Old-Fashioned Beef Stew
This savory beef stew is delightful in the cold of winter or a cooler evening in the summer. That's right, it's a year-round favorite at our house.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds beef stew meat, cut in 1- inch cubes
- 2 tablespoons 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 3 teaspoons 3 teaspoons salt (divided)
- 1 tsp 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 clove 1 clove garlic
- 1 medium onion medium dice
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- dash ground cloves
- 2 tbsp Beef Base I like Better than Bouillon brand
- 6 carrots peeled and cut into 1/4 inch slices
- 4 red potatoes, peeled and diced
- 1 pkg small pearl onion in cream sauce (purchase frozen)
- 6 tbsp flour, divided
Instructions
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Carefully trim fat and gristle from the stew meat. Cut into small cubes.
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In large bowl, combine 3 tablespoons flour, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper.
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Add the trimmed stew meat to the flour mixture and toss until meat is well coated.
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In Dutch oven, thoroughly brown meat in olive oil in small batches. )By browning the meat in small batches, the meat will brown nicely, instead of steaming.)
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While the last batch of meat is browning, add the diced onion.
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When all the meat is browned, add all the meat back into the Dutch oven.
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Add 3 cups of hot water and the next 8 ingredients to the Dutch oven: Worcestershire sauce, garlic, bay leaves, remaining 2 teaspoons salt, sugar, paprika, dash of ground cloves, and beef base.
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Cover: simmer for 1 hour. Stir occasionally to keep the meat from sticking.
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After 1 hour, add carrots, potatoes, and pearl onion with the cream sauce.
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Cover and cook 30 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.
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Remove bay leaves.
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In a small bowl, slowly blend 1/3 cup cold water into the 3 tablespoons flour.
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Add the flour mixture slowly into the hot stew.
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Cook and stir till bubbly. Cook and stir 3 minutes longer till the sauce thickens. Stir stew in bowls. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
I bought the Asiago Artisan bread (rather than making it myself) and we thoroughly enjoyed the taste of it with the Moroccan dipping oil. The dipping oil is slightly spicy and was a gift from World Market. Pineapple was on sale this week so the fresh pineapple added a sweet touch to this savory meal.