Best Ever Beef Stew (Recipe 157 of 150)

Stew is a pretty basic, and pretty simple recipe to make. Yet, I consistently screw it up. I can never get the right balance of flavor without getting too salty or too something. 

To call a recipe "the best ever" has a pretty high bar to hit. And yet, this recipe was spot on.

I followed everything - well, I cut it in half, but otherwise I followed the recipe to the letter. I measured everything and did exactly what the recipe says. And you know what? It was a very yummy stew. 

A couple of notes in the instructions below to make it a bit more clear. I also would use a nicer cut of meat than "stew meat". It doesn't cook for too long and stew meat needs a lot more time to get tender. I, unfortunately, used stew meat and while I cut it in small pieces, it didn't get as tender as I'd like. When I make it again I'd cook it for longer than 30 minutes. 

Make this stew. It's hearty and I'm sure the leftovers tomorrow for lunch are going to be YUMMY.

Best Ever Beef Stew

Recipe from Damn Delicious

Serves 8

• 2 T olive oil
• 2 pounds top sirloin steak, diced
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 medium sweet onion, diced
• 2 large carrots, peeled and diced
• 2 celery ribs, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 8 ounces cremini mushrooms, halved
• 3 T all-purpose flour
• 2 T tomato paste
• 1/2 c dry red wine
• 2 1/2 c beef stock
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 large russet potato, peeled and cut in 1/2-inch chunks
• 2 T chopped fresh parsley leaves

Heat olive oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Season steak with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Working in batches, add steak to the stockpot and cook, stirring occasionally, until evenly browned, about 6-8 minutes; set aside.

Add onion, carrots and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 3-4 minutes.

Add garlic and mushrooms, and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender and browned, about 3-4 minutes.

Sprinkle in the flour and tomato paste and cook for about 1 minute. 

Keep the temp up to medium high and stir in wine, scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the stockpot.

Stir in beef stock, thyme, bay leaves and steak. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until beef is very tender, about 30 minutes.

Stir in potato; simmer until potatoes are just tender and stew has thickened, about 20 minutes. Remove and discard thyme sprigs and bay leaves. Stir in parsley; season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Serve immediately.