Does anyone have any beef stew secrets?

[betsuni]

I want to make a rich, strongly umami stew, but most recipes seem so dull. The key is a great stock, I assume, but I have to make my own. I don't have beef bones or whatever it is restaurants use to make stock. Should I roast vegetables first to make stock? Should I use wine, or stout beer? Dried mushrooms, soy sauce or miso should deepen flavor. Garlic or no garlic? Tomato sauce? How to make sure the beef isn't tough? Thyme, clove and bay leaves seem essential, but anything else? Does anyone add unsweetened dried fruit like cherries, maybe along with a little balsamic vinegar (when made with red wine)? Any beef stew advice would be appreciated.

Edited to add: I can't use store-bought stock or bouillon cubes and the like because of salt issues and as I live in Japan I have to special order the good organic stuff and I'm all out.

[Sedona]

1. Worcestershire sauce!

[betsuni]

4. The soy sauce has to replace the Worcestershire sauce,

but I'm going to look up the ingredients and add whatever spices to try to approximate!

[elleng]

6. Worchestershire sauce contains:

The ingredients of a traditional bottle of Worcestershire sauce sold in the UK as "The Original & Genuine Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce" are:

malt vinegar (from barley)
spirit vinegar
molasses
sugar
salt
anchovies
tamarind extract
onions
garlic
spice
flavouring
The "spice, and flavouring" is believed to include: [8]

cloves
soy sauce
lemons
pickles
peppers

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worcestershire_sauce

[betsuni]

9. Oh, thank you!

Hmmm, this will not be so easy. Where there's a will, there's a way.

[elleng]

10. This is, I think, and old, 'traditional' recipe.

Check the label for today's variety.

More info: http://homecooking.about.com/od/howtocookwithcondiments/a/worcestersauce.htm

[betsuni]

12. Talk of English sauces reminds me of the wonderful book "The Debt to Pleasure."

"Thus the records of English spice consumption show a heroic commitment to (especially) overrated cinnamon; the even more overrated, not far short of actively nasty clove; tasty soporific nutmeg and its sibling mace; aromatic allspice; flashy paprika; historic mustard seed; popular ginger; chili (which it must never be forgotten arrived in Europe some time before the Portuguese carried it to India, where the fiery pod was to have some of the most culinarily notable effects); warm-tasting, personal favorite, beds-i'-the-East-are-soft cumin; evocatively Middle Eastern coriander; risky cardamom; unmistakable caraway; lurid turmeric -- I could go on.

"It is often erroneously asserted that this enthusiasm for spices has its origins in a desire to disguise or conceal the degraded quality of the available produce -- specifically, to conceal the corruption of spoiled meat. This is terribly evil and mad. The dominant theme in English cuisine is the use of spices for their own sake, especially in pursuit of effects that -- and this is the real key to the historic national palate -- combine the sour and the sweet. From the date of the amalgamation of the Sopers Lane Pepperers and the Cheap Spicers in 1345, to the commercial launch of Worcestershire sauce in 1838, ... English eating is dominated by the pursuit of sweet and sour tastes together ... ."

[elleng]

14. 'Nasty clove,' I agree. 'Lurid' turmeric???

VERY interesting!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. For really rich gravy, very beefy, I use "Better Than Bouillon."

It comes in beef, chicken and vegetarian flavors and I love it. It's a pasty material that you mix with hot water. The jar needs to be refrigerated after opening.

[betsuni]

5. It's vexing not to have good bouillon.

I found an excellent organic vegetarian one from Germany but the store stopped carrying it. Sigh. Thanks anyway!

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

22. BTB is the best...

I have to use the low sodium version, no loss in flavor. The Costco by us here in Michigan carries the huge size of beef and chicken around the holiday for about a buck more than the little jars most commonly sold in our grocery stores. We stock up for the year. Little pun!
The chili type makes the best flavoring for homemade chili mac.

[LawDeeDah]

28. I think I saw BTB at Costco. Will pick it up, thanks.

[elleng]

3. Don't know how secret,

but this is mine. Pretty good. I use 'stew meat' from grocery store.'

Dredge cubed beef in flour that's been sprinkled generously with garlic powder, salt, thyme, and paprika. Brown the beef in olive oil.

Add layers of cubed potatoes, canned peas + carrots with juice, jar of pearl onions with juice, stewed tomatoes (I use Del Monte), bay leaves, and red wine, and let it stew, mixing occasionally. Adjust seasonings.

[betsuni]

7. Ah, paprika -- why didn't I think of that.

Thanks!

[elleng]

8. You're welcome.

[madfloridian]

11. Big chunks of garlic, lots of it. Bay leaf.

Worchestershire sauce. A couple of bay leafs.

I was told that beef soup or stew was best with both beef and chicken broth added. I was skeptical, but it makes a huge difference in flavor.

I once used chicken wings along with the beef, just a few. Tremendous addition to flavor, took out the bones, left just some meat.

[betsuni]

15. Thanks, will use chicken wings to make broth then.

[Warpy]

13. Roll the stew beef in paper towels to dry any water off

then toss it in a little flour, then sear the outsides to a dark brown, nearly black. Deglaze the skillet with stock, water or red wine (all work) and reserve. Add a little oil and partially sweat the onions and celery. Put the meat and aromatics into the stew pot with the deglazing liquid and cook at a low simmer until the meat is nearly fall apart tender. Add potatoes and carrots and simmer for half an hour until they're fork tender.

Seasoning can be as simple as a bay leaf, salt and pepper.

The flour should thicken the stew but if it seems watery, you can use cornstarch dissolved in cold water, buerre manié, or a couple of crustless pieces of caraway rye bread.

I'm not a fan of stout or miso in stew. I keep it pretty simple, the flavors of the meat and vegetables providing plenty of punch.

Now I'm craving Irish stew, which is what this is. Thanks a lot...

[betsuni]

16. Since I have "The Debt to Pleasure" open,

here is the Irish Stew recipe in the book:

"Layer the ingredients as follows: layer hard potatoes; layer onions; layer lamb; layer soft potatoes; layer onions; layer lamb; repeat as necessary and finish with a thick layer of all remaining potatoes. Sprinkle each layer with salt and herbs [oregano, a bay leaf, thyme, marjoram]. You will of course not be able to do that if you have been following this recipe without reading it through in advance. Let that be a lesson to you. Add cold water down the interstices of meat and vegetables until it insinuates up to the top. Put a lid on it. Cook for three hours in an oven at gas mark two. You will find that the soft potatoes have dissolved into the cooking liquid. Serves six trencherpersons.The ideological purity of this recipe is very moving."

[grasswire]

17. I keep a bag of frozen pearl onions in the freezer

They are such a breeze to add to any soup or stew, and they look festive.

[betsuni]

19. I have pearl onions ...

only because they were marked down from the already low price of ¥158 for six of them to ¥50. This is quite exciting for me. They are very festive and attractive, the main reason I feel compelled to make a nice beef stew.

[eShirl]

18. ground cumin really makes a good beef stew great

in addition to garlic (fresh and powdered), onion (fresh and powdered), either soy sauce or Bragg's liquid aminos, vinegar, celery (stalk and leaves) carrot, potato, peas, barley, some kind of herby herb like basil, parsley, qinoa, any miscellaneous leftover beans or vegetables you have lying around that you think might be good in it, bay leaf, black pepper

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

20. One trick I got from a chef

Cook a third to half the vegetables in with the stew -- they will get all mushy. When it's not quite done, take the meat out and set aside. Puree the overcooked vegetables with a stick blender, to thicken the stew. Then put the meat and the rest of the vegetables in to finish their cooking.

[Major Nikon]

21. There's a couple of different approaches I like

One is the French method of marinating the beef in red wine overnight and then using the wine to make the stew. Another is the "hobo" method where you cook the meat in the oven wrapped in aluminum foil and very little liquid, then add the cooked meat to a prepared stock at the end of the cooking process.

[Kali]

23. why can't you get bones?

one option would be to use more meat than you think. sear it in a good fat (preferably beef fat - that would give more flavor)
but yes roasting the vegs would help intensify things, a bit of tomato paste and lots of onions - lots of onions will thicken and add good richness. yes to garlic. as for spices I only use salt, black pepper and bay leaves in my beef stew. for vegs carrots and potatoes are a must, sometimes a can of tomatoes is good, other root vegs or you can take it to vegetable beef soup mode and add anything - celery, corn, green beans, etc.

any meat will be tender if cooked low and slow as you will want to do with stew - give it several hours at barely simmering, but if you don't have bones/good broth to start you really MUST sear the meat well in some kind of fat - it will give you some flavor don't worry - after it all cooks for a few hours it will be YUM.

for a natural thickening, coat your meat in flour before browning - that flour and the cooked down onions will thicken the liquid.

[PADemD]

24. Basic Beef Stock

Made with beef soup bones

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/basic-beef-stock/

1180 beef stew recipes:

http://allrecipes.com/search/default.aspx?qt=k&wt=beef%20stew&rt=r&origin=Recipe

[The empressof all]

25. Use beef ramen packets....Do they make the low salt kind for Japanese Market?

I also use a pressure cooker for my stews as it extracts a great deal of flavor from the meat. Also brown the meaty really, really well and deglaze the pan with wine.

I like my beef stew relatively simple and uncomplicated. I only use carrot, celery and onion, salt pepper and bay leaf. I lightly brown the onion and celery in the pan I use to brown the beef.

If you don't use a pressure cooker than you need to go low and slow. The meat will be tender eventually....If it's tough it needs to cook more

You can thicken with flour mixed with butter. Work it together with your fingers till you have small pea size pieces. This goes in at the end. Don't add too much...Add as needed

[japple]

26. A cup of Guinness or other stout, dark beer is a great addition. Tomatoes seem to make it

more like vegetable beef soup. Mine is like other have said with floured then browned stew beef with a dash of Worstershire. Then onions, celery, carrots, potatoes, bay leaf S & P.

[GoCubsGo]

27. Ground dried mushrooms and herbs.

I saw the mushroom trick on "America's Test Kitchen." It helps make the stock richer. And, thyme and rosemary give a nice flavor to the stew, as well.