Did They Eat It: Beef Stew

I made a deal with myself after buying one too many food related magazines. I can buy them, as long as I make at least two recipes out of each one I buy. I decided to try my hand at Beef Stew, something I've never made and seemed pretty easy.

I read the recipe carefully, making sure to note the four hour cooking time so we wouldn't be eating dinner at 11 o'clock in the evening.

I've mentioned before I'm not much of a chef. I don't have even an ounce of instinct when it comes to cooking. I don't know what tastes go together, I don't know what things I like together that I should adjust a recipe to accommodate my taste. I follow a recipe to the letter. For example, the recipe says cut celery and carrots into 3 inch lengths.

I measured.

Here they are, perfectly sized.

I'm sharing this recipe with you because it cost about $35 and an hour of my afternoon to make and I can't accept that it was all a waste.

I won't go through the whole process of making this stew, you can read it in the original recipe. I will offer this tip, if the recipe calls for 6 ounces of tomato paste, just buy the can and don't try to use the tube. It's a pain and will make you stupidly angry.

Here it is, after four hours.

You're thinking those pieces of beef look too big. I agree but I carefully did as I was told and cut the meat into 16 pieces. That's what I ended up with. 

So, Did They Eat it?

Logan: [Noting my grumpy expression.] Uh...interesting?
Maddie: I'm picky but, inexplicably, I like giant hunks of meat so this works just fine with me. But keep the sauce off it, and the onions away from it and WHAT THE HELL ARE THOSE! Turnips? I need a new family.
Max: I wish I liked this but I don't even know what you did to make this taste this way.
Me: Okay everyone I failed! I don't know what I did wrong but I can barely eat this. Hooray!

Your results may vary.

Comments

[Ken]

I don't think it was you. That recipe only calls for 1.5 tsp of salt for a whole pot of beef stew? That's ridiculous. There's a lot of other stuff grotesquely wrong with that recipe, too. Dumping a whole bottle of wine into a pot to use as a stew base (instead of something more reasonable, like beef stock) sounds like something you'd try as 22-year-old who has too many open bottles of wine sitting around.

[Lindsay]

Don't give up on beef stew yet! That recipe is a bit... odd. So I'm definitely blaming the recipe and not you. It has an awful lot of wine - I wouldn't add any more than, say, 1 cup of wine at the most (the rest I'd use beef stock). There also seems to be a distinct lack of herbs/spices in this recipe. Salt, pepper, and a bay leaf? That's it? I'm no chef, but anything that sounds good with wine and beef would be a good addition here (rosemary? thyme? whatever else you like). I also am no fan of turnips, but that's just me. ;)

[Pictou]

This recipe looks like you're cooking for an army! I blame the recipe too. I would have used potatoes instead of turnips and cut stuff much smaller.

I make beef stew all the time, but it's one of those genetic things I was born with. I don't think I could tell you how to make it.

[Cicely]

Bummer! Do you have a crock pot? If so you should get the Southern Living Slow-Cooker Cookbook (link following). All of the recipes I've tried have turned out great. And I like the fact that they've tested all these recipes in their kitchen and will tell you what brands they used for certain ingredients.

The potato soup is especially yummy!

http://www.amazon.com/Southern-Living-Slow-Cooker-Kitchen-Tested-Mouthwatering/dp/0848731506/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263233627&sr=8-1

[kay]

Ken and Lindsay are right. Waaay too much wine for one pot of stew. The base should be water and beef stock with just a touch of wine. Also cut the meat and carrots into 1" chunks (or buy 'stew meat') and replace the turnips with potatoes. Add salt, pepper, bay leaf, and whatever else you like such as dried rosemary, thyme, and/or basil. Then, I promise you will love the results. Serve with fruit and corn bread. (Makes great leftovers, as it gets better the next day!) And-$35??! Stew ingredients should not cost that much. Ditch the wine unless you already have a bottle open or plan to drink the rest with dinner ;)

[Sugared Harpy]

I don't think it's you at all! I also think this recipe is a bit weird and that is a hella lot of meat to buy. 5 pounds for a family of four? Whoa! Turnips? And wow, that is a lot of wine. And this sounds super expensive.

I've made this one and we all loved it (and bought cheap cut-up stew meat at the grocery store pretty easily).

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Irish-Beef-Stew-104817

Read the first little page of comments (the first one is really helpful by A Cook from San Jose on 1/10/10), they'll tell you how to make it a bit better (a little less broth, a few slugs of red wine if you have it already, maybe dredging the meat in flour if you feel like before you brown it) but it's really good as it is if altering it seems stressful.

We don't do the egg noodle thing, we like to put the stew over rice if anything. I have no idea why.

Have you found Simply Recipes (dot) com? She posts excellent recipes, too. With comments from readers, it really helps to know which ones you might like or could do.

[Emily]

Ugh, it's not you, it's that recipe.

Try this version:http://mrs-furious.blogspot.com/2007/11/it-is-officially-comfort-food-season.html

I promise you will LOVE it. It is easy, cheap to make and tastes fantastic.

[Megan]

I agree, I don't think it was you but rather the recipe. It looks like they were going for a French stew, but didn't quite make it. Here's a link to one of my favorite stew recipes: Irish Stew. The only change I make is to cook the potatoes for about 20 minutes, instead of 12. They absorb more of the stew flavor that way.

It's quite different than the recipe you used, but it has never failed me and it's delicious. I can't say whether your family will agree, but it could be worth a shot. It has beer in it, how can it be wrong?!

[Nicole]

Let me say again with the chorus, "It's not you, it's the recipe."

I hope you find one that works for you and your family. Like the commenter above, I just know how to make beef stew, but sometimes it rocks and sometimes it sucks because I use whatever I have on hand. It's a great way to use up leftover carrots and celery. I often make vegetable soup as well.

Cutting up an 1/2 an onion or more, a few stalks of celery, and/or a couple of carrots, sauteeing with olive oil and some garlic and a few tablespoons of tomato paste and adding some beef or chicken broth gives a good base for pretty much any soup you ever want to make. I do that and go from there based on what I have.

I hope that your children chose partners that have exotic tastes so that you can commiserate with their spouses about their bland palates when they are adults.

[Cath]

Try this easy Jamie Oliver recipe + variations: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2010/01/basic-stew-recipe-with-four-variations-recipe.html

I made the beef & beer stew last week and it was easy and excellent. The crockpot recommendations are good, too -- that's how I usually make mine.

[Jenny]

Having thrown out any number of batches of uncooperative cookie dough, I empathize, heartily. What a whacked-out recipe.

[Ashley, The Accidental Olympian]

There are GREAT beef stew crock pot recipes out there that take WAY less effort. There are even pre made spice packets you can dump in with the beef broth to keep all guessing at bay.

DON'T GIVE UP!

[Niki]

Joining in with everybody else to say: What an odd recipe. You should definitely try again with something more mundane.

Along with everybody else, I've only ever used 1/2 to 1 cup of wine, then lots of broth. Also! I made the mistake of putting turnips into my last attempt at beef stew. Surprisingly, my husband ate it. I couldn't touch it, nor could my stepson. Next time I would scale waaay back on turnips. (And for the recipe you used, I would add a bunch of potatoes, so the turnip is just mildly flavor.)

Everybody else: thanks for the stew links! I'm still looking for something other than my usual "add barley to the pot roast leftovers."

[snickollet]

I will take the "it's the recipe" one step further and blame Real Simple recipes in general. I like that magazine a lot, but I've never had one of their recipes turn out great. I've had a couple turn out fine, but never better than that.

Here's to a better recipe for next time.

[Deanna]

Try out the Pioneer Woman's Beef Stew recipe. She'll never let you down: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/11/beef-stew-with-mushrooms/

[Michelle]

Crock pot is the way to go. I usually grab a rump roast, leave it whole without dredging in flour or searing or anything, and put it in the crock with beef broth, maybe 1/2 cup of red wine, a bit of worcestershire sauce, and bite size slices of carrot and mushroom. I season with fresh ground pepper, minced fresh garlic and onion, parsley, rosemary, and maybe a dash or two of thyme. Cook it on low all day 'till you're about ready to eat, and reach into the crock with a couple of utensils to break up the beef, no knife required. Thicken it up to make a gravy and serve over mashed potatoes or egg noodles. Please try another recipe, it'll be totally worth it!

[Lisa]

Wow, not even Julia Child used that much wine! Seriously lacking in spice of any sort.

I concur about the Real Simple recipes; they tend not to be real simple, and not inexpensive, either. The only one I've ever tried that was a keeper was ravioli with a light lemon/walnut sauce.

Anyway. If you don't have a copy, I heartily recommend the Better Homes & Garden New Cook Book. It's got just about every dinner, side dish, dessert and baked good in there you could possibly want or need for basic family cooking. It's easy and straightforward, with lots of cooking tips, but still good eats. The recipes don't cost $35 to make, either.

I had that issue with a lot of Martha Stewart's stuff; it cost so much to make it, we could have gone out to eat.

[Coffeemomma]

If you want some basic recipes to try, I recommend a cookbook like "how to cook everything". It's very easy to understand and will explain why you're doing something....it's great for regular old recipes, and for when you just want to know how to "do something", like "how should I really cook this chicken".

[liveparadox]

I also blame the recipe. The only recipe for beef stew I know that really wants the whole bottle of wine is Boeuf Bourguignon. Anything else gets a glug of wine to deglaze after browning the meat and broth for the rest of the liquid. There's not enough salt! And no savory, delicious herbs! The chunks of meat are way too big; 1 1/2 inch cubes should be the maximum size.

I make Beef Stew out of the Joy of Cooking, where it's more guidelines than recipe, and whatever vegetables you like...

[liveparadox]

I want to add that I'm also the kind of person who would measure the chunks of vegetable...

[Stacy]

That's a lousy recipe. Too much liquid, and to be honest, I wouldn't trust Real Simple. I like parsnips better than turnips, but the proportional weight of meat to veg should be about 2:1. You should get two meals out of 5 lbs. of stew beef, and stew is usually better reheated.

Jacques Pépin's Complete Techniques is a great investment--he's got photos that show you how to do stuff, and the pictures are much more informative than words alone.

[Mary]

Joining the chorus of "bad recipe!"

Google any other beef stew recipe, and you'll probably have better results. That one was just BAD. I even LIKE turnips, but you put that many in a stew and everything will taste like turnips, and I don't want to spend $35 on turnips!

Also, I'm not a fan of soup where you need to cut up something in your bowl to be able to eat it. Soup should be able to be eaten with a spoon... and that's all that should be needed.

[jen w]

http://julia.typepad.com/scrambled/

Try this one!!

[Allison]

That recipe is wrong on so many levels. The proportions are way off, the liquids all wrong, and the vegetables and meat should be in smaller pieces. I don't know if you read the blog by the woman who cooked her way through the French Laundry cookbook, but she's really good at teaching people better home cooking skills. I recall reading somewhere that she spends an afternoon with people and in that time helps with knife skills, cooking intuition, shopping, prep at home, and actual cooking. She's self-taught, but is supposed to be excellent.

Don't get discouraged. It's the recipe's fault.

[Cara]

I'll spare you yet another diatribe on the strange recipe and just ask if you've tried anything from The Pioneer Woman Cooks: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/ She has alot of family friendly food.

[Beth]

May I suggest the recipe from Julia's "Scrambled" blog:
http://julia.typepad.com/scrambled/2009/11/slow-cooker-beef-and-vegetable-stew.html

Foolproof (I know - I made it.), and delicious. It will cost less - both in dollars and time. BONUS: You'll probably all eat at least part of it.

[shokufeh]

It is totally the recipe that's in the wrong. I'm not a meat eater, but it seems odd to make a stew for eight people with five pounds of meat. Isn't part of the point of stew to put a bunch of stuff that you don't pay a lot for in the pot and cook it into goodness? But this recipe doesn't really give you much to work with - huge hunks of meat, big pieces of a few veggies.... Real simple my butt.

[Ami]

The first time I made beef stew, it was horrible, too. I found the recipe on allrecipes.com, and it was awful. BUT, I like to eat stew, so I kept trying. I like the "Best Ever Beef Stew" from FamilyFun.com. Try that one; it uses turnips but I tell the kids they're potatoes. The best thing about that recipe is that it gives you suggestions of what to leave out/add if you don't like/want more. So. Give it a shot, don't give up.

[Teri]

I love Max! "I wish I liked this but I don't even know what you did to make this taste this way."

[Elizabeth]

One more time, "It's the recipe not you!!" I make Beouf Bourguignon quite often and my recipe only calls for 1 cup of wine. Should you continue your search for a beef stew I highly recommend the “Better Than Bouillon” bases. They are concentrates (found next to the bouillon cubes in my grocery store) but have a much better flavor than bouillon or canned stock.

[Dayna]

I love to use V-8 as a base for soups & stews. Add equal amounts of water and it's really an excellent broth.

[Erin]

I'm so surprised (but glad) you did a beef stew. I am about to do one in my crockpot and I suspect that your recipe came from the same app I was going to use. Nice to know it came out sucky! I think I'll just wing it with my own concoction. I'm planning to use stew meat, beef broth, potatoes, celery, carrots, and probably basil and something else. Thyme was a good suggestion. I hope it goes fine, I'm sure it will. I'll be skipping the tomato paste altogether. Ugh.. so sorry it ruined your fun.

[Tricia]

Yeah, not you. The recipe was really bad. I would like to suggest "The Best Recipe." It's a good read and might help to bolster your instincts.

[Noelle]

I agree with the chorus & would like to add that Real Simple photographs their food so that it looks totally undesirable. Made a good beef stew the other night, my first in fact, and it was from Taste of Home.

[Mary]

Here is my mother's beef stew recipe. It is simple, cheap and everyone in my family will eat it, which almost never happens. It is the first (but not the last) of my mother's recipes that my husband begged me to get, because it was so much better than what I was cooking. SIGH.

Buy a pound of cut up stew meat, four biggish potatoes, a pound of baby carrots, and a big can of Campbell's tomato soup. Peel the potatoes and cut into quarters. Put them in a dutch oven or other covered heavy pan. Add carrots and meat. Pour soup over the top. Cover and cook for two hours at 325.

It's cheap, plain, simple, and everybody likes it. Did I mention that yet?

[jen w]

I also wanted to add that I no loner buy any cooking magazines anymore. too much clutter and I never knew what to do with them. I find almost all of my recipes online at allrecipes.com I love it because the recipes are rated and you can read all the comments from people who have tried them. I only use the ones that get good ratings and that are easy enough for me (preferably less than 5 ingredients!). You can then find recipes that are tried and true and you won't waste time or space with magazines.

[Maureen]

If you are friends with your crockpot, beef stew is so easy. I make it almost once a week in the winter and my picky kids love it.
Toss about 1.5 pounds stew meat with flour and put in crockpot. Top that with some diced onion, add about 2 or 3 diced potatoes, then I buy precut butternut squash and toss in a bag of that. Add about half a bag of baby carrots. Then pour in 2 cups beef broth and some thyme, salt and pepper and a bay leaf. You're good to go on low for about 8 or 9 hours. if it is too thin, add a bit of cornstarch or instant potato flakes about 10 minutes before serving.

[Tammy]

Agreeing with the others. Five pounds of beef cut into 16 pieces? That's nuts -- and the amount of wine is outrageous. A really bad recipe. What a shame.

[Sara]

I like to look at Real Simple's pretty pictures of food, but I have given up on making their recipes. They are all marginal.

[amyp]

not that you need to hear it from yet another person but i feel like i have to say it - real simple's recipes try too hard to be "simple" and forget that a recipe is also supposed to taste good.

[Lisame]

"I make beef stew all the time, but it's one of those genetic things I was born with. I don't think I could tell you how to make it." Pictou

AMEN! I love this comment.

[Liza]

Tyler Florence's Ultimate Beef Stew- which does indeed have an entire bottle of wine, but also beef stock. It's a great recipe.

[Sheila]

807 calories per serving and 23 grams of fat? For any Weight Watchers followers, that clocks in at 17 points. :(

For what it's worth, Cooking Light's recipes have never let me down. I've cooked from dozens of their recipes.

[Katherine]

I like Real Simple - but I've never had much with their recipes. Cooks Illustrated gives you lots of direction and very good results if you want to try again.

[Heather]

My husband's family does a bizzaro version of 'stew' that involves ungodly amounts of cream of mushroom soup and those little jarred onions. Weird, but good. Sorry it was such a disaster after all that work!

[Changes in Life Hazard to health]

The dish looks delicious to me. I think only a fool wouldn't eat it.

[Melissa Summers]

???? Charming!

Sent from my iPhone with fat fingers on tiny keys.

[HS Diva]

Um, it's DEFINITELY not you! That's a nasty recipe! Who in the world serves stew over egg noodles???

Here is my recipe for beef stew, which I wish I could take total credit for, but I cannot. This is my adaptation of a recipe I found in a cookbook years ago. I am not much of a cook, but this recipe is foolproof (and doesn't take 4 hours!) -- two at the most!

Beef Stew

Ingredients:

2 lbs. stew beef
Olive oil or canola oil
1 medium sweet onion (Mayan or Vidalia works best), diced
8 garlic cloves, sliced very thin
5 – 6 large celery stalks, with leaves, sliced on the diagonal in ½ inch pieces
2 lbs. medium carrots, sliced on the diagonal in 1 inch pieces
5 – 6 large potatoes (red or white), peeled and cut into 1½ inch chunks
1 large can whole peeled tomatoes in puree
4 cups beef boullion
1 tbsp. fresh or 1 tsp. dried thyme leaves
1 pinch ground cloves
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp. cornstarch, mixed with ½ cup cold water

Directions:

In a large stockpot over medium high heat, heat enough olive oil or canola oil to thoroughly coat the bottom of the pan and then some. When oil is hot, sear stew beef until nicely browned on one side. Drain off liquid. Continue to sear meat until all sides are browned (about 7 minutes). You will need to drain off the liquid several times so as not to boil the meat in its own juices.

When meat is thoroughly browned and liquid has been drained a final time, put diced onion in with the meat and stir frequently until onions are beginning to caramelize (about 5 – 6 minutes). Add garlic, carrots and celery and continue to heat, stirring every few minutes, until vegetables begin to soften (about 10 minutes). Add beef boullion, canned tomatoes, thyme, salt and pepper. Stir, add ground cloves, and bring to a boil. Turn heat down so that liquid is at a simmer (medium low), and leave to simmer for about an hour until meat is tender. Stir occasionally, and break up tomatoes with a fork as they soften.

While stew simmers, peel and cut potatoes and hold in bowl of cold water so they don’t discolor. After stew has simmered for an hour, drain potatoes and add to the stew. Continue to cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender (about 20 minutes). Make a slurry of the cornstarch and cold water and add to stew. Bring stew to a boil and let boil for a minute or two to thicken the liquid. Check for seasoning, add salt and pepper if necessary.

When potatoes are done, turn heat off and let stew rest for about 15 minutes. Serve with crispy rolls or French bread and butter.

Yum!

[Nell]

I make a lot of beef stew. I use stew meat, some sort of canned tomatoes (stewed or diced?), chopped carrots, onions, celery, and potatoes, add some salt, pepper, browning sauce, miscellaneous spices, and I don't use noodles (I mean, there are already potatoes). And I loved it when I was a kid. Now that I'm an adult, I love to make it when my veggies are looking a little wilted. Honestly, I just throw anything in a crock pot anymore and hope for the best.

[Shannon]

That recipe looks CRAZY! Whoever heard of making beef stew without potatoes? And with a whole bottle of wine instead of water and/or beef stock?! And with noodles? What? CRAZY.

Catherine Newman writes an awesome food column called Dalai Mama over at Family.com and recently posted a classic beef stew recipe. She's a great cook who does basic things well, so you might want to check there.

[GrandeMocha]

I buy the "Stew Vegtables" frozen bag from Kroger. No chopping/washing. Put it in the crockpot with a chuck of beef & onion soup. Easy.

[Ness]

I found this recipe on Tasty Kitchen, it was amazingly good. I don't like beef stew much, not a big fan of beef that's not ground and seasoned with mexican spices, but I did really like this. And my girls gobbled it up too! Certainly made the husband happy!

http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/recipes/soups/beef-stew-3/

[JennyM]

You have plenty of beef stew reciped to try at this point, so I'll address another topic.

I have had to stop myself from buying food magazines. They pile up and stare accusingly at me when I never make anything from them. And I never make anything from them because, honestly? Every time I do, I end up spending $35 for one recipe to feed two of us. So... now I only buy them when I'm in the airport and need some food porn to read on the plane.

[Dodi]

The current issue of Cook's Illustrated features "The Best Beef Stew." I love all the extras they provide about the science of cooking. I cannot vouch for the results, but Cook's is usually right on the mark.

Here is the intro online, but you have to get the magazine or subscribe to get the recipe: http://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipes/article.asp?docid=21479

[Kate]

That's so frustrating when a recipe doesn't work out, especially when you spend a lot of money on it.

[Elizabeth]

I think the most interesting thing about this posting and your beef stew experience is not the "terrible" recipe but your admitted lack of cooking instinct. I find that fascinating. I'm kind of the opposite of you. I have instinct but that's all. I make what I make and I'm comfortable adding recipes occasionally but I prefer to just cook stuff and not read about it.

[Melissa Summers]

Yeah, Logan definitely has more of that instinct. He grew up with parents who loved to cook though, I grew up with parents who.....didn't.

Maybe when I'm 50 I'll have picked up some intuition.

Sent from my iPhone with fat fingers on tiny keys.