Beef Stew in Red Wine. Recipes

It’s officially spring on Friday but the weather here is still very cold. We love having stew in this wintery kind of weather. There's something so comforting about a bowl of deeply rich succulent braised beef with carrots, onions, and potatoes. It's hearty, wholesome and simply delicious. This beef stew is flavored with red wine, thyme, and orange peel. Sounds fancy, doesn't it? It's not, and it is really easy to prepare. I serve the stew with some homemade biscuits but you can have it with rice, warm crusty bread or mashed potatoes.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pound beef chuck shoulder roast, cut into 1 1/2" pieces (season with some salt and pepper)
4 carrots – clean and cut into big cubes
6 small potatoes - peel, clean and cut in half
1 large onions - cut into small cubes
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 cups of good quality red wine
2-3 cups of beef stocks
2 fresh thyme sprigs
orange zest strip ( about 3-inch)
2 bay leaves
4 tbsp of flour
Salt, pepper and sugar to taste

1. Warm up a large heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat with the 3 tbsp of olive oil. While the pan is heating, toss the beef in the flour to coat. Shake off the excess flour
2. Brown the beef in the hot pan, being careful not to over crowd the pan, you might have to work in batches. Thoroughly brown all of the cubes on all sides. Once all the meat has been browned remove it to a plate.
3. Add in a bit more oil if needed to the pan and add in garlic and onions. Sautee for a few minute and add in the wine to the pan and bring up to a simmer while you scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon being sure to loosen up all those tasty brown bits.
4. Once the wine has gotten hot add the browned meat, thyme, orange zest strip, bay leaves and beef stock. Bring the mixture up to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer, cover and cook on low heat for 2 hours.
5. After 2 hours add in potatoes and carrots. Turn the heat up slightly and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes more, until the vegetables and meat are tender. Check seasoning and you might need to add a bit of sugar to balance out the acid from the red wine. Serve warm.

Note : Homemade Herb Biscuits recipe coming up next.