Mom’s Traditional Beef Stew
This past weekend was a long one- four days of family, friends and food to celebrate my baby sister tying the knot. It made me realize how lucky I am to have such a great tribe to call my own. It also made realize that I’m no spring chicken- and I’m still recovering from going non-stop for almost a week.
Thankfully my mama is still in town to bring us all back to life with her good old fashion comfort food. Growing up we nearly always came home to a mom-made meal. Especially when we weren’t feeling great. I’ve shared her chicken soup and turkey chili- and this week she made us one of our childhood favorites: A classic beef stew.
The smell of it cooking all day long brought me right back to cozy Connecticut nights as a family. And it’s just perfect for this time of year- hearty enough for Sunday football by the fire, but traditional enough to serve as a festive holiday meal.
By popular request, here’s my Mom’s Traditional Beef Stew:
Mom’s Traditional Beef Stew
Ingredients
2 lbs 80-20 stew meat- cut into one inch cubes
extra virgin olive oil
About 20 whole garlic cloves roasted- you can buy pre-roasted in the deli section of you local grocery store
10 large carrots- cut into one inch cubes
2 large Idaho potatoes- unpeeled, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 bag frozen pearl onions
1 bottle Holland House red cooking wine, 16 ounces
1 large can Italian style tomatoes, 28 ounces
1 can beef broth, 14.5 ounces
salt & pepper
instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
On the stove top, coat bottom of a dutch oven with olive oil and add garlic
Heat on high until garlic starts to sizzle
Sear stew meat until brown on all four sides
Add salt and pepper to taste
Add carrots and potatoes
Add pearl onions
Add tomatoes
Add bottle of cooking wine
Add beef broth
Blend all ingredients
Cover dutch oven and transfer to oven
Cook covered for 2.5 hours
Remove lid and cook uncovered for 1.5 hours
Remove from oven and serve
Serving Suggestions
In a bowl with a side of fresh bread- french bread or cornbread
In a bowl with crumbled corn bread on top
In a bread bowl
Over white rice
With a glass of red wine- or two- I would suggest a nice Cabernet
