What makes your beef stew superb?

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that enjoys cooking.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
for personal tastes I like to dredge my meat in seasoned flour first (I use a baggie for this to eliminate the cleaning__ and then immediately brown it in olive or canola oil......if my stew needs further thickening then I add more later but usually I don't have to...one thing that really looks nice in any stew or beef stroganoff is the addition of a browning sauce which I do at the very end and it gives the stew look a nice rich brown color (I use in in stir-fry as well)....the sauce comes in a small brown bottle with a yellow label (mine does) and is labeled Kitchen Bouquet browning sauce.......it's the perfect end-all accent.........
 
What cut did you use for the stew? Could you tell us your procedure and ingredients?
I used shanks, chuck and "stew meat".. other ingredients I used are herbs and spices (bay leaves, cloves etc..), can tomato, tomato paste, carrots, potatoes, onion, garlic, pepper, salt and water since I didn't have stock.

I fried onions, browned the meat, added other ingredients, except potatoes and carrots, and brought to a boil. Then reduced heat and simmered for 90 minutes. Then added potatoes and carrots (after sauteeing a little) and continued simmering for an hour or more..
 
goodness, AM, you're really going to a lot of trouble......must taste great......I'm lazy.....I just brown the meat and then throw everything else in (I use top sirloin so it's not knarly (I love that word) and tough and I buy it on sale when I can as it makes great stroganoff as well---it's ready to go pretty quick)......if it's frozen veggies then it goes in the last 3-5 minutes, however
 
goodness, AM, you're really going to a lot of trouble......must taste great......I'm lazy.....I just brown the meat and then throw everything else in (I use top sirloin so it's not knarly (I love that word) and tough and I buy it on sale when I can as it makes great stroganoff as well---it's ready to go pretty quick)......if it's frozen veggies then it goes in the last 3-5 minutes, however
AM is that me? Well, I'm still an amateur learning to cook by trial and error. Today I want to make Turkish style zucchini fritters, but I don't know what cheese to use instead of feta, which I don't have on hand.
 
oh, my, will you come and cook for me......you are so enthusiastic.........if I was to guess on the cheese for the zucchini instead of feta (which sounds great by the way) I'd go with a sprinkle of parmesan........I really don't know where you are or what you're budget is.......
 
oh, my, will you come and cook for me......you are so enthusiastic.........if I was to guess on the cheese for the zucchini instead of feta (which sounds great by the way) I'd go with a sprinkle of parmesan........I really don't know where you are or what you're budget is.......
Lol, do I sound so enthousiastic.. I also thought parmesan would be a good choice but wasn't sure. Thank you for the tip...
 
What cut did you use for the stew? Could you tell us your procedure and ingredients?

I find the best cuts for stew are usually the toughest, gnarliest cuts out there. Those particular muscles were really worked hard by the critter, and have a slightly stronger taste. Personally, I use either chuck, sirloin, or round steak. If you buy a roast and cut it down into pieces, you will save money as the price / pound is less than pre-packaged "stew meat".

Also, I make a point of making my own stock, usually in 2 gallon batches, then freezing the stock in ice cube trays, and storing the cubes in gallon ziplock baggies. This way, whenever I want to make a stew, I have homemade, high-quality stock, full of gelatin, which gives a good stock it's body and flavor. I don't make "pork" stock, but rather, I always keep chicken, beef, and shrimp stock on hand. As long as there is lots of cartiliage and skin in the chicken stock when I'm simmering it, LOTS of gelatin will render out. As long as I go to the Asian grocery store, I can pick up some beef knuckles, which are LOADED with cartiliage. It usually takes 24 - 36 hours for that cartiliage to break down into gelatin, but is well worth the wait. I have even been known to make a small batch of beef demi-glace if I get a really gelatin-rich batch of beef stock.

While you're at the Asian market, pick up some chicken feet. I'm serious. The best chicken broth I ever made was using a whole cut up chicken, bones saved from a roasted chicken and chicken feet. There is a lot of flavor in feet.
 
in Egypt is was common to get chicken feet with your chicken....fancy that..... along with a few odd and end feathers......not sure if feathers will add to the stock, however.....I believe you cause you have no recourse in KZ but to make your own stock and I will use just about anything
 
DramaQueen, I might just do that. It'll be awhile though, as I'm probably going to make some stock tomorrow night, and I can't get up to the Asian place any time soon. I have three or four gallon-size ziplock baggies FULL of chicken scraps. I'll roast those to caramelize them, then add the roasted scraps to the stockpot with the veggies.

Argamemnon, here's how I usually do a beef stew:

-Preheat the Dutch Oven over high heat. Add a little oil to coat.
-Brown the meat. I usually do this in batches so that the pan doesn't loose temp to fast and starts "simmering" the beef instead of caramelizing it. If you use a really fatty cut, like chuck, you won't need a lot of oil, as the beef fat will render out.
-I usually keep my onions, garlic, celery, carrots, thyme, rosemary, black pepper, salt, and bay leaves in a bowl of some kind. Once the beef is browned and removed from the pan, I add those veggies and caramelize them.
-Once the veggies are caramelized, deglaze the pan. I like to do this with a little red wine, and the liquid that oozed out of the beef while it was resting in a bowl when I caramelized the veggies. Stir and scrape it around to dissolve all the brown fond from the pan.
-Add the stock, bring to a boil, cover, and simmer for about an hour.
-Various frozen veggies, like peas, corn, green beans, as well as fresh diced potatoes are added in the last 10 minutes, bring the stew back to a boil, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes or until the taters are done.
-When done, season to taste with salt and pepper (if you don't already have enough in, remember I add some at the start). Tighten slightly with a cornstarch slurry to desired thickness.

I don't normally have pearl barley on hand, but if I did, I would add some while I was caramelizing the mirepoix and seasonings. That would add a nutty flavor to the stew, and the barley would cook up nice while everything simmered.

Honestly, if I had a shank or two, I would have made stock with that, the day before I made the stew. Remember, I'm a cook by trade, and think in terms of prepping items sometimes days ahead of when I'll actually need them.
 
But the meat takes longer to cook, so you have to wait an hour or more before throwing the vegetables in?
no.......AG.......if you use top sirloin cut into chunks yoiu do not wait an hour............I usually let my meat simmer for about 20-30 minutes and then add the veggies......if you use tougher (gnarly) cuts it will be longer.......that's why I buy this stuff on sale when I can..........I love it and it's lower in fat, too......
 
marjoram (the fresh herb if you can but the bottled if not) sweeter than oregano and not as strong, is really fine in a pot roast or beef stew!
 
no.......AG.......if you use top sirloin cut into chunks yoiu do not wait an hour............I usually let my meat simmer for about 20-30 minutes and then add the veggies......if you use tougher (gnarly) cuts it will be longer.......that's why I buy this stuff on sale when I can..........I love it and it's lower in fat, too......
I see, thanks expatgirl living in Kazakhstan.
 
Argamemnon, I do not precook my potatoes. I dice them about 1/2". Once you add it to the stew, and it comes back to a boil, cover and reduce the heat to a simmer. It will only take ten minutes for the diced tomatoes to cook. I like my potatoes done, but not falling apart.
 
Back
Top Bottom