Beef and Ale Stew

The cooler weather and changing seasons bring out different aromas and cravings for different flavors.  We start to smell the smoke of a neighbor’s fireplace as it warms their home.  The leaves begin changing their colors by showing us their amber, rusts and browns before casting themselves off their branches for us to rake.

The Ale

I enjoy cooking meals that take longer and leave a lingering and alluring aroma in my home. What better way to spend a lovely fall day than to create a Beef and Ale Stew.  I use Pumpkin ale in this recipe.  It is a seasonal flavor that I start to crave this time of year along with my knitted sweaters and opera music.  If you don’t have pumpkin ale, you can use any other type of ale but I don’t recommend using a dark and bitter stout. 

Serves approx. 4-6 people

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees.

Ingredients:

• 3-4 lbs. boneless chuck, cut into 1 ½ pieces (alternatively, you can use stew meat)
• Flour for Dredging
• Salt and Pepper
• 4 T oil (or 4 turns of the Pan)
• 4 carrots, sliced
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 celery stalks or half of a pepper (whatever you have handy), diced
• 1 bottle of Pumpkin Ale (I used Pumpkin Ale which happens to be in season, but you can use another ale)
• ¼ cup Balsamic vinegar
• 3 cups of Chicken stock
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp Ras El Hanout (if you don’t have this Moroccan Spice blend, which I strongly recommend you get, you can use ¼ tsp, nutmeg, ¼ tsp cinnamon, ¼ tsp turmeric, ¼ tsp cumin)
• 1 twig of fresh rosemary or 1 T of dried rosemary.
•  Noodles or Mashed potatoes can be served along with the stew.

The Chuck

Chuck meat needs to be cooked a long time in order for it to become tender.  This recipe requires you to put an oven-proof Dutch oven in the oven for several hours.  Alternately, you can use a Crock Pot, but, I strongly recommend that you brown/sear the chuck pieces before placing them in the crock pot. 

Cut the meat into 1 ½ inch pieces.  Remove the large pieces of fat from the chuck but do not remove all of the fat.

Dredge the pieces lightly with flour.  Sprinkle with a generous amount of salt and pepper.

Heat the olive oil in the Dutch oven over medium-high heat.  Make sure you heat the oil before placing the meat in the pot.  You want to hear the meat sizzle when it hits the oil. 

You will be searing/browning the meat.  Searing creates a hard crust on the meat and locks in the flavors and juices. There are two (2) things to remember when searing meat: 

1. Never overcrowd the pot or the meat will steam and now brown, and,
2. Once you place it in the pot, leave it for several minutes without stirring. 

Searing away

After several minutes, you can turn the meat to sear the other side(s).  When done, remove the pieces to another plate and sear the other pieces.

When all of the meat is done, turn the heat to medium and add the onion, carrots and celery (or pepper or both).  Cook for several minutes until they soften a bit – about 10 minutes.

Add the Ale and scrape up the cooked meat bits from the bottom of the Dutch oven.  These bits have a lot of flavor.

Add the Balsamic vinegar, chicken broth, paprika, Ras el Hanout, and rosemary.

Add the meat along with the juices it created while waiting to be put back into the pot. Stir all of the ingredients together.  Taste the broth and add more salt, if needed. 

Place in a 350 degree oven for 2 ½ to 3 hours. 

Serve over buttered noodles or mashed potatoes. 

Enjoy!