Cooking with the Bubba: A series of original recipes #29- Bubba's Beef Stew

Beef Stew recipes seem never ending. But try this one for a real hearty, tasty, winter warm-up meal. A little more complex than your average Betty Crocker or Southern Cooking recipes, but well worth the effort.

Ingredients (for 4 servings): Flour, 1/2 cup olive oil, 1 1/2 pounds stew beef, cut into 1-inch cubes, 3 large garlic cloves, minced, 1 can beef broth, 1 twelve oz. bottle of Porter or Stout, 1 cup of a decent dry red wine (if you wouldn't drink it, don't cook with it), 3 tablespoons tomato paste, 1 tablespoon dried thyme, 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, 2 bay leaves, 3 large red potatoes, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch pieces, 6 small boiling onions, 3 large carrots, Salt and Pepper to taste, 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley.

Preparation: Flour the beef cubes, peel and cut the potatos into 3/4 inch pieces, peel and cut the carrots into 1/2 inch pieces, increasing the size as you get to the skinny end.

Cooking: Heat half the olive oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add beef and sauté until brown on all sides, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and sauté 1 minute. Add beef stock, Porter or Stout, red wine, tomato paste, thyme, Worcestershire sauce and bay leaves. Stir to combine. Bring mixture to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, then cover and simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

While the meat and stock is simmering, in another large pot over medium heat, add the remaining olive oil, potatoes, onion and carrots. Sauté vegetables until golden, about 20 minutes. Set aside until the beef stew in step one has simmered for one hour.

Add vegetables to beef stew. Simmer uncovered until vegetables and beef are very tender, about an hour. Discard bay leaves. Skim off fat. Transfer stew to serving bowl.

Serve: Garnished with the chopped fresh parsley. I like a shot of Chipotle Tabasco sauce as well. HOME