BEEF STEW - How do you make yours?

[butch-innj]

I love a good homemade beef stew - even in the summer.

I always go back to my Moms way of making it by starting out with a well marbled chuck roast and cubing it to the size I want the pieces to be and cutting out and throwing away all the yucky stuff.

My Mom always made hers in the oven and it cooked for hours and then towards the end she'd put the temperature up so the stew would get boiling pretty hard and then she'd put drop biscuits on the top.

I'm not THAT industrious, I make mine in a crock pot or slow cooker and make the biscuits separately.

My mouth is watering right now !

I take the cubes of meat and coat them with flour and brown them in my cast iron skillet. I get them VERY brown.
I also put in the usual carrots, onions, celery, sometimes some green pepper, mushrooms and a little garlic and a few dashes of worchestershire sauce for richness. When its almost done I thicken the gravy by putting flour and water in a jar and shaking it up really hard and pouring some of that into the stew and letting it thicken.
Goooooood stuff !

 

[yogitunes]

What do you call a herd of bulls yankin in the fields?

BEEF-STROKIN-OFF!

where do you think the white sauce comes from?

grossed out yet?

 

[peteski50]

BEEF STEW - How do you make yours!

Hey Butch,
I usually make it in the pressure cooker. Most times if utilized correctly the meats come out tender.
Peter

 

[andrewinorlando]

Definitely in the pressure cooker....any basic stew recipe is adaptable to the pressure cooker....

 

[butch-innj]

But......

pressure cookers cook very fast and I'm afraid that the veggies in the stew would come out like mush.
How would you know how long to cook the stew so the meat is done and the veggies arent mushy?

I love my pressure cooker for doing a roast though.

 

[peteski50]

Pressure cooker!

Hi Butch,
A lot of times I cook my vegetables in the microwave steamer. And I cook the stuff seperatly. I'm still no pro with the pressure cooker, but still learning. I think it is great for roasts and I even cooked a corned beef in it. If done correctly everything is so tender.
But after all that I'm still a big pasta lover over meat.
I wish their was a class to do pressure cooking.
Peter

 

[petek]

I also cook it in the pressure cooker even more now since I got that electronic one a year or two ago.. just toss everything in, after browning the meat, close the lid, press one button and voila, in less than 45 minutes beef stew that tastes like it's been simmering for hours.

Heck I sound like an infomercial for the Magic Bullet blender.

 

[ronhic]

Oven all the way here...

...and slow...

500 g(1 lb) gravy beef or equiv. casserole steak
2 Tablespoons butter
1 " oil
2 onions chopped
1-2 clove garlic chopped
125g mushrooms sliced
2-3 carrots chopped
2 sticks celery chopped
1 cup stock
1 1/2 cups dark beer (guiness/porter)
bay leaf
sprig of thyme
salt
pepper
plain flour

-cube steak
-flour/salt/pepper in a bag
-coat steak
-brown in butter & oil and remove to casserole dish
-add vege & garlic and 'brown' (start the cooking off)..remove to casserole...
-add bay leaf and thyme to casserole
-add stock and beer to browning pan and use to 'loosen' the cooked on bits...remove to casserole
-the liquid should be 'just' covered...top up with stock if it doesn't

Cover and cook in the oven on a low-medium heat 125-150c (250-300f) for 3hrs minimum...preferably 5hrs

Check regularly and adjust seasoning about the 2hr mark...especially if using freshly cracked pepper

 

[toploader55]

Pressure Cookers.

As I like them and find them "Crazy Usefull" , As a Chef, I like to Braise the meat slowly in the oven. They can cook Brown Rice in 1/2 the time. But when it comes to Beef Stew, I like the traditional method that takes 2-3 hours in the oven.
Braising (With Vegetables and Stock), is the only way for me to cook Stews or a Potroast. Hence my e-mail address "[email protected]. LOL

 

[alr2903]

Guys, just cook the meat a few minutes less than you think, let the pressure die down, add your veggies and cook for the time the vegetable require. You can even put your pressure cooker under a running faucet to reduce the pressure quickly prior to adding your vegetables and returning to stove/pressure, for the veggies.

 

[spankomatic]

I use my presure cooker too...

 

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[imperialmarkxii]

i'm with Butch-inNJ

I can enjoy Beef Stew any time of the year. Haven't made any in a while, but when i do i brown the meat w/some olive oil, AND onions in a Dutch oven w/ a heavy bottom. Then follow with the usual celery carrots potatoes,seasonings; & beef stock or broth. SLOW SIMMER til meat is tender, a veggies are done. At that time I'll add a little roux, to thicken as desired.

IF making it is not convenient, there is a restaurant, Kings Hawaiian; that runs a CLOSE second to a GOOD homemade beef stew. They say it's a favorite with the "Locals" (Hawaii). ...

-Russell

 

[mixguy]

Pressure Cooker Beef Stew

I make beef stew much like alr2903 does, braising the beef with seasonings under pressure for 8 min and cooling the cooker quickly , then adding the veggies and cooking for 2 more min under pressure. Still raise my own cattle here! better beef than from any supermarket, aged beef cames close.

 

[petek]

Many people are fearful of pressure cookers but the modern ones, stovetop or electric have pressure relief valves or plugs so they won't "blow up". Electronic ones like above and mine take away all the guesswork and many aren't that expensive. I have a Breville or is it Bravetti.. anyhoo I've seen mine sold under various names for as little as about $49
In the words of my hero Ron Popeil, just set it AND FORGET IT

 

[whirlcool]

You won't believe the number of people who are scared of pressure cookers. Most of them heard stories way back from the thirties or forties about how they can explode.

And you are correct. Modern pressure cookers are all about safety. The way the lids are designed, the pressure helps keep the lid engaged to the bottom. The only way you are going to open a hot one is if all the pressure has been released.

I actually know a few people (my nutty sister included) that think a pressure cooker can actually blow up while sitting on a shelf in one of the kitchen cabinets. You often hear these people say "I wouldn't have one of those dangerous things in my house!"

If only they knew what they were missing!

 

[frigilux]

I use a slow-cooker (Crock-Pot®) or the oven. I'm particularly fond of the recipe from Cook's Illustrated.

While I haven't used my pressure cooker for years, I don't worry about it exploding any more than I do, oh, say, the gas water heater sitting in my attached garage; or the 15 year-old car sitting about 10 feet from it.

 

[toggleswitch2]

~You can even put your pressure cooker under a running faucet to reduce the pressure quickly prior to adding your vegetables and returning to stove/pressure, for the veggies.

I though I had heard that a quick cool-down pulls the juices out of the roast.

 

[butch-innj]

Relieving the pressure - ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

I use the pointed end of a chop stick and push the pressure
thing down....its alot faster than running it under cold water.
I just stand back a little when I do it or I end up with steamed up glasses !

Works for me.

 

[mixguy]

Rapid Cool Down of Meats

I never quickly reduce pressure when pressure cooking a roast or other large cut of meat especially eye of round or round steak. True the sudden release of pressure the heating a pressurizing again would make some meats less juicy. Recipes in those situations have direction to "allow pressure to drop of its own accord," once the heat source is turned off.

 

[whitekingd]

Never the same way twice!!

But I love to make mine in my Presto Meat-Master pressure cooker!!

 

[xraytech]

As much as I love my electric pressure cooker I got for Christmas, I do not make beef stew in it,
I like to use my 8 qt Farberware pot for stew.
I start by flouring 2 lbs of stew meat in flour seasoned with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
then I brown the meat in bacon drippins ( I still have a big drippins jar in the fridge and I brown or fry most things in bacon grease)
Then I add water and beef boullion cubes and some burgandy wine, also add about 3-4 tablespoons of Hungarian paprika and cover and let simmer for 45 min or so. Then I add chunks of carrots(never baby carrots), chunks of potatoes and 1 can of green peas juice included and more seasonings if needed. Then I cover and let simmer slowly for another 1 hour. Then I add 2 large onions cut in wedges and let simmer for another hour. After all the vegetables are tender and the broth is thickened I usually mix 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and 1/4 cup water and pour into the stew and bring to a boil to thicken it up, I like a very thick, stew usually thicker than a gravy.
After it is thickened to my liking it is ready to serve.

I ALWAYS serve beef stew over home made buttered egg noodles

 

[norgeway]

We pressure here in the south honey.

Take one good old wood handle model 40 Presto,put on 1959 Caloric range,get good and hot,add some bacon grease ,olive oil for the health nuts,brown beef well,add a beef bouillon cube ,water to cover a clove or 2 of garlic and a sprig of rosemary, put on lid ,use high heat until 15 lbs is reached,cook about 45 min set off heat let pressure drop naturaly, I usually serve with mashed potatoes and green beans and some homade biscuits,,If you want veggies ,take off after 30 min,add pressure for 10 more min,cool quickly I am southern,so I like veggies done