Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Red Wine Beef Stew with Green Beans

This is seriously an amazing beef stew!  It takes a little time to make it, but it's well worth the time.  I've been making this for a few years after I saw it on Food Network with Dave Lieberman.  My mom told me a few months ago that she found a great beef stew recipe that I "had to try," so I was thrilled that it was the same recipe I've been making for years.  We obviously have amazing taste in stews!


I made this recipe yesterday and bought a loaf of multi-grain french bread from Publix.  I ate a little bit of the bread with a sandwich for lunch and a half an hour later the whole loaf was gone.  Mysterious. . . until I questioned my husband about the location of the missing bread.  Not a surprise that he ate the whole thing (despite his Paleo diet discouraging wheat-based foods).  My mistake for not telling him that I was saving it, but I really wanted bread with the stew.  You know what I mean?  It's almost as if beef stew belongs with a loaf of good bread.  I didn't have time to go to the store with Zach's nap, so I threw a batch of whole wheat bread in my mixer.  It's probably better that the family had homemade bread anyway.  I guess I should thank my hubby!  ;)

Red Wine Beef Stew with Potatoes and Green Beans (printable version)

Ingredients:
2 pounds beef chuck for stew, cut into 1-inch cubes
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons butter
4 medium carrots, peeled, halved and cut into 1-inch chunks
3 small onions, diced
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 (14 1/2-ounce) cans reduced-sodium beef or chicken broth
2 cups dry red wine
1 cup canned crushed tomatoes
3 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 medium russet or Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
1 pound mushrooms (cleaned and quartered)
2 handfuls green beans, ends trimmed

Directions:
Season the beef cubes lightly with salt and pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons of the butter in a heavy 6-quart pot over medium heat. As soon as the butter starts to turn brown, add half the beef and raise the heat to high. At first, the beef will give off some liquid, but once that evaporates, the beef will start to brown. Cook, turning the beef cubes on all sides until the pieces are as evenly browned as possible, about 5 or 6 minutes after the water has boiled off. If the pan starts to get too brown at any point, just turn down the heat a little. Scoop the beef into a bowl and brown the rest of the beef the same way using the remaining butter.

Scoop out the second batch of beef, then add the carrots and onions and raise the heat to medium-high. Cook until the onion starts to turn translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the flour until it has been worked into the veggies and you can’t see it any more. Pour in the chicken broth, wine, and crushed tomatoes, and toss in the rosemary. Slide the beef back into the pot and bring the liquid to a boil.

Turn down the heat so the liquid is just breaking a gentle simmer. Partially cover the pot and cook 50 minutes. Stir the stew several times while simmering so it cooks evenly and nothing sticks to the bottom.

Stir the potatoes into the stew, cover the pot completely, and cook until the potatoes and beef are tender, stirring occasionally, about another 45 minutes. Add the beans and cook for another 5 minutes until the green beans turn bright green and are cooked through but still have a nice snap to them.


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