Hearty Beef Stew

Dr. Sweetpea is huge fan of beef stew. In fact, he raves about the beef stew that he used to eat while growing up. I don't have his family's beef stew recipe yet, but I did try to make a delicious one for him. It was -17 with a windchill of -35 this weekend, so I thought it would be perfect to make a hearty beef stew for him. The stew is cooked in the oven for the majority of the time, which makes this a very easy recipe. The only downfall is that the meat wasn't as tender as we would have preferred. There was a discrepancy between the video associated with the recipe and the recipe itself. The video said to cook the stew at 250, while the recipe said 300...I decided to cook the stew at 300, which is probably why the meat was slightly tough. The next time I make this, I'll cook it at 250 to see if the meat is more tender. Regardless, the flavor of the stew was amazing and the vegetables were cooked perfectly.

Hearty Beef Stew

(Source: America's Test Kitchen)

3 pounds chuck-eye roast, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes

1 1/2 teaspoons table salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 medium onions, chopped coarse (about 2 cups)

3 medium cloves garlic, minced

3 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour

1 cup red wine (preferably full-bodied)

2 cups low-sodium chicken broth

2 bay leaves

1 teaspoon dried thyme

6 small boiling potatoes, peeled and halved

4 large carrots, peeled and sliced 1/4-inch thick

1 cup frozen peas (6 ounces), thawed

1/4 cup minced fresh parsley leaves

Heat oven to 300 degrees. Place beef cubes in large bowl. Sprinkle with salt and pepper; toss to coat. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil over medium-high heat in large nonreactive soup kettle; add beef to kettle in two separate batches. Brown meat on all sides, about 5 minutes per batch, adding remaining tablespoon of oil if needed. Remove meat and set aside. Add onions to now empty kettle; sauté until almost softened, 4 to 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and add garlic; continue to sauté about 30 seconds longer. Stir in flour; cook until lightly colored, 1 to 2 minutes. Add wine, scraping up any browned bits that may have stuck to kettle. Add stock, bay leaves, and thyme; bring to simmer. Add meat; return to simmer. Cover and place in oven; simmer about 1 hour. Remove kettle from oven, add potatoes and carrots, cover, and return to oven. Simmer until meat is just tender, about 1 hour. Remove stew from oven. (Can be cooled, covered, and refrigerated up to 3 days.) Add peas and allow to stand 5 minutes. Stir in parsley, adjust seasonings, and serve.