Country-Style Beef Stew
Ingredients
- Stewing beef or better
- Potatoes
- Carrots
- Peas
- Celery
- Onions
- Garlic
- Salt and pepper
- Brown sugar
- Beef Bisto
- Flour
- Cooking oil
Instructions
- Start with your mirepoix. Finely slice two peeled carrots and dice an onion and two sticks of celery. Put these into a large pot and saute on medium heat in your favourite cooking oil, about 2 teaspoons of salt and 1 tablespoon of brown sugar, until the onions have caramelized. They will still be soft. Add 4 cups of water, turn up to high and let that boil down, ‘reduce’. Once this has reduced to about an inch of liquid, add another 4 cups and repeat that process. This forms the basic stock for your soup.
- After your second reduction add another 4-6 cups of water and your beef. Turn the stove down to medium low and add water as necessary to keep things from getting too low; we are reducing again — this time to infuse the flavour of the beef and soften it up. You can do this all day and the beef will be more and more tender the longer you do it. Dice 2-3 cloves of garlic and add them at this point. Salt and pepper to taste.
- When you’re ready to move into the last 20 minutes before serving, peel and quarter your potatoes. Thick slice (country-style) 2-3 peeled carrots and add them to the stock. Let this slow boil for another 10 minutes. You want the potatoes cooked but not soft. Add more water as needed.
- Add your peas after about another 8 minutes. Whisk 2 tablespoons of bisto and a tablespoon of flour into 2 cups of water and add to the stock to thicken it. Reduce the heat to medium and stir constantly until the desired thickness is achieved. Remove from heat when it is.
Notes
It was a rainy day and we wanted something that would warm us up, so I made my standard beef stew
When I was in my early 20’s I rented a house in Edmonton with four other friends. It was a great way to keep the rent affordable for us all, but still have the luxury of an entire house and yard to live in.
One of those friends was a guy named Steve. He had previously been the sous chef for two years at “The Beanery” in the Banff Springs Hotel. That was the staff kitchen. He was, after that, the head chef at the Banff Park Lodge for four.
He is an amazing chef! I humbly credit him with teaching me how to cook and starting me off into a career of cheffing, where still to this day, I use and espouse things that he taught me.
Another of the friends, Andrew, was the head wine waiter at a very exclusive private restaurant/club in Edmonton. We had some talent in that house! We’d all gather in the living room around 3:30 or 4 p.m. and empty our pockets to chip in for tonight’s dinner. Sometimes we’d only have a few bucks, other times we’d have a lot. Steve and Andrew would take the pot and go shopping.
Every night, whether they only had $40 to work with or $100, we would have a spectacular meal with at least two bottles of very nice wine. (check out E & J Gallo wines for an amazing product that is very reasonably priced).
One day I was helping Steve out in the kitchen, soaking in his knowledge like a sponge and I asked him, “How do you know what to put in the recipe?” Steve was a kind soul and looked me straight in the eye and said “What do you want it to taste like?”
I’d never really thought about that before. To be honest, I didn’t really know. I was so used to ordering something up and it would either be good — or not. But that answer has stayed with me for my entire life — and I think I’m starting to understand it now. I’ve used it to create some great recipes and adjust some others that needed a little tweaking over the years.
What do I want beef stew to taste like? I want it to taste like a prime rib roast with all of the fixings and gravy. In a bowl!
I hate mornings, but I do love the breakfast shift in the kitchen. That’s because I get to make the soup of the day. I’ve always been not-too-pretty-bad at soups and sauces. Here’s mine for this one. Start out with your mirepoix. The longer this one takes the better. I’d usually get it started at 6 a.m., to be ready for lunch by 11 a.m.
