENTATION: I haven't really paid attention to the kind of beer used, and would like to pin down if an ale is better than a stout or vice-versa.