My beef stew is blah, how's yours?

Question

Last winter I made a couple versions of beef stew, neither of which impressed. Julia Child's very traditional recipe, and the Serious Eats one that has you broiling the beef and using gelatin and doing other serious-eatish stuff. Do you have a favorite recipe that is worth the effort? I had to spend so much time and money and just feel like things are ok.

Answer

I don't have a recipe for beef stew or pot roast. It is comfort food for us and we just make it. Sometimes the veges are just whole boiling onions, carrots and potatoes, then there are times we add turnips and parsnips. Now if you want an "up scale" version, try using this recipe for braised short ribs.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/bistro-style-short-ribs-recipe-1950560

Serve with potato and parsnip mash with a green vegetable.

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possibly one of the most overlooked techniques that is crucial for good stew / ground beef dishes / etc. - browning the meat. very hot pan, not a lot of oil/fat, it needs to get a dark crust _before_ it has time to cook through.

for stuff like stew, beef bourguignon, chili - on and on - don't be afraid to let the beef get seared off to dark - the long cooking and liquids tend to "wash" it off anyway - it's largely sugars which dissolve in liquids. a couple minutes getting a nice brown crust makes an enormous difference.

I don't have a recipe - it's (typically) chuck, potato, onion/leek, carrots, celery, turnips, parsnips. cooked down with broth or beer until the potatoes (starch type) thicken it for gravy. frequently I make it a day ahead and refrigerate / reheat - that also helps infuse all the flavors throughout .

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Mine's fantastic :-)

I just make it recipe-free. Maybe start by being Irish and using lamb?

Easy things to do that should result in a great stew:

Use a dutch oven. 
Salt your meat generously an hour before you start. 
Brown it in some oil or, best, if there's enough beef fat put in in the pot with some water (which will evaporate away but keep the fat from sticking or burning) and cook the fat over medium heat until most of it melts. Remove the solid stuff left over, add Canola oil as needed, and brown the meat.
Also brown half an onion, sliced. 
Add coarsely ground pepper so it can toast in the pan, then garlic, then add your stock and wine before the garlic burns. First deglaze with a cheap but good dry red wine with maybe a little sherry then add the stock.
Use a very good beef stock - use Minor's beef base or Better than Broth. Not the stuff in a box, not bullion cubes. 
Add umami. You won't taste the source, but it amps up the flavor. For six servings, add 3 minced anchovies (they kinda melts away) or a tablespoon of fish sauce. You'll thank me later. 
Add the seasonings your recipe calls for, but no matter what it says add 2-3 thyme sprigs and two bay leaves - remove them before serving. 
Cook it in your dutch oven with the lid cracked open in a 225° oven for an hour and a half. Check seasoning.
Add your veggies, then back in the oven for 45 minutes. Check seasoning.

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Marcella Hazzan has a pretty nice Italian beef stew recipe. Beef stew is definitely not what I think of when I think about Italian food, but it is really good.

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I've done Anne Burrell and Ina Garten's Beef Bourguinon. I preferred Burrell's but I omit the potatoes as I don't like them in stew. Both recipes are available on FoodNetwork.com Marinating the meat overnight in red wine gives it so much flavor.

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Sear, Salt and Season!

Soups and stews that are bland need better bases. 

Follow the advice here, high heat to sear well salted and seasoned meat. Better than bullion beef and vegetable base to flavour the broth.

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I find that if I brown every element before I add it to the stewpot, I get overall better flavor...and it really isn't that hard, I just put a small skillet on another burner and toss the onions, meat, vegetables, and even the tomato paste or thickening agent if I use one, into it at high heat for a short time to get a bit of caramelization on them before they go into the dutch oven. I also agree with earlier posts that recommend you amp up the umami, a dash of fish sauce (be aware that it is salty, so undersalt other elements) or even a splash of strong coffee will add a flavor element. How much money are you spending? Stew should be a fairly cheap dish, if you are using pricey, lean cuts of meat, bear in mind that cheaper cuts with more connective tissue and more fat have better flavor, and lend themselves more to the long, slow braise of a stew.

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Adding a spoon of instant coffee (yes, really) or Marmite also adds some depth to the flavour.

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A very long time ago, I came across a recipe in a cookbook borrowed from the library for Wash Day beef stew. It is cooked in the oven to leave the stove top free for boiling water to do laundry. I brown the meat as others have suggested and also start with well marbled chunks of beef. Put the browned meat in a large casserole dish with slice onion and carrots. My husband prefers adding a can of beef broth but I started out covering the ingredients with plain water after sprinkling with salt and pepper. At one time I used a homemade dried herb mix but have lost the recipe. Now I have a salted herbs mix I keep in the refrigerator for seasoning soups and stews. I might add a tablespoon of this. Something like this https://www.thespruce.com/quebec-style-herbes-salees-recipe-1805693
Then I sprinkle the top with Quaker oats, maybe a small handful. Somehow. The stew makes it's own gravy. I do not add potatoes because I like to serve stew with mashed potatoes on the side.

Answer

Brown the onions. Brown the carrots. Brown the mushrooms. Use a flour seasoned with salt and pepper and one teaspoon sugar per cup of flour to coat the beef before browning it. Use enough salt, added after cooking carefully to not oversalt. I prefer sea salt. I like adding a bit of balsamic vinegar and a half teaspoon of Chinese five spice (or cinnamon and/or allspice) and a teaspoon of whole peppercorns at the start. I like chicken broth as a liquid for beef stew. If I am using wine I like to cook off alcohol in the browning pan before adding it to the cooking pot. A bit of hot pepper flakes never hurts, either.

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I believe using good quality ingredients (your meat especially), and the right technique is more important than the actual recipe in order to have a good beef stew. 

Ingredients: use tough cuts of beef with lots of connective tissue, like beef cheeks, and short ribs. 

Technique: brown the beef with plenty of room in your pan, even if it means doing it in 2 batches. You don't need to caramelise the beef to almost dark brown/blackish, but it should have resulted in 'burnt on bits' on the pan floor. After browning, remove the meat, add your vegetables, and brown again. After your onions etc have caramelised, add the meat back, and put in wine or beer. No need for stock, if you need more liquid just use water. 

Personally I have started to prefer Belgian beef stew with beer over French stews with wine. Recipe is as described in the technique, using Leffe brown beer, only onions, 2 bay leaves, some thyme, and bread brushed with mustard. If you prefer French style stews, this is a good recipe on youtube: https://youtu.be/4XGc7h1mGm8

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Roast your meat, get some extra bones, roast them as well. And your veg as well. Try adding some of your aromatic herbs 20 minutes before serving, so they get hot and get an infusion happening.

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I started making this beef stew a few years ago, and haven't looked back. I make all kinds of other braised beef things, but this is the most flavorful stew-like one I've got going at the moment! I like the salt pork starter, but the flavor key is all that mustard, just makes it sing. 

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1017085-dijon-and-cognac-beef-stew

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Beef and ale is a classic: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/13349/beef-and-stout-stew-with-carrots
Even with dumplings http://www.goodhousekeeping.co.uk/food/warming-soup-and-stew-recipes/beef-and-ale-stew-with-dumplings

This is meant to be warming comfort food.

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Lots of good advice. I have a beef stew kit in the freezer. Bacon fat for browning, tomato paste to be browned after the meat and veg but before deglazing with wine and if you're lucky a jar of beef demi glace, preferably from Williams Sonoma or your favorite local French chef. It only needs a large spoonful or two.

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What cut of beef are you using? I notice the "beef for stew" in supermarkets are frequently cubes cut from the rounds (hindquarters). Beef from the forequarters, such as chuck, is much better for stew.

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Most beef stews are blah to me, until I started trying beef stews flavored with things like orange peel and cloves. And then I had an aha moment and tried Vietnamese beef stew (bo kho)! AMAZING. French style beef stew, but with lemongrass, fish sauce, 5spice, star anise... yay flavortown for this flavorhead. Warm and comforting, but fragrant with spices, it's great served Vietnamese style with a fresh baguette for sopping. Try it!

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I like to use a piece with the bone in. But that is getting harder to find for some reason. Seven bone or “O” bone are both nice if you can get them. Otherwise, I like chuck. I like to brown in as big of pieces as will fit in the pan. No single recipe but the following usually go into the pan. Onions, garlic, tomato paste, carrots, celery. Spices usually don’t stray too far from thyme, oregano and bay leaf. Cooking liquid is red wine and or beef broth. I throw the veggies when done and refrigerate overnight. It makes it easier to take the fat off and the flavors seem to come together better. This also gives it a cleaner flavor. I’ll cook new veggies to serve with it. You can thicken if you like with a beurre manie. Or, simply reduce it a bit. If you want to gild the lilly, demi is also a nice addition. I like More Than Gourmet.

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I've been making the Judy Rodgers Zuni Cafe Beef Brasato for years, and love it. She dry brines with sea salt (advises up to 3 days before if possible), a tablespoon tossed with 4 pounds of beef shoulder chuck, tied up (a roast in one piece). She calls for a bottle of "hearty red" wine that is simmered to reduce to just over 1/2 cup. When ready to cook, brown the meat stove top or under broiler. Browned meat goes in a Dutch oven or brasier, with bay leaves and cracked peppercorns strewn over. Surround/crowd the meat with an onion, a large carrot, and a small celery root all cut into chunks and a handful of garlic cloves, unpeeled. Add the reduced red wine and about 4 cups of homemade beef stock to come up 1 inch or so in the pan (may not need all 4 cups of stock at this point). Bring to a simmer then cover tightly and put in preheated 325 degree oven. Turn beef over after about 2 hours, recover, and cook for another hour or so before turning again. Continue cooking another half or full hour until fork tender. You can uncover the last 30 minutes to glaze top if desired. 

Take out beef. Strain out the vegetables and press into a puree. Skim fat, add more stock or a bit of balsamic vinegar to sauce, and add some of the vegetable puree to thicken. 

She mentions as side possibilities polenta, a separate batch of root vegetables roasted or braised or mashed, braised fennel, spatzle, lentils braised in red wine, watercress salad. Really good, to our taste.

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Add fish sauce

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Thanks everyone for all your ideas! I will read through them this weekend when I have some quiet time (and when it is not 80 degrees with 90% humidity in NYC) and report back on my results!

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This is one of the best and most detailed cooking videos I have seen on beef stew. I'm sure that if you follow this, you'll be rewarded with an amazing stew. 

http://youtu.be/dThMqOKuMoA

Answer

Putting some spark in a blah stew -- if you're using a good recipe & getting blah results, a few tips to punch it up:
 -- make sure the meat is thoroughly browned before starting the braise, to get max caramelization & Maillard
 -- add more acid (citrus, vinegar, wine, whatever)
 -- add more salt -- this is most effective while the stew is still cooking, not at serving time
 -- add more umami (e.g. mushrooms, Worcestershire, anchovies, fish sauce, MSG)

Acid, salt & umami are all powerful flavor enhancers - without them, food often tastes bland and dull. You don't want to add so much of one that the final product tastes sour or salty or mushroomy/fishy, but if you don't have enough the dish is just lifeless.

(Also, if you were using a slow cooker, don't. For some reason it's flavor death to stews & braises, though I still like mine for soups.)

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I've learned over the years that I do not like beef stew recipes that involve potatoes or wine. DH keeps trying to convince me, but it doesn't work!

This is the backbone of my current (only) beef stew: https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/beef-and-guinness-pie-230754 - but I add a few chopped carrots and parsnips (maybe 4-5 of each, peeled and cut into chunks) and up the liquid: 1.5 C each beef broth and Guinness (= 1 bottle). I also skip the peppercorns and use dried thyme, simmer on the stovetop for about 90 min. Finally, I serve with crusty bread instead of the puff pastry topper.

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After years of searching, I finally found a delicious, fairly easy one on a cooking blog a couple of years ago. It has been my go-to since!
https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/beef-stew-with-carrots-potatoes.html

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My versions are just the way I like them. I now use Costco "beef for stew", which others here on CH tell me are a mixture of ends of various good cuts, cubed. In the past I'd get a chuck roast and cube it.

This oven version, previously posted in the January 2016 DOTM - Stews - discussion, involves no browning and includes a can of mushroom soup. You can add a small amount of work do a homemade version of the soup if you want. Not at all "chow-ish" in fussiness of preparation but delicious - https://www.chowhound.com/post/stews-home-cooking-dish-month-january-2016-1030283?commentId=9788935

For other "interesting" uses of beef-for-stew meat, maybe try this Harvest Beef Stew which includes both fruit and veg, and was happily enjoyed here - ready in about 2 hours http://www.food.com/recipe/harvest-day-beef-stew-103149

And this version, popular in the 1980's, still welcomed at our table, uses artichokes - Truckadero Beef Stew - 
http://www.food.com/recipe/truckadero-stew-241764
Note that if you use convenience / refrigerator biscuits you want small-sized ones, or cut Grands style into 6 pieces.

CH'er ad7yn linked to this version of a great stew from the Phillipines, Kaldereta, with the hint that her family always uses beef in it. 
http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2011/02/filipino-kaldereta-recipe-with-peanut-butter.html

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As stated by others, using appropriate salt and getting a good sear on the meat, then deglazing for the mirepoix is crucial; but beyond that I prefer to make a dark roux as thickener rather than what's usually suggested. There's just something about that roux for depth of flavor - make ahead or buy online (savoie).

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I don't like searing - it's too fiddly and time consuming, and produces a lot of smoke and spatter (I don't have a venting hood). So I depend on other things to develop flavor - long braise, spices and sauces, and chemicals.

My latest stew was a Mexican flavored beef heart, done in the Instant Pot. I started sauteing diced onion in the IP (developed some color). Added diced trimmed beef heart (lean, but very 'beefy'), small can of Mexican cooking salsa, dollop of chipotle puree, Knor chicken-tomato powder (my preferred source of salt and MSG). Pressure cook for 50 minutes. Adjust salt, added Wondra for thickening.

The result was smooth dark brown sauce with a hot edge, plus just tender enough chunks of heart.

My other flavorings include tomato paste (TJ's squeeze tubes), soy sauce, Maggi sauce, better than bouillon base, salt, pepper, fish sauce, anchovies.

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I made a delicious stew yesterday. One of my best.

Chuck roast cut into chunks, trimmed of some but not all of the fat.

Salted and peppered generously. Browned deeply. This is essential to a deeply meaty-flavored stew. I used a splatter screen and didn't fuss with it. I was actually able to sit and watch the Pats-Jets game for most of the browning. Remove from pan.

added chopped onion and about 2T of tomato paste

Deglazed with red wine, added beef broth, fish and soy sauce and a bay leaf

Added meat back in, added a little flour slurry

Cooked meat for 1:15; added potatoes, sweet potatoes and carrots. Cooked for another hour.

Very savory, tender meat, fully cooked veggies (overcooked sweet potato but still intact) excellent gravy

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Any opinions on whether stews are better cooked on the stove or in a crockpot? I'm finding that cooking beans and peas turn out well in my crockpot, I no longer scorch them from cooking too hot or too long.
 I pretty much set it up and go to work https://probake.com/ and as my work is about baking, not cooking, I'm always looking for good advice!

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A good point that needs to be made: You can make a very good roux by toasting flour in the oven. I can't throw the numbers down in this post, but Youtube has some videos.

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Our old Good Housekeeping [1940s to 1950s] has a great recipe for beef stew. I don't have it at hand, but two important ingredients are a pinch of ground allspice and 1 or 2 bay leaves. They make a critical difference in the flavor of the stew. Time to dig that book out of storage!

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My beef stew is blah, how's yours?

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