Recipes

Beef and Winter Vegetables Stew

Come September and October when the temperatures begin to drop, I usually start thinking about heartier meals. I’m a big fan of thick, chunky soups and stews. While I don’t eat a lot of red meat, I crave a hearty, rich beef stew on occasion. The other day when it barely got out of the 50s, the thought of a heavy winter beef stew came to mind. So today I decided it was time I put that craving to rest!


Ingredients:

1.5 lbs. beef chuck, cubed
olive oil
salt & pepper
flour
1 small yellow onion
3 stalks of celery
fresh sage
fresh thyme
fresh dill
1/2 c. dry red wine
1 cup good apple cider – use Zeigler’s (trust me!)
2 cups good beef stock
grated cinnamon stick
Winter vegetables – cubed into bite sized pieces
1 small butternut squash
1 medium carrot
1 medium parsnip
1 small turnip
1 medium red potato
1 medium white potato
1 leek
flat-leaf parsley

Instructions:

1. Coat the beef cubes in salt, pepper, and flour.

2. Heat pot with a few swirls of extra virgin olive oil.

3. Add beef cubes to pot and brown beef on all sides.

4. When beef is browned, add onions and celery and cook until translucent.

5. Add chopped sage, thyme, dill, and grated cinnamon. Stir well.

6. Go ahead, throw the whole cinnamon stick in the pot!

7. Add bay leaf if you have it. Unfortunately the bay leaves I had were not good.  🙁

8. Add wine and bring to a boil.

9. Add apple cider and beef stock.

10. Bring the mixture to a boil.

11. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 20 minutes.

12. Mix in the winter vegetables. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.

13. To thicken stew mix 2/2.5  tbsp flour with 1/4 c. apple cider.

14. Turn off heat.

15. Let sit in warm pot for 5-10 minutes.

16. Right before you’re ready to serve, throw in some chopped fresh parsley.

Serve (with a cup of warm or chilled apple cider) & enjoy!

Sorry no pictures. 🙁

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