Dinner on the Menu for tonight: Beef and Mini Mushroom Stew with roasted veggie and ‘tatoes. Easy to make (mostly the oven does the work for you), filling and enough to feed a small army. The sauce of the stew is positively luscious.
Ingredients
4-pound boneless beef chuck-eye roast, pulled apart at seams, trimmed and cut into 4-inch pieces
4 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
2 yellow onions, chopped fine
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups chicken stock
1 750 ml bottle rich red wine, such as a burgundy
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
1 French Demi-Glaze Stock “puck”
2 pounds very small crimini mushroom, trimmed
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley, chopped (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
Directions
Preheat to 325F.
Season the beef with salt and freshly ground pepper. Heat the 2 tablespoons of the oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat on the stovetop, add the onions and salt, and cook, stirring occasionally, until well browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the tomato paste and garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook for an additional 1 minute. Whisk in the chicken stock, 3/4 bottle of wine and thyme, scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the pot. Bring to a simmer and cook until slightly thickened, about 3 minutes. Stir in the beef and return to a simmer.
Transfer the pot to the oven and cook, uncovered, for 90 minutes, stirring halfway through cooking. While the stew is cooking, heat a skillet with the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil. Sauté the mushroom until tender as well, 8 to 10 minutes. Set aside in a work bowl and cover.
After the meat has finished braising, remove meat to another work bowl and pour off the sauce through a fine mesh sieve to a fat separator. Discard the solids and let the sauce sit so that some of the fat rises to the top. In the meantime, you can wash out your dutch over (you will need it again in a minute). Return the sauce to the now cleaned dutch over, add the remaining quarter of the bottle and the stock “puck” and let simmer on low heat for 15 minutes or so, until it has thickened to a glaze like consistency. Finally, add the beef and mushrooms. Let simmer over low heat for about 15 minutes. Re-season with salt and pepper if necessary. Add the chopped parsley. Serve with potatoes and roasted veggies.
* What is this? A company called More than Gourmet makes these stock “pucks” (they are a little smaller than a hockey puck). While they make many types, and even though this is chicken dish, I use the traditional French demi-glaze, which is actually beef. More Than Gourmet products can be found at Whole Foods, Wegmans, other higher end grocery stores and online through Amazon.
