Tyler Florence's Ultimate Beef Stew

Our "cold" days are pretty numbered living here in Arizona. Any kind of chill in the air has us running for jackets, boots and scarves along with warm comfort food like soups and stews. Maybe it's because our winter season is so short that these meals are looked forward to and beloved. We are quite spoiled with the weather in Arizona, especially during the fall/winter/spring months. What we consider "cold" is pretty laughable by the rest of the country's standards. However I'm convinced that in order to survive our extremely hot summers our blood thins and once the temperatures dip below 65 degrees we are just not equipped anymore to take the cold. It is pretty humorous to watch all of the tourists flocking to Arizona during this time of year. Most of the "natives" are wearing winter clothes, but you can pick out all the tourists sporting t-shirts, shorts and flip flops once the thermometer hits 60. It's a heat wave, especially if you've just arrived from North Dakota, Wisconsin or any other northern state. 

Taking full advantage of the temperatures dipping last weekend, my husband was craving beef stew. Not just any old beef stew, but Tyler Florence's Ultimate Beef Stew. I have made a few beef stews over the years and all of them were an improvement over my first encounter with "Dinty Moore", which my husband introduced me too while he was in the military. Beef stew can be extremely blah or it can be a fantastic, flavorful meal. Tyler's recipe falls into the latter category.

Let me start with prefacing that this is NOT a meal that is cooked in 30 minutes. This is one recipe that requires time, but the end result is well worth the effort. This is definitely a weekend meal for us since weekdays are always busy. This is also not the cheapest of meals, especially if you use quality ingredients. However, I can justify the expense many times over by realizing that taking a family of 5 to a restaurant would be way more expensive. I followed the recipe pretty closely, but thought I would share a few pointers that I picked up while cooking this recipe. First off, the recipe calls for 2 cups of flour. This is an utter waste. The flour is used to coat your cubed stew meat and I used 3/4 of a cup at most. So start with one cup, it will be plenty. Secondly, this recipe calls for 1 bottle of red wine. It is important to use a good, well rounded bottle, something you would enjoy drinking as well. Do NOT use cooking wine, cooking wine is an abomination as far as I'm concerned and should never be used to cook with, it will ruin pretty much every dish. Also, if you don't like cooking with wine, then I would suggest finding a different recipe. There are no substitutions in this case, since the wine and acidity will help break down your meat, add flavor, depth and will overall end up making this meal extraordinary. I used a good middle of the road wine (Murphy-Goode: Liar's Dice), that I typically have on hand and it compliments this dish exquisitely.

I also used Yukon gold potatoes, rather then small new potatoes since this is what I usually have at home and it tasted great. The recipe calls for pearl onions, this is were I messed up slightly and simply forgot to grab some at the store. Instead of running back out, I decided to substitute with 1 large yellow onion, which I chopped and sauteed in 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil before adding. 

This dish calls for ground cloves and a slice of orange zest. I briefly considered leaving it out, since in all honesty it sounded strange to me, but I'm glad I decided against it and went for it. You won't be able to detect either, but they added to the overall complexity of the dish. Last, but not least, the recipe calls for thyme sprigs. I used some butcher's twine to tie them together. Brilliant idea and much easier to remove once the dish is cooked than trying to sift for thyme stems.

The smell  of this recipe while cooking was indescribable and the finished meal turned out to be a hit. Totally worth the time, effort and ingredients makes this another wonderful Tyler Florence recipe. My husband's craving for a good stew was more than satisfied and considering that all of the kids had seconds, it was definitely a crowd pleaser.  I simply served this with some Peasant bread on the side and my husband enjoyed the stew topped with a bit of horseradish. What made this dish even better was the rainy, cold weather we had while eating along with a couple of glasses of red wine. This is pretty much what a perfect Sunday should feel like in the winter.

Tyler Florence's Ultimate Beef Stew

(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients:

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup all-purpose flour (this is a change from the original 2 cups)
2 to 3 pounds beef chuck shoulder roast, cut into 2-inch pieces
Kosher salt and black pepper
1 bottle good quality dry red wine 
8 fresh thyme sprigs (tied together with butcher's twine) 
6 garlic cloves, smashed
1 orange, zest removed in 3 (1-inch) strips
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 bay leaves
2 1/2 cups beef stock
1 pound Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and diced
1/2 pound carrots, peeled and sliced
1 large onion, diced and sauteed in 1/2 tablespoon olive oil 
1 pound white mushrooms, cut in 1/2
1/2 pound garden peas, frozen or fresh

Preparation:

Preheat a large heavy-bottomed saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat with the oil and butter.

While the pan is heating, arrange the flour in a large, shallow dish. Season the cubed beef with some salt and freshly ground black pepper and then toss in the flour to coat. Shake off the excess flour and add the beef chunks in a single layer to the hot pan, being careful not to over crowd the pan, you might have to work in batches. Thoroughly brown all of the cubes on all sides. Once all the meat has been browned remove it to a plate and reserve.

Add the wine to the pan and bring up to a simmer while you scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon being sure to loosen up all those tasty bits. Once the wine has gotten hot add the browned meat, thyme, smashed garlic, orange zest strips, ground cloves, freshly ground black pepper and salt, to taste, bay leaves and beef stock. Bring the mixture up to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook uncovered until the liquids start to thicken, about 15 to 20 minutes. Cover and cook on low heat for 2 1/2 hours.

After 2 hours add diced potatoes, sliced carrots, sauteed onions and mushrooms, along with a pinch of sugar to balance out the acid from the red wine. Turn the heat up slightly and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes more, until the vegetables and meat are tender. Add the frozen peas during the last few minutes or cooking. Season one more time with salt and pepper and remove the thyme sprigs.

Adapted from: Foodnetwork

German Sauerbraten

 

My husband's birthday is on Valentine's Day. This is also a day we never, ever go out to eat. Since birthdays are a family affair in our house taking 3 kids to a restaurant on Valentine's Day is less then desirable for us and probably all the other couples who are trying to have a quiet romantic meal. So cooking at home it is. Most years I will cook a meal my husband requests, some years, like the one where he received a BBQ smoker as one of his gifts, he insisted on spending the whole day smoking a piece of meat. This year though, it was up to me once again and he asked for an authentic German/Bavarian meal to be cooked. Are you wondering yet what he chose? Well, he went with Sauerbraten, Semmelknoedel and Blaukraut. I bet right now you are going "what"? OK, one more time in easier terms Sauerbraten, which is literally translated into "sour roast", German bread dumplings and red cabbage. Better?

I promise to showcase all of the recipes, but today I'm concentrating on the Sauerbraten. Let me preface by saying that different regions in Germany will produce different recipes for this. Mine is simply a family recipe which might not be "authentic" by other German standards, but is a special recipe handed down from my dad to me. Sauerbraten simply refers to a beef roast that has been marinaded in a brine of vinegar, spices, root vegetables and red wine for a few days. The cut of meat is usually a tougher cut, like a bottom round roast and by marinading the meat in something acidic for several days the notion is it will help tenderize the meat. Most people will keep the meat in the brine for 3 to 4 days, but I've even heard of people leaving the meat in for a full week. After the meat is removed and dried off, it will get a good searing on all sides in a heavy pot. The marinade, along with the seasonings and vegetables is added to the meat, which is then cooked for a couple of hours on the stove top. After the meat is fully cooked you get to work on the gravy.

Many people know Sauerbraten with a thickened gravy containing gingersnaps, this is NOT the way it is prepared in the region of Franconia (upper Bavaria) where I grew up. We also don't add rasisins to the finished gravy, this is more of a rhineland addition. My gravy, which is just the way my family cooks it, is achieved by caramelizing sugar in a pan with butter, flour is added and finally some of the cooked marinade and red wine round out the gravy. German gravy is fairly thin and never gloppy like many American gravies tend to be. A final touch of a little red currant jelly (for sweetness) and creme fraiche round out this fantastic sauce. You can use sour cream, but keep in mind not to boil the gravy anymore or it will curdle on you, which creme fraiche wont. The finished roast is typically served with "Preiselbeeren" which are similar to cranberries or lingonberry jam along with dumplings and red cabbage (both of which I will be featuring in the next few days).

I hope I have peaked your interest in this very famous German dish and you might want to give it a try yourself. Considering that my husband has been craving this dish every year for almost 20 years, you know this is a keeper!

German Sauerbraten

(Print this Recipe)

Ingredients:

For the marinade:

4 cups water

1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar

1 1/2 cups red wine

1 stalk celery, preferably with leaves, cut into thirds

1 onion, cut into 8 pieces

1 carrot, peeled and cut into thirds

2 bay leaves

1/4 teaspoon whole peppercorns

8 juniper berries

3 whole cloves

2 teaspoons Kosher salt

3 lbs. beef bottom round roast

For the roast and gravy:

 2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

4 teaspoons sugar

4 tablespoons flour

1/2 cup red wine

1 tablespoon red currant jelly

4 tablespoons creme fraiche (sour cream will work as well)

Directions:

For the marinade: Wash meat and place in a large non-reactive bowl (glass or plastic works well). Add all the marinade ingredients to the bowl and cover. Set in refrigerator. Keep meat in marinade for a minimum of 2 days, up to a total of 4 days, making sure to turn the meat once a day.

For the roast: After 3-4 days, remove meat from marinade and dry. Strain vegetables and seasonings from marinade, reserving both. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a heavy duty dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the meat and sear from all sides. Add the reserved vegetables and seasonings to the seared meat along with 4 cups of the reserved marinade. Reduce heat and simmer roast for 1 hour. Turn the roast and simmer for an additional hour. After 2 hours remove meat and keep warm while you prepare the gravy.

For the gravy: In a medium sized pot add butter along with the sugar and caramelize until golden brown. Add flour and cook for about 1 minute. Add 2 cups of the cooked marinade along with any meat juices that have accumulated and the 1/2 cup of red wine, making sure to whisk well to avoid lumps. Cook gravy on low for about 20 minutes then whisk in the red currant jelly and add the creme fraiche (if you add sour cream make sure not to boil this anymore or the gravy will curdle).

Cut meat against the grain and serve with gravy and lingonberries (or cranberries) on the side.

Adapted from: My dad