Hearty Beef Stew
Food
Audio By Carbonatix
By Ken Rosato, "The Food Dude", TheFoodDude.us
Ingredients
- 2 to 3 lbs chuck steak or chuck roast, cut into chunks
- 4 cloves chopped garlic
- 2 oz vegetable oil
- 2 chopped medium onions
- 1/2 lb chopped bacon
- 3 large carrots, cleaned and sliced into disks
- 3 stalks chopped celery
- 1 lb sliced mushrooms, (preferably cremini, but button will work)
- 4 tbsp flour
- 1 bottle beer
- 1 qt low sodium beef stock
- 2 c yukon gold potatoes, cut into chunks
- 1 small can tomato paste
- 1 tsp Herbes de Provence
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 tsp black pepper
Cut the beef into chunks. Heat oil in a large pot over high heat. Add beef, sprinkle on salt and pepper, and brown the pieces for several minutes. Lower heat to medium low and remove the beef to a plate. Add onions, garlic, and mushrooms to pan and cook for about 5 minutes. Add chopped bacon and saute about 5 minutes more. Add celery and carrots and cook another 5 minutes. Now, add the flour to the pan and scrape up any bits along the bottom as you stir it in, absorbing all the pan drippings in the process. Cook for about 2 more minutes. Pour in bottle of beer and stir well. Now, stir in tomato paste until well incorporated, then stir in beef stock. Return the browned beef chunks and any accumulated juices to the pot and mix gently. Now mix in the Herbes de Provence and the potato chunks. Reduce heat to low, cover, and let cook for two hours, stirring every 15-20 minutes. Remove cover and let stew cook an additional hour or so to thicken the liquid a bit. Taste and add a little extra salt and pepper, if needed. Serve with a loaf of crusty bread.
