My family don’t eat a lot of beef but I kinda think we should because I want to try all sorts of beef recipes. Beef stew is like a recipe every family should have under their belt for those family meals that will keep you sorted for a few days. I like making beef for that exact reason. It has proteins and vege and gravy where you can either pour over your white rice or soak up with bread.
The thing that I don’t like about beef stew traditionally is having to use red wine. Red wine is not cheap here and it’s not something that I cook with often. Even if I were to get a bottle, I might not use up the entire bottle. I know that it adds more flavour and depth but I’m trying to be economical. We’re not the type to just drink red wine either so the rest of the wine might just go to waste after cooking the stew. So I thought to myself, is there a way to make beef stew without the alcohol. I figured I should amp up with the vege to add more flavour. Hence the green pepper because this is not a common beef stew ingredient.
After I made this, surprisingly the fam likes it very much. So I would call this a success. A big batch of stew can take care of everybody’s meals for at least 2 days and it’s 2 days that I do not have to think about prepping meals.
Beef Stew - Updated
Ingredients
- 500 gms stewing beef/ beef chuck cut to cubes
- 2 carrots chopped
- 1 big onion
- 1/2 green pepper chopped
- 3 celery stalks chopped
- 3 chopped garlic cloves
- 2 potatoes chopped
- 3 tablespoons of tomato paste
- 8 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
- Salt
- Black pepper
- 3 cups beef stock
- Paprika optional
- Dried oregano
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 cup flour
- Garlic powder
- Olive oil
Instructions
- Add some black pepper, garlic powder and dried oregano into the flour.
- Dust the beef cubes with the mixed flour.
- Heat a deep pot with olive oil. Brown the beef cubes in batches. Don't crowd everything together or it will steam instead of brown.
- Take out the beef and set it aside. In the same pot, add a little more oil and add the chopped onions, green pepper and celery. Don't fret about the brown bits at the bottom of the pot. It's full of flavour.
- Saute the vegetables until they're a little soft and have scraped the brown bits out. Add the chopped garlic and saute a little more.
- Add half the stock first and scrape the bottom. Add the rest of the stock. Add the tomato paste and Worcestershire sauce.
- Place the browned beef back into the pot.
- Season with black pepper, paprika, dried oregano and bay leaves. Taste first before you salt. Then add salt to your preference.
- Let it come to a boil, turn the flame down to low and let it simmer and bubble for 2 hours. Check on it after an hour just to adjust any seasonings and also the amount of tomato paste you'd like. I like my stew with more gravy so if it is looking a little dry, add more stock or water.
- After an hour, add the potatoes and carrots. I like them with a little bite and less mushy. If you like super soft carrots and potatoes, add it right from the start.
- As soon as the beef is soft, it is done. Take out the bay leaves. Serve with white rice or bread or in my case here, lovely croissants.
