It has been a while since we were quite so excited to share a recipe. But this brand new recipe is a carnival in your mouth. Something like you would expect when you had that magic “best I ever had” moment.
At Dizzy Pig, we pride ourselves on putting a fresh flavorful spin on familiar favorites. However, when it came to tackling mom’s traditional stew recipe, it was hard to move past the memory of veggies cooked into submission. Or a brown gravy with the occasional bump of generically labeled ‘stewing beef’ floating about. In some ways, it was familiar and comforting. But it was certainly lacking the kind of kick-in-the-taste-buds we are used to experiencing here at Dizzy Pig!
So, with the idea of building layer upon layer of flavor in mind, Chris came up with this intensive, and intensely flavorful, recipe that rethinks and reworks what a winter stew can be. No shortcut or compromise was made. Shut off your cell phone. Put your tablet on airplane mode and block off about 4 hours and go full foodie commando. We promise; the time and the effort in building this bowl of wonderful comfort is definitely worth it.
- 2 pounds beef (1/2 to 3/4 inch cubes) (chuck, shoulder, brisket)
- 2 Tbsp Dizzy Pig Raising the Steaks
- 1 Tbsp Dizzy Pig Pineapple Head
- 1 tsp Dizzy Pig Bombay Curry-ish (optional – see notes***)
- Oil for browning beef and sautéing onions
- 1 Tbsp fresh grated ginger root (Use up to 2 tbsp. for an even brighter stew)
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 additional clove of garlic for mushroom sauté
- 3 medium onions, chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 IPA beer or bottle of wine. Some to help deglaze pan, some to drink.
- 2 tsp orange zest (from 1 small orange)
- 1/3 cup all purpose flour (If you are avoiding wheat/gluten, a gluten-free flour can be substituted)
- 1 quart beef broth/stock
- 4 red potatoes, cubed
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- 1 sweet potato, cubed (1/2 inch dice at most)
- Pat of butter
- 1 package cremini mushrooms (Baby bella)
- Preheat the oven to 275°F. You’ll be cooking and tenderizing your beef for a couple hours in there.
- Season beef cubes by tossing with 2 Tbsp Raising the Steaks.
- Take some of the flour (I used 2 Tbsp) and lightly coat the beef cubes. I spread the beef out on waxed paper and sprinkled flour over. But you can toss them in a plastic bag. Shake off any excess flour.”
- In a hot pan with oil, either on the stovetop or grill, brown the beef cubes. Use something you can put directly in the oven. A cast iron or stainless steel dutch oven works best. Do 2 or 3 batches to assure good browning. Don’t stir the meat until it’s well browned on one side. The brown crusty bits left in your pan are flavor – you’ll appreciate it later. Super-dark brown is okay. Careful not to burn pan crust as it will be bitter.
- Remove each batch of beef from pan after a few minutes of browning and reserve. A slotted spoon works best to reserve fat/oil in pan for the next batch.
- Once all beef is browned and reserved, add a little more oil if needed, then onion, ginger, garlic, bell pepper.
- Sauté for about 5 minutes, scraping crust from pan. Use a little additional liquid if needed. I had lots of crust on the pan and used a half bottle of a tasty, hoppy India Pale Ale to help with the deglazing. A tangy wine would be perfect as well.
- Add orange zest, then the remaining flour, and incorporate into the onion mixture.
- Stir in beef broth and incorporate.
- Cover and bake in the oven for about 1 1/2 – 2 hours, until the meat is nearly tender. There will be more cooking, so you don’t want the meat to be falling apart at this stage. I used brisket, and needed the full 2 hours in the oven.
- Remove pan from oven, add potatoes and tomatoes.
- Simmer on stove for 40-45 minutes.
- Meanwhile, coat sweet potato chunks in oil, then sprinkle on Dizzy Pig Pineapple Head and toss to coat. What this does is build an amazing caramelized sweet crust on the sweet potatoes before adding to stew. You could put the sweet potatoes right into the stew raw, but if you want the extra layer of flavor, you should not skip the next step.
- Brown the seasoned sweet potatoes in a separate pan until caramelized (5-10 minutes).
- Add browned sweet potatoes to stew pot.
- Sauté mushrooms in butter and more garlic for a few minutes until well browned. You could put the mushrooms right into the stew raw, but this adds an extra depth of flavor to the stew.
- Add mushrooms to main stew pot.
- If stew is getting too thick, add liquid…beer, broth, or both (in small amounts).
- Correct for flavor. (see suggestions below)
- Serve when potatoes are tender!
***I did very little to correct the flavor on my version. I found it well balanced and simply added a couple pinches of salt to taste, but here are some other options. If you are not sure how an ingredient will affect the flavor, you can always pull out a little broth, and see what the addition of these items does to the flavor:
