Eternal Cloudiness of the Cook's Mind

"In life, all you need is good friends, good food and good wine." I may have a few things to add to that list, but I agree with the sentiment. What follows is my experience with food. There will be a lot of thoughts, ideas and suggestions with a few recipes thrown in for good measure. Hopefully all of my stories are relavent to the food that is presented, but I can't make any promises.

Wednesday, February 16, 2005

“Really Big” Beef Stew

I love a good beef stew. I respect a good beef stew. I understand a good beef stew. Unfortunately, I don’t find too many good beef stews. I’m not sure why a good beef stew is harder to find that a mint Mickey Mantle rookie card, but I think that the problem lies with both the quality of the food and the cooking techniques applied to said food. While perhaps the most basic of cooking techniques, stewing a perfect pot of meat and vegetables requires a lot more time and consideration that the average home cook is willing to give. If you don’t have at least 4 hours to commit to this project, then don’t even get out the cutting board. If, on the other hand, you are able to sacrifice an afternoon or evening to journey to the pinnacle of Mt. Comfort Food, then please come along for the ride.
My philosophy for preparing a beef (or pork, or lamb, or. . .) stew is to make this a stew that any truck driver or Marine would find satisfying. The first requirement is large chunks of meat and a lot of them. Remember, this is a BEEF stew, beef should be the star of the show. If I want beef and vegetable soup, then I will open a can of beef and vegetable soup. I hope that I have made myself clear on this most-important issue. Next, I want to pair my beef with the highest-quality vegetables that I can find. I take this idea to a farmer’s-market level and really go all out with such veggies as Peruvian purple potatoes, Yukon gold potatoes, white sweet potatoes or baby carrots and pearl onions (I know that most of us have not had pearl onions since our grandmothers were in charge of dinner, but revisit these little nuggets of joy). Beyond that, keep everything else simple. We’re not trying to invent a new stew here, we’re trying to make the most perfect stew possible; if we think outside of the box we’ll end up with disappointed families and friends never trusting us to make dinner or contribute to a pot luck ever again.
So, without further delay, let’s get started.

What you need to get together:

Beef Chuck 3 pounds
Pork Shoulder 1 ½ pounds
Beef Shanks 1 ½ pounds
Pear Onions 1 package (12 oz.)- peeled
Baby Carrots 1 ½ cups
Yukon Gold Potatoes 12 each- halved
French Green Beans (Hericot Vert) 32 each
Frozen Green Peas 1 cup
Worcestershire Sauce ¼ cup
Diced Tomatoes 1 can
Tomato Paste 1 TBSP
Bay Leaf 1 each
Fresh Thyme 2 sprigs

How to put it all together:
1. Cut the beef chuck and pork shoulder into large pieces (2 oz. each). You want each piece to be the equivalent of 2 bites.
2. Combine the cut beef and pork with the Worcestershire sauce and season liberally with salt and pepper. Let the meat rest in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour but you don’t need to go for more than 2.
3. Over a medium to medium high flame, heat vegetable oil in a large pot (the larger the better), and begin to sear the beef and pork pieces until they are very crusty on all sides. It will help if you pat the pieces dry with a paper towel before trying to sear them since they have been combined with the Worcestershire sauce. It will also help to remember to sear the meat in batches. You may need to do up to 4 or 5 batches depending on the size of your pot. You cannot overcrowd the pan or you will not get the sear that you are looking for.
4. After all of the meat has been seared and removed from the pan, the bottom of the pot should be nice and dark with browned bits of meat. At this point add a bit more oil and then add the pearl onions. This will achieve a deglazing step that essentially means we are trying to get all of the flavor off of the bottom of the pot and into our food. This is what Martha Stewart would call a good thing. Sauté the onions until they are colored, about 3 minutes, and then remove them from the pot.
5. At this point, add the beef shanks to the bottom of the pot and then top them with the seared beef and pork. Add enough water (or beef stock) to the pot (about 3 quarts) to cover the meat by at least 1 inch and raise the heat to medium high. Here is a point where you could add a cup or so of red wine, but it won’t really make that much of a difference to the final product.
6. When the stew comes to a boil, skim off any of the foam and fat that rises to the top and reduce the heat to medium.
7. Now, add the tomato paste, diced tomatoes and herbs to the pot. Here is where the waiting begins. Go watch a football game, read a book or clean the house. Do anything to get your mind off of the fact that it will be at least 2 hours before you do anything to this stew but stir it occasionally or skim off some grease from the top of the liquid. This is not for an impatient cook. Don’t try to rush this process. Raising the heat at this point would not help it cook faster. Trust me here. Resign yourself to a 2 hour wait. Also, make sure that the liquid is never moving faster than a healthy simmer. Keep the liquid at the level of the meat, adding some during the cooking process if you must.
8. After roughly 2 hours have past (during which time you have occasionally stirred the stew and skimmed off the pools of fat that have collected around the edge of the pot) it is time to see if the meat has achieved the level of tenderness that we are looking for. First, hunt down the shanks and see if they are hollow. If they are, then that is the first sign that we are close. If they are almost hollow, scrape out the marrow into the pot and consider yourself in the ballpark. If they are still full of the sweet marrow that will give our stew great flavor (and they shouldn’t be after 2 hours), then put them back into the pot and continue to wait about 30 minutes. Next, pull out a piece of the beef. Now you will do what any self-respecting chef worth his salt would do; taste the meat. If you could chew it with your gums, then we’re home. If there is a bit of toughness left, wait 30 minutes. If it is still shoe leather, then Houston, we have a problem and another hour of cooking.
9. Once the meat is completely tender, add in the halved potatoes and carrots. These vegetables will take about 20 minutes to cook at a healthy simmer and will not be completely falling apart when the stew is served. Firm, not over-cooked vegetables will enhance the tenderness of the meat and will be commented upon by everyone who has ever had soggy veggies in their stew (which is basically everyone on the planet).
10. Once the potatoes are tender and just cooked through, add in the frozen peas. Continue to cook for about 3 minutes and then remove the pot from the heat. The residual heat from the pot is more than enough to heat the frozen peas all of the way through and will also be enough to cook the green beans. These are the 2 vegetables that you need to make sure not to completely ruin with overcooking. In fact, you may want to reserve the green beans and add them to batches of the stew if you are not going to consume all of the stew once it is done.
11. The final step is to adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. Let the stew rest for about 20-30 minutes before serving (don’t worry, it will still be hot). The stew is more than worthy to stand alone, but is best if served with corn bread (pictured) or crusty French bread. My personal taste leans toward Saltines, but I get that from my grandmother.

A few final thoughts about this recipe:
Ok, so you’re wondering about the pork. Well, ultimately I think that it adds a flavor that just can’t be accomplished with beef alone. If you are opposed to it, omit it from the recipe. Or, maybe you want to add lamb instead of the pork. Or, and this is a crazy idea, maybe you want to add some lamb to this recipe. Really, it doesn’t matter as long as you follow the rules of searing and simmering. I find that most beef-eaters don’t mind pork, but lamb may be a different story.
It’s important to remember to strain all of the foam and bad stuff off of the top of the stew before you add the herbs because if you add them before you “skim the scum” you may end up inadvertently removing the herbs caught up in the foam. Also, please do not boil the stew during the cooking process. If you boil the liquid, all of the fat that wants to accumulate at the top will be emulsified (mixed in) into the cooking liquid. What you will be left with is a greasy-tasting stew. So, please, for the sake of the children, just let the stew simmer.
Now, I have received criticism over using both canned tomatoes and frozen peas. Well, here’s my defense- it’s my recipe and I’ll do whatever I want. Seriously, good-quality canned tomatoes are consistently a great product and are available year-round. How many great tomatoes have you had in December? Also, today peas are frozen the same day that they are picked. Plus, it’s a pain in the rear to clean fresh peas. So, frozen it is.
Finally, I want you to just have fun with this stew and keep it simple. I think that you will find it truly satisfying to prepare a great pot of stew that everyone concedes is one of the best, if not the best, that they have ever had.

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