From Scratch

The temperature doesn’t have to drop much for me to think of beef stew. Depending on which appliance you use, the cooking time for this flavorful meal in a bowl will be either 10 minutes or 8-10 hours. Either way, it’s carefree.

It’s a pressure cooker recipe but I’ve also made it in the slow cooker with a few changes to accomodate the way slow cookers cook. I do prefer this in a pressure cooker — the depth of flavor is unmatched — but slow cookers have one advantage nowadays: liners.

If you use a slow cooker but haven’t tried these terrific time-savers you can get a free sample from the Reynolds website. While you’re there you can also request a sample of their parchment paper to make baking easier.

When I double this for the freezer I do not double the carrots and spuds; they rarely emerge from the freezer happy, in terms of texture. I simply steam some additional veggies while reheating the stew.

Ella’s Busy Day Beef Stew

2 TB vegetable oil
1 pound chuck, cubed for stew
1 medium onion, diced or 1 greedy handful frozen diced onions
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound new potatoes, peeled
1/2 pound baby-size peeled carrots
1 14 1/2 oz can petite diced tomatoes, drained
1 cup beef broth or stock
1 cup red wine (I like Cabernet or Burgundy)
1 tsp dried thyme or 1 TB fresh, minced
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp fresh-ground pepper
1 TB corn starch dissolved in 1/4 cup water (pressure cooker only)

Pressure Cooker: Heat the oil in the cooker over medium heat or on the browning setting. Add meat and cook until well browned on all sides, seasoning with salt and pepper as you go. Add  the onions and garlic and sweat for one minute. Add remaining ingredients except the corn starch and water mixture, and stir well. Lock the lid into place and cook for 10 minutes on high pressure.

Remove from heat, let stand for 5 minutes. Release pressure and carefully remove lid. Stir in cornstarch mixture and simmer for 2 minutes to thicken stew.

Slow Cooker: Use only half as much wine and broth as above. Heat oil in a skillet and brown the meat as above, adding onion and garlic near the end. Place root vegetables on the bottom of the slow cooker, scrape skillet contents into cooker, leaving as much oil behind as possible. Add remaining ingredients, except thyme, and cook on low for 8-10 hours. In the final hour of cooking, add thyme quickly.

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Tags: beef, slow cooking, tomatoes