I wanted to make beef stew for the first time tonight, but I’m having a little trouble with my usual method. Generally, if I want to make something new, I look at a bunch of recipes online to get a sense of the basics, then pick and choose from the various plans the details that sound good to me.
With beef stew, however, there seems to be a lot of disagreement over pretty much everything, and I’m having trouble figuring out how I should go about getting to the results I want. Any ideas at all would be great. Full recipes are cool, but fundamentally I’m looking for concepts here.
Some specific questions:
– Beef stock vs. water? Use both? In approximately what ratios? Benefits/drawbacks of either?
– Can the potatoes boil for hours without disintegrating, or do they have to go in 30-40 minutes before it’s done? (I have the time, so I want the stew to simmer for an extra-long time.)
– Added flour to thicken the sauce: yea or nay? If “yea,” at any old time during cooking, or only at a specific point? I want the broth to have at least some thickness to it.
– I want to use lots of garlic: best way to do so?
– Tomato sauce? Tomato paste? Neither? If either, when?
– I made about six pounds of garlic-parmesan mashed potatoes last night, so I’m thinking I could go easy on the potatoes in the stew since I’ll likely have the mashed ones as a side dish every night for the next week. Any other good complementary pieces to the stew (besides carrots)? I dislike onions.
– What am I likely forgetting?
Thanks much. Again, any ideas, whether I mentioned them or not, would be a big help.
– Beef stock vs. water? Use both? In approximately what ratios?
Water. Betty Crocker says it, I believe it, and that settles it.
– Can the potatoes boil for hours without disintegrating, or do they have to go in 30-40 minutes before it’s done? (I have the time, so I want the stew to simmer for an extra-long time.)
20-30 minutes and no longer.
– Added flour to thicken the sauce: yea or nay? If “yea,” at any old time during cooking, or only at a specific point? I want the broth to have at least some thickness to it.
Yea. Dissolve it in some water first, then stir it in a minute or two before serving.
– Tomato sauce? Tomato paste? Neither? If either, when?
Gag me!
– I made about six pounds of garlic-parmesan mashed potatoes last night, so I’m thinking I could go easy on the potatoes in the stew since I’ll likely have the mashed ones as a side dish every night for the next week. Any other good complementary pieces to the stew (besides carrots)? I dislike onions.
Crockpot. Upside: No worry. Downside: Takes 6-8 hours.
Hint #2:
Start with an envelope of Lawry’s or McCormick’s beef stew seasoning mix. Follow the directions. Play around with it until you get comfortable. Then after a few tries, skip the envelope.
I just made a big crockpot of stew Saturday night and I swear to God it tastes better every single time. Just had some for lunch today.
My secret? Tons of garlic and a lot of Valpolicella wine. Oh, and some tomatoes. No need for stock.
I’ve made beef stew with just water but I like more beef flavor, so I use boullion (sp?) cubes, and a few drops of Kitchen Bouquet for a nice dark color and even more flavor.
I don’t thicken it but I like my stew a bit soupy. If I was gonna thicken it, I’d use a water-cornstarch thickener.
Are you using stew beef? Stew beef has the most flavor but it can be tough. I brown it and simmer it for awhile before adding the veggies.
I find that a bit of paste, say a 2 inch squeeze from the tube, adds just the right underlying richness, without turning the stew into tomato soup.
As for potatoes, I have never had them disintegrate on me, even when tossed in at the beginning of the stew. I don’t know if it’s because I use whole new potatoes or what.
Don’t add the flour paste so soon before serving, you need to give it at least 15 minutes at a simmer to cook out the raw flour taste. Making a roux is a much better idea. If you forgot to do this and are at the end, use arrowroot powder instead, you don’t get the raw taste with that.
I like the mushrooms idea. Just bought some the other day, actually. I enjoy them, but I suck at preparing them. Throwing them in a boiling stew after browning should pretty much cover up any mistakes on my part, however.
Despite my hate for onions, I’ve had stews that included them as an ingredient and had no trouble just eating around them. I may throw in a small amount just for cover (my roommate will presumably be having some as well, and he loves onions).
I’ll be quartering the potatoes, so I guess I’ll throw them in towards the end.
– When to throw in the carrots and mushrooms?
Lots of good ideas so far. Keep 'em coming!
I don’t know what to say. If I boil/simmer potatoes longer than 30 minutes or so, they start to become mashed potatoes. Maybe if you don’t stir, they soften but stay intact.
I don’t do crock pot cooking, and rarely cook any vegetable longer than 30-40 minutes, except for tomato sauce.
Stew is not so much a recipe as an idea. The wonderful thing about soups and stews is that you can make them a different way every time, and they will usually turn out great.
I brown the meat first, in some olive oil. In the same oil, I will cook the pieces of onion until they’re limp and transparent. These are my rules, but after that, just about anything goes. Stew MUST have onions in it. If it’s going to be a true stew, then I add some flour to the oil and stir, let it brown a bit, then add the liquid.
I use some water, add beef flavor base (sort of like boullion, but it’s a paste that comes in a jar), some dry red wine, and a SMALL can of V8. This gives just enough tomato flavor, but it really needs to be added at the end. I add some sort of starch, which could be potatoes, rice, barley, or pasta. Pasta needs to be added at the end, as otherwise it will disintegrate. I always try to put in carrots and celery. Too many carrots will make it too sweet, though. A small turnip is a great addition. I look through my freezer and see if I have any odds and ends of frozen veggies. If I do, then it goes in the soup. Sometimes I put in a can of VegAll, undrained. I don’t use the salt-free kind, just the regular kind.
I begged my mother to teach me how to make stew in a crockpot, and I finally made it yesterday. She has a lot of the same ideas that you do I used water, with a couple of packets of beef boullion mixed in. The meat (1/2 of a 3lb roast) had been partially cooked and cubed the night before. I knew from past experience that potatoes do disintegrate…but only if you cut them up too small. As long as you don’t dice them, they come through just fine, so I made sure they were about 1" chunks. Carrots, on the other hand, are too mushy (for our liking anyway) if they’re in there the whole time, so they don’t go in until the last 1.5 hours, along with a whole onion - only whole because only one person actually will eat it. Small amounts of diced garlic and onion power, along with a bay leaf, finished it off. Oh, and for dumplings, right before it’s done follow the biscuit recipe on a box of Jiffy, pour it over the stew, and let it steam for 20 minutes or so.
It was pretty good, so I’ll be following the method again in the future.
Red potatoes aka new potatoes are much waxier and will hold up to long cooking. Idahoes and Russets are starchier and will turn to mush.
I personally prefer golden fingerling potatoes in my stew with the skins on. Baby new potatoes work too but I like the irregular shape of the fingerlings.
You’ll want to wait until right before serving on the mushrooms, otherwise they have a tendency to take on a lot of water. What I do some of the time is saute mushroom slices in butter (in a nice heavy pan - cast iron if at all possible) until deep brown and then serve them separately. I sprinkle some of those bad boys right on top. It’s wonderful.
For onion haters, go to the frozen foods and buy a package of frozen pearl onions. For a crock pot stew, you can just toss 'em in frozen; for quicker cooking, you might want to thaw (and, carmelize maybe) beforehand.
They’re big enough for the onion haters to easily fish out, but not pungent enough for the onion lovers to keel over upon biting into one.
I know, I know. We have one. I just don’t use it. My mom told me as a young man that every bachelor should use one. Otherwise we’ll suffer from malnutrition until we get married.
I used water, with a couple of packets of beef boullion mixed in. The meat (1/2 of a 3lb roast) had been partially cooked and cubed the night before. I knew from past experience that potatoes do disintegrate…but only if you cut them up too small. As long as you don’t dice them, they come through just fine, so I made sure they were about 1" chunks. Carrots, on the other hand, are too mushy (for our liking anyway) if they’re in there the whole time, so they don’t go in until the last 1.5 hours, along with a whole onion - only whole because only one person actually will eat it. Small amounts of diced garlic and onion power, along with a bay leaf, finished it off. Oh, and for dumplings, right before it’s done follow the biscuit recipe on a box of Jiffy, pour it over the stew, and let it steam for 20 minutes or so.
I can cook, mom!