Capitol Hill Blue Forums Misc. Topics Food, Drink and Cooking Beef stew with winter vegetables

3 lb beef chuck, cubed 1-1/2"

1 cup all purpose flour

Salt and pepper

5 tbs olive oil

1/2 red wine vinegar (I use cab sauv wine vin from Whole Foods)

2 yellow onions peeled and diced

3 parsnips, 2 carrots, peeled and sliced

4 oz tomato paste

1 cup dry red wine (I use Fetzer cab sauv)

2 cups beef broth (I used Campbells beef broth)

3 garlic cloves

1 bay leaf

5 whole cloves

4 springs of Italian parsley

1/2 tsp dried sage

1/2 lbs of tender young carrots, peeled

9 peal onions, blanched and peeled
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Place flour into a gallon sized zip-lock bag along with salt and pepper. Add beef in batches and shake to coat thoroughly. Set aside.

In a large stock pot over medium-high heat, heat 4 tbs of olive oil. Working in batches, brown the meat on all sides. Set aside.

Add vinegar to pot and scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Reduce heat to medium and add remaining tbs of olive oil. Add onions and sautè until well browned, 12-15 mins. Add sliced parsips and carrots, sautè for another 3 mins. Add stock, browned beef, wine, tomato paste, garlic, bay leaf, cloves, parsley sprigs, and sage, stir well.

Reduce heat to low. Simmer for 1-1/2 hours.

Add young carrots, cook for 15 mins. Add peal onions, cook for 3 mins.

Ladle into bowls. Garnish with chopped Italian parsley.


Crikey! I almost forgot. Even tho' the recipe doesn't call for peas, I added cooked frozen peas more-or-less as a garnish just before serving. I didn't add them to the stew while cooking. I was looking to add a contrasting color to "brighten up" the appearance of the dish - which it did

OK, so what's a parsnip? Is that like a turnip or a rutabaga? We don't have them in FLA...

This does sound delicious, though.

EmmaG

That sounds absolutely delicious. But lose the Campbells there partner. If you haven't got some frozen brown stock on hand at least buy decent beef stock. The 'stock in a box' of almost any price range is better than Campbells.
Try this exact same recipe with a Lamb Hind shank or Sirloin.
I never added the pearl onions, how do those work out, do you get cool little slightly crunchy onions in the occasional spoonful?

Parsnips look exactly like albino carrots. EmmaG, I'm sure you have 'em, you just have "noticed" them.

Dang, Rick, yer making me hungry. Aside from the parsnips, I think wifey picked up the majority of that stuff yesterday with plans on making some soup today.

By the way, is that olive oil, "extra virgin", having never even thought an impurity, or has it been deflowered? I still don't get that term...

Thanks, Rick. I will look for them, but I really don't think I've ever seen one in my many years of shopping. Maybe they have them at the fancy, high-priced market in the rich-end of town. LOL

No, when you blanch them, say for 3 mins, it loosens the skin. Adding them to the last 3 mins of cooking the stew, further cooks them.

They add a soft texture, and sweet taste to the dish. I used red peal onions yesterday, but you could also use the yellow/white ones.

Olive oil is "pressed" several times. Each time it is "pressed" the oil become lighter in color and less flavorful.

Extra "Virgin" has only gone through one pressing, ergo it's green tint and strong flavor.

EmmaG,

I get parsnips in the produce section at the local WalMart Super Store here in the FL Panhandle. Parsnips are white and look somewhat like a large carrot.

Joe

Ahh...around these parts, once pressed...well...ya know...