Beef Stew

[ravkesef]

Nothing like a warm, friendly pot of beef stew to warm up a winter's day. This one is made in a pressure cooker, so it's ready in a jiffy, and has a secret ingredient: anchovies. The finished product has no fishy taste whatsoever, but the anchovy really helps build up the umami in the finished product, which is the beefiest, richest tasting beef stew I've ever had in my life.
Ingredients:

3 # stewing beef. Use chuck or cut up some short ribs. Never use round.

2 onions, chopped medium

2 T tomato paste. (Here's a good use for tomato paste in the squeeze tube.)

3 T olive oil

1 tsp. thyme

1/3 c flour

1 c dry red wine.

2 c beef broth

1 1/2 # red potatoes, in 2 inch pieces

1 # carrots, cut in 1 inch lengths

1/4 c soy sauce

1 anchovy or 1 inch anchovy paste. ( a better idea than opening a can of anchovies and using only one.)

2 bay leaves

1 1/2 c frozen peas

1/4 c fresh minced parsley
Instructions:

1. Dry beef well with paper towels, divide into 2 batches and brown (medium high) each batch in pressure cooker in 1 T oil. Remove beef and put in large bowl.

2. Add 1 T oil to pot, add onions, cook over medium heat until soft, add tomato paste, anchovy and thyme and stir for 30 seconds.

3. Add flour, stir for 1 minute.

4. Add wine, stirring with wooden spoon to scrape up bottom, about 1 minute.

5. Add broth, potatoes, carrots, soy sauce, bay leaves, beef and any juice from the beef.

6. Lock pressure cooker lid, bring up pressure over medium high heat.

7. When pressure is reached, reduce heat to medium low or low, cook for 25 minutes.

8. Remove pot from heat, allow to depressurize for 15 minutes.

9. If any pressure remains in pot, release pressure & remove lid.

10. Defeat stew, remove bay leaves.

11. Stir in frozen peas and let stew sit for 5 min to bring peas up to temp.

12. Add parsley, salt & pepper to taste.

13. Stir & serve.

 

[cortezattic]

Thanks! I've been searching for a good recipe for the pressure cooker! :clap:

(...and I love anchovies!)
Since you already know how this tastes, what do you think about adding other veggies, like parsnip, turnip or celery?

 

[tjameson]

Parsnip is awesome especially in stew! This sounds like a great recipe and makes me think I need a pressure cooker...but I have 3 slow cookers!

 

[ravkesef]

I'm sure you could add these other vegetables, but I would then cut back on the potatoes/carrots by an equivalent amount, because pressure cookers are very sensitive to volume, and if you increase the volume, you have to increase the time, and then your root vegetables would start getting mushy, and the beef would start falling apart. Note that this cooks in only 25 minutes under high-pressure, so that's a fairly quick time. My recipe came out perfectly, with a deep dark rich stew that we enjoyed tremendously. So you really need to be careful with any additional ingredients.
My son has a good slow cooker beef stew recipe that he makes fairly often and he says he enjoys that a great deal. Pressure cookers today are not at all like the pressure cooker of days gone by. They're safer, and far, far easier to operate. We use ours quite a bit for soups, stew, pot roast, and everything we've made in it has come out superior. The top pressure cooker these days seems to be the Fagor 8-quart, costing around $160. A great cooker for the money. I did a 4 pound chuck eye in 1hr 15 min that came out as rich, flavorful and tender as any I've done in the oven in my Le Creuset.

 

[buster]

I use a slow cooker these days for stew. I make an Asian/Hawaiian version of beef stew. Similar to yours but with a knob of ginger, daikon radish and a chunk of kombu (seaweed) instead of anchovies. Usually use chuck roast but Ox tails make it even better! We have either sourdough or rice.

 

[ravkesef]

Sounds like a great recipe. I'll bet the ginger really ramps up the flavor.

 

[dd50]

Ha, the reason I clicked on this topic was to see if someone actually released a tobacco blend named "beef stew" and if it was as bad as it sounded. Nice looking recipe though.

 

[riskybusiness]

This one is my favourite, published in March 2001 by Bon Appétit magazine. The recipe comes from a famous Irish pub in the Grand Caymans called Fidel Murphy's.
IRISH BEEF STEW
Ingredients
1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 1/4 pounds stew beef, cut into 1-inch pieces

6 large garlic cloves, minced

8 cups beef stock or canned beef broth

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon dried thyme

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter

3 pounds russet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 7 cups)

1 large onion, chopped

2 cups 1/2-inch pieces peeled carrots

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Preparation
Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add beef and sauté until brown on all sides, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and sauté 1 minute. Add beef stock, tomato paste, sugar, thyme, Worcestershire sauce and bay leaves. Stir to combine. Bring mixture to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, then cover and simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
Meanwhile, melt butter in another large pot over medium heat. Add potatoes, onion and carrots. Sauté vegetables until golden, about 20 minutes. Add vegetables to beef stew. Simmer uncovered until vegetables and beef are very tender, about 40 minutes. Discard bay leaves. Tilt pan and spoon off fat. (Can be prepared up to 2 days ahead. Cool slightly. Refrigerate uncovered until cold, then cover and refrigerate. Bring to simmer before serving.) Transfer stew to serving bowl. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

 

[ravkesef]

You've sold me, Risky, I'll have to try that out. I intended to mention that my recipe came from America's Test Kitchen (pressure Cooker Perfection ,) slightly modified. In particular, the addition of the anchovy causes the umami to skyrocket. I'm going to give yours a try (looks like there'll be plenty of winter for beef stew,) if only because the addition of that much garlic intrigues me. Simmering it uncovered would give you a nice thick sauce.

 

[sallow]

I use the stove. Short ribs are nice, or a beef shank with the bones. I cook low and slow, and add flour mixed with butter to finish. Worcestershire, a bay leaf and green beans are nice. There is no substitute for a good dose of paprika and pepper on the meat before you brown it.

 

[tobyducote]

Risky..this is a great recipe...I'm cooking it Friday night!!!

 

[ravkesef]

Samcoffeeman wrote

What does "defeat stew" mean??!!

The anchovy thing is interesting. I really like them in ceasar dressing.

Defeat stew= defat stew with a little help from the spell checker. Ya gotta watch these guys. ,
Cooks never make Caesar dressing. We make Caesar Salad.

And of course, anchovies have many more uses. Who knew that they could boost beefy flavor like that?