I began writing this on Christmas Eve, 2023. It is now Dec 27, and in a few minutes, I plan on settling down for a long Nyquil induced winter's nap. Hopefully all of you guys will have had a blessed Christmas and will be looking forward to NYE by the time the "Great and Benevolent Monarch of all Fishes" presents this photo recipe for a tasty Beef and Mushroom Stew on Dec. 29.
We managed to do OK at our house, enjoying our crowd of children and grandkids for an early Christmas celebration, combined with our 52nd Wedding Anniversary. Not everyone made it, but even those who were far away were in our hearts and thoughts. Sadly, we missed the sounds of little ones, and the excitement kids contribute because our youngest grandchild is in college and (thank goodness) there are not yet any great grandkids. Lots of food either showed up with our loved ones or was cooked before they got here. All was eaten during the family meal or sent away with them when they left.
Someone brought us an unexpected gift - a viral respiratory infection the wife and I seem to have caught. As a retired scientist, I understand these things can happen and sometimes the best one can do, if it is a virus, is to take drugs to help with what I once called malaise and tough it out. That is what we are doing today.
If I were smarter than I am, I would have made a nice pot of chicken soup a day or two back and applied that soothing treatment to my viral aches, but I opted out for Frito Chili Pie. For the following two days, it felt like a big mistake. Oh well, stupid is as stupid does....
I think the best thing I can do at the moment will be to take more Nyquil and go to dreams of Beef and Mushroom Stew.
Here is how you can make a nice one:
Beef and Mushroom Stew
Ingredients:
2 pounds, Mushrooms, sliced into
quarters
12 ounces, Beef stew meat, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
3
cans, Beef broth
3 Tablespoons, AP Flour
4 large Onions, sliced
into 1/2 inch thick slices and quarter cut
3 Tablespoons
Butter
1/4 cup Celery, chopped
2 cloves Garlic, minced
2
Carrots, diced
2 Cups, Kale, chopped
1/2 cup, Red Wine
1/2
cup, Sour Cream
2 teaspoons Lawry’s Garlic salt
3 teaspoons
garlic, minced
1 teaspoon Paprika
1/2 teaspoon chopped Basil
2 Tablespoons chopped Parsley
1 teaspoons Oregano
1 teaspoon Rosemary
1/2
teaspoon Black Pepper
1/8 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
Boquet garni:
2 sprigs fresh parsley
4 inch piece of carrot
4 inch piece of celery
4 inch sprig of fresh rosemary
4 inch sprig of fresh oregano
1 bay leaf
Gathered together and tied with butcher's twine
Optional) 2
Green Onions, sliced for garnish when serving
Cut beef stew meat into 1/4 inch pieces, season with Lawry’s garlic salt, black pepper, and dust with 1 Tablespoon AP flour.
Prep the vegetables and lightly dust the mushroom pieces with 1/2 Tablespoon AP flour.
In the pot that will be used to cook the stew, brown the stew meat in 1 Tablespoon butter. I added another Tablespoon of flour to make two tablespoons total dusted over the beef.
When the beef is tender, remove the stems from the bouquet garni, and remove the twine. Add the seasonings, carrots and celery to pot and continue cooking at a low boil for 30 minutes. For whatever reason, (probably because I had some and hated to waste it) I also added a bit more chopped parsley here.
When the onions begin to caramelize, add the mushrooms, and garlic.
Continue cooking until the mushrooms have rendered all their moisture and have darkened. Deglaze pan with the red wine, reduce heat, and simmer another 5 minutes. Add a splash of water if needed to keep the onions and mushrooms wet.
Add the cooked mushrooms and onions to the pot with the cooked beef pieces and vegetables.
Simmer for 15 minutes, then add the kale. Cook until kale softens and changes color to dark green,
then add the sour cream. Taste for seasoning and add salt and black pepper if needed. If it is thicker than you like, add a bit of water.
Serve with sliced green onion garnish (Optional) and crusty bread.
10 comments:
Damn, and read this before lunch. Brought some cheese and summer sausage to work for lunch. Damn.
This looks fabulous, delicious, and even fabulously delicious. I’m going to make this, but I have a question first:
Two pounds of mushrooms? Two POUNDS? Ain’t that a shit ton and a half of mushroom? Perhaps it’s two containers of mushrooms.
Not even asking for a friend; I’m asking for me. Thanks, and thanks always. Your posts are a treat.
Wo thanks and we want to try this one. Would it be too much trouble to post it in a way that we can print it without the banner stuff?
December 29, 2023 at 9:34 AM - If you're using Firefox browser, you can print to pdf in simplified format. If not, you can highlight the content only, copy, and paste into your preferred word processing program.
This sounds great. I tried his Chicken Bayou Lafourche as my birthday treat (it went over the tops of the chart), but I agree with 9:34 on the formatting to enable copying and pasting. I want to try this one as well.
This looks wonderful. Thanks for posting. Hope you and the wife feel better soon. Nyquil coma will indeed help.
9:30
I used all of the three containers shown. I guess that wasn't 2 pounds. You can use all the mushrooms you like in your stew. We like them at our house and used more than many would go with.
Cheers.
Mushrooms will shrink to less than half if sautéed to darker color. Stock from roasted beef bones enhances this stew but are hard to find since groceries do not butcher their cuts. Recommendations where to find fresh beef bones, anybody?
I've never added kale to my beef stew but I'm going to try it. I have both dinosaur kale and regular kale growing in the garden. Looks delicious, Mr. Bear.
@8:47 - I've bought fresh beef bones at Whole Foods. Ask the butchers. Sometimes you have to request them to set some aside for you. Other times, I've found them in one of the freezer/refrigerator cases.
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