INGREDIENTS:

3 lbs. beef cut into 2 inch cubes (see notes below)
3 cups Swanson beef stock (or two 14.5 oz. cans, about 3.6 cups) prefer low sodium
1/2 cup Dry Sherry or Port Wine (do not use so called or labeled cooking wines)
1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons bacon drippings
7 potatoes, peeled/quartered
3 large onions, coarsely chopped, reserve 2/3 for layer cooking
2 garlic cloves, diced fine
1 lb. peeled carrots, cut into 1" pieces or baby carrots
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon Wild Bill's Meat Rub
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dry oregano
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon rosemary
1/4 cup cold water (for thickening)
1 tablespoon Kosher or Sea salt (to taste)
1 teaspoon freshly ground black peppercorns (Tellicherry) to taste
1/4 cup plain flour or corn starch (for thickening)
1 teaspoon Kitchen Bouquet browning and seasoning sauce (optional)

Coat beef with a good sprinkling of Wild Bill's Meat Rub and let sit about 30 minutes to one hour at room temperature.  If moisture has leaked from the beef, pat dry with paper towels prior to searing.  Heat olive oil and bacon drippings in a six quart or larger heavy bottomed Dutch oven over medium/high heat.  Sear aka brown meat on all sides and do not overcrowd the Dutch oven.  Transfer seared/browned meat to a plate or platter.  You will probably have to do two or more batches of searing the meat depending on the size of your Dutch oven.  Deglaze Dutch oven with 1/2 cup of Dry Sherry,  Port Wine or a good quality drinking dark red wine.  Add browned beef, 1/3 of chopped onions, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, bay leaf, thyme, rosemary, oregano, salt, pepper and beef stock to Dutch oven; increase heat to high and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low and simmer covered 2 to 3 hours or until meat is tender.  Add carrots and simmer for 10 minutes.  Add potatoes and reserved onions;  simmer an additional 12 minutes or until potatoes and onions are fork tender.  Mix flour and cold water, stir into stew.  Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly about 5 minutes.  For a darker color and richer gravy,  add Kitchen Bouquet browning and seasoning sauce if desired.  Adjust any seasonings as needed and remove bay leaf prior to serving. 

Serve with tossed salad, home made biscuits or sides and bread of your choice with a good Burgundy, Bordeaux or Chianti wine or wine of your choice.  There is nothing quite like "sopping" the beef stew gravy with fresh baked biscuits, French or toasted garlic bread!

YIELD:  6 or more servings

NOTES:  Beef Bourguignon  is not too far from this recipe except for the red wine, pearl onions and mushrooms.  This recipe was inspired by Linda Driggers of Cheraw, SC who recently did a version of Julia Child's Beef Bourguignon recipe with her own modifications.  Serving bowl and plate compliments of Linda Driggers also.  This is a variation of my Venison Stew recipe and is outstanding.  Use a cut of beef with good marbling for flavor and tenderness.  You do not need to use the most expensive cut of beef in a stew that is properly seasoned and slow simmered until tender.  Top Round, Bottom Round, Chuck and Shoulder Blade Roast are great for braising.  Visit the beef chart page on this website for additional information.

Click on sequence thumbnail pixs for a larger screen view:

My bride for the past few days has talked about beef stew and gravy with onions, carrots and potatoes and decided to do one today which is a modification of my regular venison stew but charged it up a little by using beef broth instead of water and additional spices.  Of course, I used my standard house seasoning Wild Bill's Meat Rub which enhances the flavor of about any meat, etc.  I chose a beef boneless shoulder roast which is a little tougher cut of meat and inexpensive but had enough fat marbling which spells out FLAVOR.

My bride and myself were very impressed with this beef stew recipe.  Her comments were, "It is beautimous and taste as good as it looks." We both "sopped" the rich thick succulent brown beef gravy with Mary Bee's Tea Biscuits; cheated on the home made buttermilk lard biscuits.  Our first snow of this year arrived today of which the weather was ideal for staying inside enjoying this home made beef stew and veggies.  It is best to layer cook the veggies since the carrots take longer to cook than the potatoes, however I didn't do it on this recipe but layer cooking is probably the best method in my humble opinion.   

Web published by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 02-16-13.

LEAVING ON A SPIRITUAL NOTE