Doing Stew tonight, tell me what to improve:

Doing Stew tonight, tell me what to improve:

>flour beef chunks
>brown the outside of the beef
>add garlic and onion, saute for a bit
>add tomato paste , water and bullion (because I'm a cheap ass)
>toss in a bay leaf, thyme, rosemary and a ton of cracked pepper
>simmer for 30 minutes
>after add peeled carrots and potatos and frozen peas
>simmer another 15-25 minutes
>add worcestershire sauce
>serve

It's damn good when I've made it, but do you think it's lacking anything?

Get rid of the fucking water and use proper stock. Wine is an acceptable substitute too.

Add the Worcestershire earlier, not just at the end.

You'll probably need to simmer it for a lot longer than an hour total though; most stewing cuts of beef take between 2 and 3 hours to get tender.

I've made it in less than an hour plenty of times and the beef has always been perfectly tender in my opinion. There's a difference between stock and broth right? I pretty much only use bouillon because you can get a lot of money's worth from it. Never considered wine though.

What cut of beef are you using?

>>Stock and broth
According to some sources they are different, but a lot of the time people use the words interchangeably. My point was that any of the above is preferable to water and a bullion cube.

add some ale and throw it in the oven.

I just use the pre cut shit in the meat aisle.

Wine makes sense, but I can't see beer going well with it. I usually put beer in chilli.

chili is just like beef stew with different spices, you've got some room for crossover

remove the beef after its browned
add your onion and garlic and then deglaze with wine
add your beef back and commence as normal

I can confirm that ale (or other dark beer) is great in a beef stew.

Cider is good in a pork stew.

I grabbed a Newcastle for it. Seems like it'll taste good.

The only thing I do differently is use beef stock and make a miropoix paste of onion, carrot and celery that I saute a bit then add the garlic instead of onion alone. It adds another depth of flavor in the background that enhances the flavor of the ones you add at the end. I also add mushrooms, but alot of people don't like them for some reason.

That seems like a good tip. I've been interested in doing mushrooms but I don't want them to get crushed. I usually use large chunks.

>not using stout in a beef stew
>2011+6

Sounds neat op. Mind posting the ball park amount of each? I've been Interested in trying to make a beef stew and finally got a proper pot for it but I'm still a little new to this

>>simmer another 15-25 minutes

that's not how you STEW. if your starting with chuck you're gonna want to STEW that shit for 2-3 hours to get it nice and tender.

>I've made it in less than an hour plenty of times and the beef has always been perfectly tender in my opinion.

THAT'S BECAUSE YOU HAVE SHIT TASTE AND NEVER HAD A GOOD STEW IN YOUR FUCKING LIFE.
also is waiting too hard you fat fuck or will you just shovel ANYTHING down your fat gullet?

I'm not OP, but the amounts of your ingredients are totally up to your preferance. If you want more veggies than meat then do so. Or vice-versa. My rule of thumb is that the amount of meat should equal the amount of total veggies.

Add just enough beer/stock/ale/wine to cover the stuff you're simmering.

Just got back from the store and this is the total. I also bought a 12 pack and this is also California, so it might be cheaper for you.

Marco White uses bullion all the time, don't beat yourself up over it.

Maybe dial back on the pepper. A 'ton' sounds like a lot.

Yeah, but:
1) He's a paid shill
and
2) If you pay attention he uses it as a seasoning, not as an actual replacement for stock.

The reason why actual stock is really good for a stew is because the gelatin really helps the texture of the stew. You don't get that with a bullion cube.

There is a difference between stock and broth though they are used interchangeably often times. I want to say the sperg version says stock uses bones. Also wondering what kind of beef you're using? Stew meat, like chuck, has a lot of collagen and connective tissue. It takes hours to break down on a simmer but that's why it's good for stew. Good job browning it first though.

The meat is Boneless Beef For Stew USDA Choiceâ„¢. No clue what cut it actually is.

This is my main problem with supermarket butchers. Half the time they don't know shit about the meat they're preparing.
>go to local supermarket butcher
>ask what grade the steaks are
>he tells me they are "angus strip steaks"
>"yeah but what USDA grade are they?"
>he shrugs his shoulders
For fucks sake are these people not properly trained?

Most likely that's "usable trim". It's random bits and pieces scrounged up in the butcher shop.

A better idea would be to buy a piece of meat that's a known cut--chuck, for example. Then cut it into cubes yourself.

A lot of markets don't even have proper butchers. They just order-in the meat pre packaged from a distributor. The people don't know what the grades are because they're really just glorified stockers.

Add gelatin to make it thick. Just a pack of plain gelatin.