Hearty Beef Stew

I love stew of all kinds and beef stew is in my top 5 favorite stews. Now my own son isn't into stew like I am so I had t give some thought into a recipe we both would love.

I wanted to make a stew that's not only hearty, but full of complex flavor. The trick was to use a large chuck eye roast for the marbling instead of standard stew beef. From there, we used as large of a pan as possible to sear the beef. Crowd the beef chunks too close together, and the beef never has the proper chance to sear and brown. Then before adding the onions and carrots to the broth, I caramelized them first.


Ingredients

• 2 medium garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 boneless beef chuck eye roast cut into 1 1/2" pieces
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 large onion, halved and cut pole to pole into slices
• 4 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1" pieces
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 cups red wine
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 4oz salt pork
• 1lb Yukon Gold potatoes
• 1 1/2 cups frozen pearl onions, thawed
• 2 teaspoons unflavored powdered gelatin
• 1/2 cup water
• salt and black pepper

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 300F. In a small bowl, combine the garlic and tomato paste. Set aside.
2. Pat the meat dry with paper towels. Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a large Dutch oven over high heat until starting to smoke. Add Half the beef and cook until browned on all sides (about 8 minutes). Transfer the beef to a large plate and repeat with the remaining oil and beef.
3. Reduce the heat to medium and return the first batch of beef to the pot. Add the sliced onion and carrots to the Dutch oven and stir to combine with the beef. Cook, scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen any browned bits (1 to 2 minutes). Add the garlic and tomato paste mixture and cook, stirring constantly until fragrant (about 30 seconds). Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until no dry flour remains (about 30 seconds).
4. Slowly add the wine, scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen any browned bits. Increase the heat to high and allow the wine to simmer until thickened and slightly reduced (about 2 minutes). Stir in the broth, bay leaves, thyme, and salt pork. Bring to a simmer, cover, and transfer to the oven. Cook for 1 1/2 hours.
5. Remove the pot from the oven, and remove and discard the bay leaves. Stir in the potatoes, cover, and return to the oven. Cook until the potatoes are almost tender (about 45 minutes).
6. Use a large spoon to skim off any excess fat from the surface of the stew. Stir in the pearl onions and cook over medium heat until the potatoes and onions are cooked through (about 15 minutes). The meat should offer a little resistance, but not be falling apart.
7. In a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over the 1/2 cup water and allow to soften for 5 minutes.
8. Increase the heat to high and stir in the softened gelatin mixture and simmer until the gelatin is dissolved and the stew is thickened (about 3 minutes). Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve.