Wily Winter - Why You Need This Stew
Last weekend it was sunny, balmy, and beautiful out. This week? Cold, snowy, & blustery, but I can’t complain all that much because it really has been a mild winter. [Knocks on every single piece of wood in the house.]
However, just because it’s been mild doesn’t mean we're whipping out the grill and sitting on the patio. For some reason, even when it's mild, you still need to work through the winter meal rotation and this one... Yeah, this one needs to be added to the rotation. Especially because it involves beer and caramelized onions. Which, I’ll be honest, I’d pretty much eat on their own.
And why, exactly, do you need this stew? Because I guarantee winter isn't done with you yet, so you need to arm yourself with a warm, comforting meal!
How to Make Beef Stew with Porter Beer
This stew is one of those low and slow, pop it in the oven for a few hours while you nap and the kids throw Legos everywhere kinda deals. Well, after you’ve done the prep, which there is a bit of, but I promise it is totally worth it.
It starts with butter, olive oil, and a mass of sliced onions. You star the onions over medium-high heat to get them cooking down. After a bit you turn the heat down and let them sit, stirring every 8-10 minutes, to keep the caramelization going.
Once you have delicious, sweet caramelized onions, you’re going to deglaze with a bit of dark beer to get all of that gorgeousness off the bottom of the pan. Porter is my preference here [I've been using Founder's Porter] but this recipe works with any rich, dark beer.
After deglazing the pan, you add the remaining ingredients, give it all a good stir and pour into a prepared casserole dish. Cover tightly, put it in the oven, pour yourself a beer, and let dinner simmer away for a few hours.
When the meat is fork-tender, somewhere between 2-½ to 3 hours, you're ready to eat!
PrintPorter, Caramelized Onion, & Beef Stew
Porter, Caramelized Onion, & Beef Stew | eatatkates.com | This delicious, savory beef stew takes a few simple ingredients and let's them hang out for a few hours to create a fantastic, comforting dish that will get you through the remaining days of winter.
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 3 hours 30 mins
- Total Time: 3 hours 50 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Main
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 pound yellow onions, sliced [see note]
- ¾ cup dark beer, porter or stout, divided
- 1 pound beef stew meat
- 1 can (15 oz) cream of mushroom soup
- ¾ pound red potatoes, or other waxy potato, cubed in ½-1" pieces
- 2 medium carrots, peeled & chopped into 1" pieces
- 2 teaspoon thyme
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper or cayenne (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Preheat large saute pan for 3-5 minutes, until hot. Then add butter and olive oil, swirling to mix.
- When butter is melted, add sliced onions, turning to coat with butter/oil mixture, and cook on medium-high heat for 5 minutes until onions are softened.
- Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and cook, stirring every 8-10 minutes for approximately 30 minutes.
- When onions are reduced by about two-thirds and are golden and fragrant, add ¼ cup of the beer and scrape bottom of pan to pick up any cooked-on bits. Remove from heat.
- To the saute pan, add all remaining ingredients, mixing well, and then pour into a prepared casserole dish.
- Cover tightly with foil (or lid) and place in oven.
- Cook for 2-½ to 3 hours until sauce is dark-brown and bubbly and beef is fork tender.
Notes
When caramelizing onions, it's best to slice them "pole to pole," i.e., from root to stem. For more info, see this post on Serious Eats.
The crushed red pepper/cayenne is optional, though I find it adds an extra bit of warmth to the dish. If you're sensitive to heat, you can reduce, eliminate, or save it for one of those freezing winter evenings!
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