Maggie Monday: Burgundy Beef Stew

The human brain is excellent at recognizing patterns. This causes us to see coincidences and feel they happen a lot more often than what randomness would dictate. This happened to me as I am cooking with burgundy wine the same day as I am writing this intro. It is either coincidence or I like cooking with wine! Here’s Maggie…

I am thrilled to report that I have another crock-pot success! This is a slow-cooker win. There is a lot of chopping and prep work, but you can do all of this the night before if you’re planning to let this cook while you’re away during the day. Or, you can do what I did an employ your husband to chop potatoes, carrots, onion and celery. I dream about being one of those women that has bags of prepped mirepoix in my freezer. But, I don’t have that life. Maybe when I retire. Haahahaa!

So, back on topic. This recipe rocked. I actually had a number of grilled sirloin steaks left over, and decided to cut them up and used them in the stew. So, I guess any stew made with sirloin steaks has an advantage. Even though my beef was already grilled, I went ahead and floured it and seared it on the stove- mainly to be able to deglaze the pan with wine, which always adds a great richness to any dish.

I left this on low for about 6-7 hours, and it was perfect. I did thicken the juices with cornstarch, and that made it perfect. This stew was rich, tasty, and pretty. I wish my photo did it justice. I served this to some friends that came over for a meeting on a sloppy, snowy, ice night with some hot corn muffins. It was perfect. And the flavors were even better on day 2 with leftovers.

Original recipe came from “Butter With a Side of Bread” blog.

Burgundy Beef Stew

What you need
Serves 8-10

• 4 TBSP olive oil
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 2 lbs trimmed beef chuck, cut into 1-2-inch cubes, patted dry with paper towels
• about 1/4 cup of flour {tossed with meat to coat}
• 10-15 small red potatoes
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cups sliced carrots {about 3 good sized carrots}
• 2 cups sliced celery {about 2-3 stalks}
• 1 cup of red wine
• 1 cup beef stock or canned beef broth
• 1 can diced tomatoes, drained {14.5 oz}
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp dried parsley
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• 8-oz container of sliced mushrooms {optional}
• meat tenderizer and about 2 tsp cornstarch

What you do:

Turn 6 quart crock-pot on low. Toss meat in a zip lock bag with flour and meat tenderizer. Plop all vegetables and meat in the crock-pot. Combine spices {except bay leaf}, oil, cooking wine, beef broth and whisk lightly to combine. Pour over meat and vegetables. Add in bay leaf. Give it all a light stir, cover and cook on low for 9-10 hours, medium 7-8 hours, high 6-7 hours.

About 30 minutes prior to serving, ladle out about 1/2 cup of liquid from the stew. Whisk in 2 tsp cornstarch and add it back to the stew, stirring gently to combine. This helps thicken it up! If you want it even thicker, you can repeat this process once, waiting about 15 minutes between to double check thickness.

15-20 additional minutes method: (this is my preferred method)

Searing the beef gives the stew a better, more developed flavor. It’s really not difficult, just a few extra steps but it goes fast.

Put potatoes, tomatoes, carrots and celery in the crock-pot. Have the beef broth and cooking wine measured out and ready.

Heat a frying pan up on high. Add in 2 TBSP oil. Add garlic. Once pan is hot, add beef. You’re not trying to cook the meat all the way, you just want to sear it a bit. I let the meat cook for about 4-5 minutes, stirring about twice. You want the meat on the bottom of the pan to brown and even coat the pan lightly.  Move meat into the crock-pot.

Do not wash the pan! The technical term here is deglazing- we’re going to add liquid that will help loosen up and remove the flavorful meat remnants on the bottom of the pan. Return pan to hot stove top and add remaining 2 TBSP of oil. Once oil is hot, add in the onions. Wait about 3-4 minutes until the onions are beginning to be translucent and are sizzling. Add in cooking wine and beef broth. While the liquid is heating up, add in the spices, except the bay leaf. Once the liquid begins to boil, turn off the heat and pour entire mixture into the crock-pot.

Add mushrooms and bay leaf. Stir lightly to combine and cook on low for 9-10 hours, medium 7-8 hours, high 6-7 hours.

About 30 minutes prior to serving, ladle out about 1/2 cup of liquid from the stew. Whisk in 2 tsp cornstarch and add it back to the stew, stirring gently to combine. This helps thicken it up! If you want it even thicker, you can repeat this process once, waiting about 15 minutes between to double check thickness. I only needed to do this once.