Cookbook review by Tracey Zabar
Here’s a super simple stew for your first almost-fall dinner in front of the fire. Spend the cold months trying beef and barley soup, made in a pressure cooker; veal chops with spinach and a garlicky gremolata; and a slow-cooked pad Thai.
Recipe excerpted with permission from Meat Illustrated (America's Test Kitchen).
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Best Beef Stew
Serves 6 to 8 | chuck-eye roast
Why This Recipe Works Every culture has its unique version of beef stew, but for this all-American version, we didn’t want to settle for the commonplace. We sought a superlatively rich-tasting but approachable stew with tender meat, flavorful vegetables, and a rich brown gravy. We planned to take a no-holds-barred attitude toward the ingredient list. We browned chuck-eye roast that we cut into cubes, taking care not to crowd the meat in the pan. Along with traditional stew components like onion, carrots, garlic, red wine, and chicken broth, we added glutamate-rich tomato paste, anchovies, and salt pork. Glutamates are compounds that give meat its savory taste, and they contribute considerable flavor to the dish. To mimic the luxurious, mouth-coating texture of beef stews made with homemade stock, we included powdered gelatin and flour. Use a good-quality, medium-bodied red wine, such as a Côtes du Rhône or Pinot Noir, for this stew. Look for salt pork that is roughly 75 percent lean.
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 anchovy fillets, rinsed and minced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 (4‑pound) boneless beef chuck-eye roast, pulled apart at seams, trimmed, and cut into 11/2‑inch pieces
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
1 large onion, halved and sliced 1/8 inch thick
4 carrots, peeled and cut into 1‑inch pieces
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups red wine
2 cups chicken broth
4 ounces salt pork, rinsed
2 bay leaves
4 sprigs fresh thyme
1 pound Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into 1‑inch pieces
1-1/2 cups frozen pearl onions, thawed
2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup water
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees. Combine garlic and anchovies in small bowl; press with back of fork to form paste. Stir in tomato paste and set aside.
2. Pat beef dry with paper towels (do not season). Heat 1 tablespoon oil in Dutch oven over high heat until just smoking. Add half of beef and cook until well browned on all sides, about 8 minutes; transfer to large plate. Repeat with remaining 1 tablespoon oil and remaining beef, leaving second batch of beef in pot after browning.
3. Reduce heat to medium and return first batch of beef to pot. Stir in onion and carrots and cook, scraping up any browned bits, until onion is softened, 1 to 2 minutes. Add garlic mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, until no dry flour remains, about 30 seconds.
4. Slowly add wine, scraping up any browned bits. Increase heat to high and simmer until wine is thickened and slightly reduced, about 2 minutes. Stir in broth, salt pork, bay leaves, and thyme sprigs. Bring to simmer and cover; transfer pot to oven. Cook for 1-1/2 hours.
5. Remove pot from oven; discard salt pork, bay leaves, and thyme sprigs. Stir in potatoes, cover, return pot to oven, and continue to cook until potatoes are almost tender, about 45 minutes.
6. Using wide spoon, skim fat from surface of stew. Stir in pearl onions; cook over medium heat until potatoes and pearl onions are cooked through and fork slips easily in and out of beef (meat should not be falling apart), about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, sprinkle gelatin over water in bowl and let sit until gelatin softens, about 5 minutes.
7. Increase heat to high, stir in gelatin mixture and peas, and simmer until gelatin is fully dissolved and stew is thickened, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve.
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