Economical Beef Stew Recipes

ECONOMICAL BEEF STEW...

Steps:

• Fairly straightforward recipe, pre-heat oven to gas mark 5, or 190 C - I think around 350!
• Chop Beef into cubes if necessary; add to the pot & cover with Stock.
• Chop Onions, Celery, Carrots & Potato; add to the pot.
• Crush Garlic, Chop Thyme & Oregano; add to the pot.
• Stir in half a teaspoon of all spice and give the whole contents of the pot a good stir.
• Cook in the middle of the oven for 30 minutes.
• Prepare your dumplings while this is doing - see my other recipe.
• After 30 minutes, remove from the oven and put the dumplings on the top of the stew, puch them in gently so half of each is 'hidden' - they will sink into the stew.
• Cook again for another 20 minutes. After the 20 minutes, check the stew is not too dry (dumplings suck a lot of moisture up and so you may want to add another cup of boiling water). Once you have done that, or dodn't need to, cook for a final ten minutes.
• Serve. Either alone or with some fresh bread -- mmm.

ON THE CHEAP ONE POT BEEF STEW

Steps:

• In a large stock pot over medium heat, melt butter or add oil to cover bottom of pan. Add onions and cook stirring occasionally until lightly caramelized. Remove onions and set aside.
• Add more oil to pan. Dredge meat in flour and add to pan half at a time. Remove meat when well browned and deglaze pan with stock or water making sure to get all those brown bits off the bottom of the pan.
• Add meat and onions back to the pan. Add herbs, powders, bouillon and pepper (if not using stock you may need to add a couple more bouillon cubes and omit salt from recipe). Cover and simmer on low for 1 hour.
• Remove cover stir and add celery and carrots. Recover and simmer for 30 minutes.
• Remove cover and add potatoes. Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes or until tender.
• If gravy seem a little thin, take about 1/4 cup of hot gravy, add 1/4 cup of cold water to make it room temp and stir in 1 heaping tablespoon of flour. Stir this back into pot and simmer for 5 more minutes.
• Serve hot with bread.

CLASSIC, HEARTY BEEF STEW

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Place beef cubes into a large bowl. Season with kosher salt and black pepper. Add flour and paprika and toss until evenly coated.
• Heat oil in an oven-safe Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Sear the beef cubes in batches until dark brown, about 4 minutes per side. Flip or stir gently with a wooden spoon until all edges are dark brown, 2 to 3 minutes more. Remove beef and set aside.
• Add onions to the beef fat with more salt and pepper; cook and stir until they begin to caramelize, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and stir until aromatic and soft, about 30 seconds. Stir in tomato paste and cook until it turns brown and begins to caramelize and stick to the bottom of the pan. Deglaze with red wine, scraping up the flavorful browned bits on the bottom. Let the wine reduce until almost dry again, about 3 minutes.
• Add dried thyme, dried rosemary, herbes de Provence, and bay leaves. Add 2 cups beef broth and Worcestershire, stir, and bring to a boil. Add the seared beef cubes back into the stew liquid. Remove from heat and cover the pot.
• Braise in the preheated oven until meat is almost tender, about 1 1/2 hours. Remove from the oven. Add carrots, potatoes, and more beef broth if needed. Cover and return to the oven to braise until meat and vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes longer.
• Discard bay leaves. Stir in peas, fresh rosemary, and fresh thyme. Serve hot.