Beef stew

[craigjm]

I’ve been tasked with a beef stew for the weekend. Not normally my area of expertise so looking to see if there is anything I should do to elevate it. I have the following -

Stewing steak
Guinness
Beef stock
Bay leaves
Bouquet garni
Onions
Carrots
Swede
Turnip
Parsnip

And was planning to serve it with dumplings, mashed potato and buttered greens

Any suggestions how to make it go from good to brilliant? Any suggestion to change the chef will not be tolerated

Edited by craigjm on Thursday 11th January 23:13

[cliffords]

Sounds great. I sometimes put a bit of marmite in mine towards the end. Even the haters say it's good , they don't know I have put it in .

[AndyAudi]

Dumplings & potatoes don’t need to be plain

Dumplings with mixed herbs/grainy mustard work really well & mash with pesto or mustard can also be good.

For the beef - little shallots in whole

[Super Sonic]

Don't forget stock and seasoning.

[AndyAudi]

Just looked back my phone,,

Dumpling/doughballs with ginger, garlic & Grainy mustard, were fantastic.

[Blue62]

Sounds good, I’m considering similar but making it into a pie. I’d just advise to go easy on the Guinness, be interested to know what others think but I don’t add more than 200ml to a family sized stew, otherwise I think it can taste sour.

[sherman]

Stewing steak.
Dice up
Toss in seasoned (s&p) plain flour and then brown in a pan. May need to do batches to not over crowd the pan. Once all meat is browned set it aside and Deglaze the pan with a bit of guinness.

Then fry your veg until it softened.
Lob everything into the pan. Meat and veg and top up with guinness and a beef stock cube(no other water). Give it a mix and add a large tablespoon of tonato puree and bubble away until its all soft, thick and dark. Season to taste and serve.

Edited by sherman on Thursday 11th January 23:03

[i4got]

I used the below recipe recently and loved it. Found it on the internet. Only thing I did differently was used oven rather than hob.

800g of a slow roasting beef joint ⁣
2 tablespoons of mixed herbs ⁣
Salt to taste
1 tablespoon of black pepper ⁣
30 g of white flour ⁣
1 tablespoon of garlic salt ⁣
1 tablespoon of onion granules ⁣
10 mL of soy sauce ⁣
20 mL of vegetable oil ⁣
five chopped cloves of garlic ⁣
One chopped onion ⁣
three chopped pieces of celery ⁣
half a tin of chopped tomatoes ⁣
one beef stock cube ⁣
100 mil of red wine ⁣
400 mil of water ⁣
three chopped carrots ⁣
500 g of chopped potatoes⁣
⁣
1. Place the beef in a mixing bowl. Season it with mixed herbs, salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, soy sauce, and 5 mL of vegetable oil. Mix thoroughly to ensure the beef is well-coated with the seasonings.⁣
⁣
⁣
2. Transfer the seasoned beef to a Dutch oven, or a heavy-based pot or pan, and cook over medium heat until the meat is nicely browned. Next, add minced garlic, diced onion, and chopped celery to the pot. Continue by adding half a can of chopped tomatoes and crumble in a beef stock cube. Pour in some red wine and stir everything together. Cover with the lid and let it simmer gently for three hours.⁣
⁣
⁣
3. After three hours, add the carrots and potatoes to the stew. Stir well to combine and place the lid back on. Leave the stew to cook for an additional 45 minutes to an hour, depending on how tender you prefer your vegetables.⁣
⁣
⁣
4. Once the stew is ready, serve it hot with slices of baguette that have been buttered.
⁣

[craigjm]

Thanks everyone. I do a few variations on mash and I use jacket potatoes and a warm cream and butter mix to make them. Variations -

Cheddar cheese
Chilli and garlic
Whole grain mustard
Bacon and spring onion
Black pudding
Stilton bacon and garlic
Dijon mustard

Any suggestion which would work best or an alternative?

For dumplings I usually make them with mixed herbs

[Mr Penguin]

I put mushroom ketchup in to make it taste a little bit earthier.

[sherman]

craigjm said:

Thanks everyone. I do a few variations on mash and I use jacket potatoes and a warm cream and butter mix to make them. Variations -

Cheddar cheese
Chilli and garlic
Whole grain mustard
Bacon and spring onion
Black pudding
Stilton bacon and garlic
Dijon mustard

Any suggestion which would work best or an alternative?

For dumplings I usually make them with mixed herbs

Beef stew doesnt need fancy mash. Just good smooth proper buttered and creamed mash
Full flavour stew and flavoured dumplings dont need to have another additional flavour in the bowl.

[otolith]

The flour in those recipes is important to thicken the gravy.

[craigjm]

otolith said:

The flour in those recipes is important to thicken the gravy.

Yeah that’s a good point

[JKRolling]

I would add a little tomato paste when sweating the veg then add the beef back in (browned in seasoned flour first). Then deglaze with Guinness and reduce. I then add a squeeze of tomato ketchup and dash of Worcestershire sauce, then stock etc.

[tomsugden]

Cook overnight in a slow cooker for the win.

[craigjm]

tomsugden said:

Cook overnight in a slow cooker for the win.

I personally hate slow cookers. For this kind of thing I always use a Dutch pot

[President Merkin]

tomsugden said:

Cook overnight in a slow cooker for the win.

Number one tip in my view. Everything else is just recipe stuff. It's a dish elevated beyond its constituent parts by slow cooking.

[zalrak]

Mix beef stock with:

1 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
3 tbsp Balsamic vinegar
3 tbsp Soy sauce

Game changer.

[craigjm]

President Merkin said:

tomsugden said:

Cook overnight in a slow cooker for the win.

Number one tip in my view. Everything else is just recipe stuff. It's a dish elevated beyond its constituent parts by slow cooking.

It’s not a stew of it’s not slow cooked but I never use slow cookers because you don’t get the same flavour development you do in a Dutch pot in my opinion and you can get a much richer, thicker sauce. I get that an electric slow cooker is easy they are just not for me. Tried a few times and always end up getting rid

[President Merkin]

I never mentioned a slow cooker. It's a process, the tool you use is up to you. Point is you can turn the cheapest ingredients into ambrosia by cooking them slowly & none more so than a stew.