Beef stew- How do you do yours?

[TheLadyIsAVamp]

Just that really, I have a relative who is very poorly. I've offered to make them some meals they can reheat/freeze and asked them to let me know what they'd like. I'm planning to make them 4 portions of 5 different meals and then a few soups too.

One they've requested is a beef stew. I usually use either red wine or ale in my stews but they can't have any alcohol at all. I've made stew before without the alcohol and found it was just a bit bland, I used all the same herbs, Worcestershire Sauce, mustard and a good quality stock. It could be that it just felt off to me because I could tell what was missing but I'd love to make it really tasty for them and maybe pick up some new ideas for our own!

depending on why no alcohol they might not want that
my DP is in recovery and I don’t cook with any alcohol or alcohol that’s alcohol free
he’s ok with Red wine stock pots as they’re dealcoholised and it feels different

Use zero% Guinness. Stick it in the slow cooker with a stock cube and some carrots.

I just do beef, onions carrots and swede. Fry beef coated in seasoned flour. Put on one side then fry onions off a bit add carrots and swede then stock made from, oxo cube, Worcester sauce ,tomato puree and marmite return meat to pan heat it all through then into oven for around 2hrs. Add dumplings for last 20mins . I live on my own so freeze portions of stew with a dumpling for complete meal, then just cook a green veg , if I can be bothered!

Sear the meat & veg, then braise in a slo-cooker for four hours with garlic, a small quantity of wine & a touch of mustard powder.

I whack a full round roast, potatoes, carrot, onion (swede/parsnip/whatever else might be hanging around), some stock of some sort into the instapot and put it on for an hour.

I don't like mustard, but I use mushroom powder and the seasoning powder that's all the ground up vegetables, that they sell during Polish week at Lidl (I first came across it when living in Eastern Europe, and it's brilliant for adding savoury flavour to anything).

I think it tastes good - but then I've never liked stews with wine/beer - even though I do like both wine and beer.

Old fashioned recipe - use a metal roasting dish with a lid if possible.

Large chunks of braising steak, chunks of potato, onion, carrot. Put it all in the dish, sprinkle over 2 beef oxo and a couple of tablespoons plain flour. Season well with salt and pepper and some mixed dried herbs.

Cover with boiling water to just over the meat.

Put in oven for 30 mins at 220, then turn down to 120 and cook for 2 hours.

an hour before the end add a tin of baked beans and some frozen peas.

you can add mushrooms as well if you line.

I do the Ina Garten bouerbignon. It does have a bottle of red wine and a glug of cognac but you set fire to the cognac and the other alcohol evaporates off.

It doesn’t all evaporate off though and if they can’t have alcohol you can’t rely on it
if you flambé it leaves up to 75% of the alcohol remaining

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/22WcylHV9FMRbYm5Q6WY1ZB/can-you-get-drunk-on-boozy-food

I find those very concentrated liquid beef stock pots good for adding a rich flavour.

I do a goulash inspired stove top casserole seasoned with paprika, garlic, herbs, tomatoes, onions, red pepper, stock, mushrooms, sometimes a bit of green veg in the form of courgette or green beans. The thickening is provided by tossing the meat chunks in seasoned flour before browning.

If it's an oven cooked casserole, I slice carrots and onions and put in the base of the casserole dish. I sprinkle on herbs and add a little sumac. I brown the beef in seasoned flour and place on top. I add whole or halved garlic cloves, unpeeled. I make the stock by adding a little oil to remaining flour and sizzling a moment, add stock, reduce down, season up with a bit of pesto stirred in. Pour over, cook low for ages. I never use mustard as I'm allergic.

I sometimes make a hotpot style casserole - ie with sliced potato top. I also make a ragu version of this where previously slow cooked beef gets a sliced new potato topping and the sauce is thick with tomatoes, veg etc.

My maternal grandmother and mother passed on Eastern European and Ashkenazi cookery influences involving a lot of soups, stews, casseroles.

Mary Berrys beef stew as attached is a great one on the BBC good food site. Flavoured with ginger, paprika worcestershire sauce & horseradish sauce it tastes really good.
Another one is a beef ghoulash flavoured with smoked paprika and caraway seeds with tomato & peppers, plus chunks of potato. It's delicious & the caraway seeds can be ground a bit before if some don't like the grittiness of them.
Or a plain beef stew with lots of chunks of onion, carrots, garlic cloves & thyme/sage/majoram is good.
You can flavour with some beef stock, finely chopped anchovies or Miso.

Thanks all. Lots of ideas, I hadn't even thought of doing a goulash!

I second miso for added depth, also dried mushrooms, if you grind them to a powder and add to the beef when you brown it off it adds savoury/umami flavour.

If they can't have alcohol they can't even have it even "cooked off". (I was recently on antibiotics which meant no alcohol and even kombucha reacted).

I've just thought of another one I've made. It's a Persian style stew with chick peas & aubergine & flavoured with sumac. I had some black lime powder & added that too as it's also traditional to use as a sourish note in Persian cooking. If you search for the recipe online it's from an American newspaper.

Beef rib trim is a relatively recent discovery of mine. It is SO much better than braising steak for a beef stew or steak pie! The flavour and tenderness are incredible. It is very fatty though so needs long cooking and I use a fat separator jug for the gravy as the liquid is way too oily otherwise. So that’s an extra step but it’s so worth it. I just use a very basic bbc good food beef stew recipe and don’t bother browning the meat.

I made this without the wine https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/beef-stew-with-carrots-potatoes.html

The onions need cooking down for a long time, around 40 mins, recipes never give enough cooking time to onions

Also add balsamic reduction to it for a sort of winy deep flavour

Brown diced beef, add chopped onion, season with mixed herbs and powdered garlic. Add tomato puree and beef stock and simmer, throw in handfuls of carrot and diced root veg. Simmer for a couple of hours, 5 mins before serving add a sprinkle of gravy powder to thicken. It’s not an exact science, but I usually use 500g beef, a pint of stock, 3 spoons of tomato puree and a handful of 3 types of veg.

Or a tablespoon of soy sauce. Both add that umami flavour.

Cant find anything in a US newspaper, can only find something in the Sydney Herald but cant open it as you need an account, is there a recipe you can share?

Beef skirt
chunky carrots
chunky sweet potato (rather than white potatoes)
garlic, onion
rich beef stock
Worcestershire sauce
branstons pickle - this is essential!
tablespoon of tomato paste
reduced salt beef gravy to thicken

bloody delicious - savoury but slightly sweet thanks to the potato so not just a gravy based stew.

@soupyspoon this is the Sydney Herald recipe 🙂

Brilliant thanks, its a bit blurry, I cant see step 7 onward also

Looks fantastic

@soupyspoon here you go, copied and pasted it for you.

Ingredients
3 medium eggplants, cut into large bite-sized cubes
4 tbsp olive oil
2 red onions, finely diced
cloves from 1 head garlic, chopped
1½ tbsp sumac
750g chuck steak, cut into large bite-sized chunks
2 tbsp tomato paste
3-4 cups chicken stock
400g can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
zest of 1 lemon
To serve
3 tbsp Greek-style yoghurt per serve
olive oil to drizzle
sumac to scatter
finely chopped coriander
steamed rice and/or flatbreads
Method
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 180C fan-forced (200C conventional).
Step 2
Add the diced eggplant and half the olive oil to a large, flat roasting tray and toss to coat. Season generously with salt and roast for 30 minutes.
Step 3
While the eggplant is cooking, place a large heavy-based pot over medium heat. Add the oil and once shimmering, turn the heat to low, add the onion and sweat until soft and translucent, at least 5-8 minutes. Add the garlic and the sumac and cook until the onion mixture is coated in the sumac and the garlic becomes fragrant.
Step 4
Push to the side of the pot using a wooden spoon then add the steak (in batches if necessary) and cook, browning on all sides. Add the tomato paste and cook until the mixture is incorporated and coating the meat and onion mixture.
Step 5
Add the eggplant and three cups of the chicken stock and simmer for 2 hours with the lid on, checking every hour or so to ensure the liquid hasn’t evaporated too quickly. Add more stock if it has reduced too rapidly, about ½ a cup at a time.
Step 6
Add the chickpeas and cook for another 45 minutes.
Step 7
Season with the zest of 1 lemon and salt and pepper. Divide the stew among bowls. Top with a dollop of yoghurt, a drizzle of olive oil, and a smattering of sumac and coriander. Serve with rice and/or flatbreads.

Sounds gorgeous, do you have the slow cooker recipe please 🙏