A very beefy, brothy, bountiful beef stew!

A meat lovers favorite winter dish to warm the cockles of your heart on a bitter cold day.

I make good use of a deep French Bordeaux wine (Burgundy works, too) to darken and flavor the stew.  ( "Ce vin a de la jambe!)  Most of the alcohol cooks out, unless you add another spash at the end for added flavor and warmth.

My preference is to slow cook the stew for several hours in a Le Creuset Dutch Oven on the range, stirring several times throughout the cooking.

It will look very much like this photo, borrowed from Jacques Pepin.

We will be adding one thing at a time and adding and adding...

Yes, this is very similiar to Beef Bourginon, but it is more of a stew for all of its ingredients, type of stewing beef and duration.  It's a bit of a French stew, no matter how you cut it or cook it!

The recipe is a compilation of my father's German flair for beefy dishes as well as some French culinary influence I picked up along the way.

 Let's get started!

Take your dutch oven or large heavy duty sauce pan with lid.  Place on burner over medium high heat.

Pour in 3 - 4 tablespoons of olive oil and heat. 

Add 2 lbs. of chuck roast (stewing beef) in large chunks, lightly coated in flour.  Toss and stir contstantly until browned on all sides.

Add 1 clove of minced garlic and toss.

Pour 3 cups of red wine over the meat and stir.

Add one large chopped yellow onion and stir again.

Add one large bay leaf and 3 whole cloves along with one cup of hot beef bullion and stir. (Remember to remove the bay leaf and cloves at the end!)

Bring stew to a boil and turn down to low and simmer for about an hour and a half to two hours, stirring periodically.

Once the meat is tender, add 8 small, quartered red skinned  potatos (washed and skin left on), 2 dozen whole baby carrots, an 8 oz. package of unsalted, frozen petite baby peas and  2 cups of button mushrooms (any mushrooms will do just fine) and stir into stew.  Simmer for another hour or so.

At any time during the cooking, if the liquid is low, add more wine, water or bullion for a more brothy stew.  I do like to add a half cup of Bordeaux at the end, heating stew till piping hot, for the rich wine flavor and aroma.

When meat and vegetables are very tender, serve in large soup bowls with spoons and forks. 

Garnish with Italian parsley and accompany with either crusty, buttered French bread, corn muffins or my personal favorite, Gruyere Popovers.  (popover recipe below).

Serves 8

GRUYERE POPOVERS

4 cups milk, warmed

8 eggs

4 cups flour

1.5 tsp. salt

2.25 cups grated Gruyere cheese

Place popover pan in oven, heating at 350.

Gently warm the milk over low heat and set aside.

Whisk the eggs until frothy and slowly whisk in the milk (so as not to cook the eggs).  Set the mixture aside.

Sift the flour with the salt and slowly add this dry mixture to the egg mixture and gently combine until mostly smooth.

Remove the popover pan from the oven and spray with a nonstick vegetable spray.

While the batter is still slightly warm, fill each popover cup 3/4 full.

Top each popover with about 2.5 tsps. of the grated Gruyere cheese.

Bake at 350 for 50 minutes, ratating pan a half turn after 15 minutes, until popovers are golden brown.

Take out of oven and serve immediately.

NOTE:  While your stew is in it's last hour of simmering, make the popovers for the perfect timing.

WAH LA!!!

"Bon appetit!"