Wintertime
is stew time. A good stew warms you in
places a roaring fire, or even a snifter of Armagnac can’t reach. Although,
Armagnac is a step in the right direction.
I
am an unapologetic carnivore and while I do love seafood, chicken and pork,
when it comes to stew, my taste buds beg for beef.
Beef
stew is boring you say? Ok, let’s clear
away the childhood visions of bland brown gravy and meat and throw in some
flavors your stunted imagination may not think of when you think of stew. Beer.
Rosemary. Lemon. Roaring fire. Red wine. Flaming libido.
Been
married a while? Sorry, guess I
shouldn’t have mentioned flaming libido.
Didn’t mean to make you cry. Have
another brandy. There are better things in life than ….no, hell no, there are
no better things in life! But this stew
comes close. You’re stuck, I can tell. Better leave the bottle. Aside from this delightful recipe, brandy is
the only consolation I can offer.
But
back to stew. By the way, why do we call
it beef when the meat comes from cattle?
Why do we call it pork when the meat comes from pigs? Blame it on the Normans who conquered Britain
in 1066 and brought the French language to the English court. French words like boeuf and porc took
over. French was the language of English
royalty and the upper classes and English was the language of the peasantry
until about 1450. Even today the motto
of the English Monarch is in French, “Dieu
et Mon Droit.” God and My Right.
Did
I say, ‘back to stew?” Well, this time I
really mean it!
Lemony Beer and Rosemary Beef
Stew
3
lbs Natural Chuck roast, cut into 11/2 inch cubes
2
Cups beef stock (I use Bovril and water to make the stock)
4
Carrots, peeled and cut on the bias
12
Button mushrooms quartered (I use the brown ones)
1
Can tomato paste
1
16oz bottle of beer (I use English ale, and have also used Irish stout, but any beer will do)
1
Large onion, diced
9
Cloves garlic, smashed, hard ends removed
2
Large sprigs rosemary
Juice
of one fresh lemon (I also added the lemon rind. Use a regular cheese grater...saves time)
Salt
and pepper as desired.
Olive
oil for braising beef and vegetables
Heat
oven to 275ºF
Let’s do it!
Add
a few squirts of olive oil to a large frying pan and braise the beef in three
batches, adding salt and pepper to each batch, as desired. As each batch is
braised, toss it into a large bowl.
Use
a cup of beef broth to deglaze the pan and pour it over the beef. Let the beef
rest while you braise the vegetables, except for the mushrooms. Use a stew pot to braise the vegetables.
About a 3 minute braise.
Put
the stew pot on the stove, add the beef, the second cup of beef broth, the
mushrooms, the beer, tomato paste, and lemon juice. Stir and bring to a boil. Toss in the sprigs of rosemary. Don’t bother
to pull off the leaves, they’ll come off in the cooking.
Cover
the stew pot and slide it into the preheated oven.
I
let my stew cook for about 4 hours, but you may not have to wait that
long. When the meat is ‘fall apart
tender,’ the dish is ready to please your friends, confound your enemies and
rebrand the cold winter as a time of pleasure.
It’s
at this point I made mashed potatoes and opened a bottle of dark red Rioja
wine. I let it breathe for 30 seconds
before I was overcome by an unrelenting thirst.
Not
still thinking about the libido? Well,
I’ve done my job.
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