Chef John Beef Stew Food

CHEF JOHN'S BEEF AND BARLEY STEW

Steps:

• Season beef all over with kosher salt and black pepper.
• Heat vegetable oil in a large pot over high heat. Cook beef in hot oil until browned on both sides, about 10 minutes. Transfer beef to a plate.
• Reduce heat to medium, and stir onion into the same pot with a pinch of salt. Cook and stir until onion is soft and translucent, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir garlic into onion; cook and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute.
• Stir tomato paste into onion mixture; cook and stir until tomato paste is brick red, 2 to 3 minutes. Pour broth into onion mixture. Add celery, carrots, bay leaf, and rosemary. Return beef with any accumulated juices to pot; push beef down to cover with cooking liquid.
• Bring broth mixture to a simmer, reduce heat to low, cover the pot, and cook until beef is fork-tender, 2 to 3 hours. Transfer beef to a bowl.
• Pour barley into cooking liquid, bring to a simmer, and cook until barley is tender, about 45 minutes. Return beef to pot, cover the pot, and cook until heated through, about 10 minutes. Season with salt. Ladle stew into bowls and garnish with parsley and horseradish.

CHEF JOHN'S BEEF GOULASH

Steps:

• Season beef with salt and black pepper. Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over high heat; cook and stir beef in hot oil in batches until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes per batch. Transfer to a large stockpot and reserve drippings in the skillet.
• Return skillet to medium heat; stir onions into the reserved drippings, drizzle olive oil over onions, season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook until onion has softened, about 5 minutes. Transfer to the stockpot with beef.
• Combine paprika, caraway seeds, black pepper, marjoram, thyme, and cayenne pepper in the skillet and toast over medium heat until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add 1 cup chicken broth and stir; transfer to the beef and onion mixture.
• Stir 3 cups chicken broth into beef mixture. Add tomato paste, garlic, vinegar, sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and bay leaf; place stockpot over high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until a fork inserts easily into the meat, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

CHEF JOHN'S IRISH STEW

Steps:

• Season lamb shoulder chops with salt and black pepper.
• Heat oil in a large heavy skillet over high heat. Working in batches, cook lamb shoulder chops until browned on both sides, 3 to 5 minutes per side. Transfer chops to a stock pot.
• Cook and stir onion with a pinch of salt in the same skillet over medium heat until slightly softened and edges are browning, about 5 minutes. Stir butter into onion until melted; add flour and stir until onions are coated, about 1 minute.
• Pour stock into onion mixture; bring to a boil, add rosemary, and stir until mixture thickens, 5 to 10 minutes.
• Stir carrots and celery into pot with lamb shoulder chops and pour chicken stock mixture over the top. Add water as needed to cover meat completely. Bring mixture to a simmer, reduce heat to low, cover the pot with a lid, and cook until meat is almost falling off the bone, about 1 1/2 hours.
• Transfer meat to a plate. Stir potatoes into stew and return meat to stew, placing on top of vegetables. Simmer, covered, until potatoes are tender and meat is falling off the bone, about 30 minutes.
• Transfer meat to a plate using a slotted spoon. Bring stew to a boil and cook, skimming off fat, until stew is reduced and thick, 10 to 12 minutes.
• Remove meat from bones; discard bones and any pieces of fat. Stir meat back into stew. Stir green onions into stew and season with salt and pepper to taste.

BEEF AND GUINNESS® STEW

Steps:

• Cook and stir bacon in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat until bacon is browned and crisp, 3 to 4 minutes. Turn off heat and transfer bacon into a large stew pot, reserving bacon fat in the skillet.
• Season beef chuck cubes generously with 1 teaspoon salt and black pepper to taste. Turn heat to high under skillet and sear beef pieces in the hot fat on both sides until browned, about 5 minutes. Place beef in stew pot with bacon, leaving fat in skillet. Turn heat down to medium; cook and stir onions in the retained fat in the skillet until lightly browned, 5 to 8 minutes; season with a large pinch of salt.
• Cook garlic with onions until soft, about 1 minute; pour beer into skillet and stir with a wooden spoon, scraping up and dissolving any browned bits of food into the liquid. Pour cooking liquid from skillet into the stew pot. Stir in tomato paste, thyme sprigs, carrots, celery, sugar, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, and enough chicken broth to cover.
• Bring stew to a gentle simmer, stirring to combine; reduce heat to low and cover pot. Simmer stew until beef is fork-tender, about 2 hours. Stir stew occasionally and skim fat or foam if desired.
• Remove cover and raise heat to medium-high. Bring stew to a low boil and cook until stew has slightly thickened, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove and discard thyme sprigs and adjust salt and pepper to taste.
• Arrange mashed potatoes in a ring in a serving bowl; ladle stew into the center of the potatoes.

GREEK-STYLE BEEF STEW (STIFADO)

Steps:

• Place beef in a bowl and season generously with pepper and kosher salt. Cover and transfer to the refrigerator until ready to use; up to 1 day is fine.
• Leaving the root ends in place, cut off the shallot tops. Remove and discard skins.
• Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a heavy skillet over high heat. Add ½ of the beef and cook until nicely seared, 4 to 6 minutes per side. Remove to a plate and repeat to sear remaining beef.
• Turn off the heat and add 1 tablespoon oil to the empty skillet. Add shallots and let the skillet cool for 2 to 3 minutes. Turn the heat back on to medium and toss shallots until browned, 2 to 4 minutes. Remove shallots to a plate.
• Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the skillet with onion, garlic, and a pinch of salt; cook and stir for about 1 minute. Stir in tomato paste and cook until toasted, about 2 minutes. Add red wine vinegar and white wine and bring to a boil while scraping the browned bits of food off the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Increase heat to medium-high and add sugar, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, oregano, bay leaves, and rosemary sprigs. Stir to combine and cook until reduced by about half, 2 to 3 minutes.
• Add browned beef and shallots to the skillet and toss carefully until coated. Pour in 2 cups beef broth and bring to a simmer.
• Reduce heat to low or medium-low. Cover and cook at a gentle simmer for 1 hour, then uncover and cook for at least 1 more hour, stirring occasionally to move the beef and shallots around. Add more broth if needed during the cooking time and skim off some fat if preferred. The meat is done when a fork slides in easily, but the meat isn't falling apart on its own; it may take longer than 2 hours.
• Taste and adjust seasonings before serving.