February 5th

An American Classic

There are certain dishes that are extra-American, and this is one of them.

Best Beef Stew
recipe from: The Complete America's Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook 2001-2013

It was Stew Sunday again and Doug's turn to make a delicious dinner.  His stews are usually pretty amazing, but this one fell a little flat.  There was nothing really bad about it.  I just thought it was a little bland.  Which was surprising because there were a lot of great flavors that went into it.
We did not have salt pork (and I really don't even know what that is), so we used bacon instead.  Who knows if that's a true substitute, but it seemed like a good idea.  Maybe if we had used the salt pork the stew would have had more flavor.


Ingredients:

2	medium garlic cloves , minced or pressed through garlic press (about 2 teaspoons)
4	anchovy fillets , finely minced (about 2 teaspoons)
1	tablespoon tomato paste
1	boneless beef chuck-eye roast (about 4 pounds), trimmed of excess fat, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces (see note and step by step below)
2	tablespoons vegetable oil
1	large onion , halved and cut from pole to pole into 1/8-inch-thick slices (about 2 cups)
4	medium carrots , peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces (about 2 cups)
1/4	cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2	cups red wine (see note)
2	cups low-sodium chicken broth
2	bay leaves
4	sprigs fresh thyme
4	ounces salt pork , rinsed of excess salt (see note)
1	pound Yukon gold potatoes , scrubbed and cut into 1-inch pieces
11/2	cups frozen pearl onions , thawed
2	teaspoons unflavored powdered gelatin (about 1 packet)
1/2	cup water
1	cup frozen peas , thawed
	Table salt and ground black pepper

Directions:
1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees. combine garlic and anchovies in small bowl; press with back of fork to form paste. Stir in tomato paste and set mixture aside.
2. Pat meat dry with paper towels. Do not season. Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in large heavy-bottomed Dutch oven over high heat until just starting to smoke. Add half of beef and cook until well browned on all sides, about 8 minutes total, reducing heat if oil begins to smoke or fond begins to burn. Transfer beef to large plate. Repeat with remaining beef and 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, leaving second batch of meat in pot after browning.
3. Reduce heat to medium and return first batch of beef to pot. Add onion and carrots to Dutch oven and stir to combine with beef. Cook, scraping bottom of pan to loosen any browned bits, until onion is softened, 1 to 2 minutes. Add garlic mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, until no dry flour remains, about 30 seconds.
4. Slowly add wine, scraping bottom of pan to loosen any browned bits. Increase heat to high and allow wine to simmer until thickened and slightly reduced, about 2 minutes. Stir in broth, bay leaves, thyme, and salt pork. Bring to simmer, cover, transfer to oven, and cook for 11/2 hours.
5. Remove pot from oven; remove and discard bay leaves and salt pork. Stir in potatoes, cover, return to oven, and cook until potatoes are almost tender, about 45 minutes.
6. Using large spoon, skim any excess fat from surface of stew. Stir in pearl onions; cook over medium heat until potatoes and onions are cooked through and meat offers little resistance when poked with fork (meat should not be falling apart), about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, sprinkle gelatin over water in small bowl and allow to soften for 5 minutes.
7. Increase heat to high, stir in softened gelatin mixture and peas; simmer until gelatin is fully dissolved and stew is thickened, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste; serve.

Grades:

Megan - C (I thought it was bland and sub-par for a Doug stew. I also decided that I don't really like pearl onions.)

Doug - B+ (Doug liked the thickness of it, but was disappointed in the flavor.)

Noelle - D (Noelle was so excited when she heard she was going to be eating "Daddy's stew."  She seemed to enjoy the first few bites and was really happy there were potatoes in it.  She was searching through the stew for potatoes to eat and thought she found one.  She put it in her mouth, but to her surprise it was a pearl onion.  She was not pleased with that.  After I told her there were no more potatoes in it because she had eaten them all she wanted nothing more to do with the stew.)