beef | Alaska Knit Nat

Years ago when I was a newlywed trying to impress my husband with my cooking skills I found a recipe for a lamb stew in a random cookbook and would make it often using beef instead. He really loved it and I thought I did too. I even blogged about it, but I stopped making it and eventually forgot about it.

A few months ago my husband asked me about that dish and why I never make it anymore. He requested I make it again. I was surprised to find my hastily written blog post about it and when I read through it I realized how much I’ve learned as a cook in the past 15 years. My original recipe doesn’t cook the flour – I just toss it in with the wine and stock. It only calls for braising the stew meat for 30 minutes. No wonder I remember this dish as being tough and difficult to digest. It needs to be slow cooked in the oven like a proper stew so the flavors can meld and the meat can get nice and tender!

So with my seasoned chef’s hat securely on my head, I set to reimagine this recipe and make it more palatable but with the same flavors my husband yearned for. I turned to the stew queen herself, Julia Child, whose boeuf bourguignon recipe is pretty much considered the holiest of stew recipes.

I’ve hybridized her recipe with mine. And I quite like it!

Beef Stew with Anchovies and Thyme

Serves 4
Total prep & cook time: 3.5-4 hours

Ingredients:

6 ounces bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 tablespoon cooking oil
2-3 pounds beef chuck, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 medium carrot, roughly sliced
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon salt
black pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups red wine
1 1/2 – 2 cups beef or chicken stock
3 garlic cloves, minced
6 anchovy fillets, minced
1 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 cup frozen peas
Parsley, for garnish

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 450F.

Bring 1 1/2 quarts of water to a boil and add the chopped bacon. Simmer the bacon for 10 minutes and then remove bacon with a slotted spoon to a paper towel-lined plate. Dab the bacon pieces dry. This removes the smoky flavor from the bacon so it doesn’t overpower your stew.

In a large enameled Dutch oven, heat the oil. Add the bacon pieces and cook until bacon is browned. Remove with a slotted spoon to a plate. Pat dry the beef pieces and add about 1/3 of them to the Dutch oven. You don’t want to add too many or the pot will cool down and the meat won’t get nicely browned. Brown the beef, turning with tongs till there’s a nice crust on them. Place on the plate with the bacon. Repeat with the remaining pieces of beef in batches till it’s all browned.

Add the chopped carrot and onion to the pot and sauté until onion is starting to brown, just a few minutes. Drain the remaining oil from the pot.

Place the bacon and beef pieces back into the pot and add the salt and pepper. Sprinkle the flour all over till the beef is coated in the flour. Place the Dutch oven in the oven for 4 minutes. Remove, stir the beef, and place in the oven for another 4 minutes. Place the pot on the stove and turn the oven down to 325F.

Pour the wine and stock into the pot and add the garlic, anchovies and thyme. The liquid should just cover all the beef pieces, so add more stock if you need to. Bring this to a simmer, then cover and place in the oven for 2 1/2-3 hours or until the meat is falling apart tender.

Remove from the oven and bring to a simmer on the stove over low flame. Skim off any excess fat from the stew. Stir in the frozen peas until they are thawed and heated through. If the stew liquid is too thin, simmer over the stove until some of the liquid evaporates. If the liquid is too thick, add a little more stock.

Garnish with fresh parsley and serve with potatoes or egg noodles.

For years I’ve struggled with stir fry. It seems easy enough: chop meat and veggies, fry them up in a hot pan, toss with sauce and serve over rice or noodles. I could do the veggie part right, but the meat always turned out pale and chewy. I wanted that crispy beef you get at a restaurant that’s tender and flavorful.

I finally figured it out. It isn’t even hard. First, my kitchen stove isn’t hot enough. It can’t heat a wok like an industrial restaurant flame can. So right away I was set up to fail. My first step was to ditch the wok. My stove just can’t heat the bottom of a wok to a high enough heat. Instead I place a cast iron skillet in the oven and heat it to 500 degrees before putting it over a hot flame. This produces the hottest pan and will help with that caramelized sear I’m looking for on the meat.

Second, tenderize the meat. In the past I just sliced my beef thinly and tossed it into a pan. I find poking it all over with a fork or a meat stabber creates a more tender final product.

Third, don’t overcrowd the pan. Adding a large quantity of cold meat to a hot pan will lower the pan’s heat and it’ll take longer to reheat it. Cook your beef in two batches and the pan will stay hotter. Lastly, don’t move that meat! To achieve that perfect sear, toss in the beef and don’t stir it, shake it or flip it for a minute.

Here’s a recipe I came up with tonight, inspired by this recipe, and using what I had available in my kitchen. I hope you don’t feel intimidated by the number of ingredients. Most of them are staples in my kitchen. Use whatever veggies you like. That’s the great thing about stir fry. It’s customizable. Serve over noodles or rice, whichever you prefer. I happened to have udon noodles so that’s what I went with tonight.

The Best Beef Stir Fry | A Free Recipe from Alaska Knit Nat — suziedepingu via Compfight cc

Perfect Beef Stir Fry — A Free Recipe from Alaska Knit Nat

Ingredients (all of these measurements are estimated):

1 pound of beef, I think we used New York strip steak
1/2 pound udon noodles
1 Tbs. corn starch
2 Tbs. soy sauce
2 tsp. vinegar
3 tsp. sesame oil
4 cloves garlic, smashed
salt and pepper
1 Tbs. cooking sherry
2 Tbs. oyster sauce
1/4 cup chicken stock
1/2 tsp. powdered ginger (I didn’t have any fresh)
3 dried red chilis
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
2 bok choy heads, chopped into bite-sized pieces
6 kale leaves, stems removed and torn
1/2 tsp. sugar
cooking oil
3 green onions, chopped

Directions:

Tenderize the beef with a meat stabber or a fork. Slice thinly across the grain. In a bowl combine soy sauce, vinegar, 2 cloves of garlic, 1 tsp. sesame oil, corn starch, salt and pepper. Add the sliced beef, coat in the mixture and set aside.

Place a cast iron skillet in a cold oven and set the temperature to 500 degrees. Set a large pot of water to boil. Cook noodles for nine minutes, rinse with cold water and set aside.

In the meantime, chop the onions and bok choy. Massage the kale for a minute. This helps it be more tender when cooked. In a medium bowl, combine the sherry, oyster sauce, chicken stock and ginger; set aside.

When oven reaches 500 degrees, remove the cast iron pan and place it over a high flame. Add some cooking oil, enough to coat the pan, and let it heat for a minute. Add half of the beef and spread it evenly on the pan. Now don’t move it! Let it sit and sear for one minute. Flip each piece, toss in the dried peppers and garlic and let it sit another minute. Place into the bowl with the sherry and oyster sauce. Add a little more oil to the skillet and let it reheat for a minute. Add the second batch of beef and cook the same way.

In the now empty pan, add a little more oil if needed and toss in the onions. Stir and let cook for a few minutes till onions begin to soften and brown slightly. Add the bok choy, kale and sugar; toss to coat in the oil. Add a splash of chicken stock and let the greens cook down for a few minutes, until tender. Add the beef mixture and green onions and toss well. Serve over the noodles.