today I'm going to show you how to make
a delicious super flavorful beef stew
all of your beef stew dreams will come
true there's a big splash of brandy some
red wine you know some vegetables and
things a little bacon a lot of beef and
let's get started
starting off with two and a half pounds
of chuck roast that we're gonna cut into
about one inch cubes seasoned and set
aside while we do the rest of our prep
work
all right Cal thank you all this fat
will render really nicely when the stew
is cooking and really contribute to like
the mouthfeel and the way all the
flavors come together too so don't worry
about trimming all the fat do worry
about not including the twine we'll take
that away
once all your beef is cut up into those
cubes season it with two tablespoons of
salt about 1 tablespoon of cracked
ground pepper
mmm that pepper and beef that's nice
that's nice just toss it around there
set it aside while you do the rest of
the vegetables and wash them hands now
for something much less gory let's peel
those carrots so I'm peeling about a
pound of carrots right now I mean you
don't really have to peel them but it's
nice we'll peel them trim the edges and
then cut them into 1-inch cubes now
that's what I call a speed peel
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I have the thicker parts of the carrots
I just want them to cook kind of evenly
and now we're gonna cut one inch
sections transfer to a bowl and set
aside the recipe calls for five garlic
cloves but one of them was a little bit
undersized so it doesn't count six
garlic cloves when you smash a clove
like that it helps to release the oil so
I like to smash them before I mince them
up now we can give these a fine chop
close to a mince but you know not that
exact it's a stew that's cut up to my
satisfaction so I can transfer this into
a small bowl and do the last of my prep
work I have one medium-sized yellow
onion this is a medium onion to me it's
not large and we're gonna give it a nice
rough chop let's see how stinky it is I
don't want to cry on camera
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okay into another ball and we're on to
our last step of prep I have a pound of
baby potatoes here these are really a
really baby potatoes you don't have to
cut these in half but I'm going to
anyways and if you miss some that's fine
I love the purple potatoes look how
pretty that is over high heat we're
adding in three tablespoons of olive oil
let it heat up until you see a kind of
dance and shimmer on the pan once that
oil is just below smoking point we're
gonna add our three pieces of bacon cut
in half this is a thick cut and I'm
using black forest speak okay once your
bacon is nice and crispy just take it
out set it aside now we can put cooking
beef in batches
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now we're adding in our onion
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is that around half a cup of brandy
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all right this'll help deglaze the pan
get all those flavors from the beef and
the bacon to absorb into those onions
really caramelize and have a nice depth
of flavor use your wooden spoon to kind
of get all those brown bits off of the
bottom of the pan that's flavor you want
that mixed in not sitting at the bottom
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now we can add in our pound of chopped
carrot stir that up now we can add our
minced up chopped garlic our pound of
potatoes give that a nice stir
two more teaspoons of salt
somewhat pepper that one more stir and
we're not that cook down for about five
minutes on medium alright my veggies
have been cooking down for five minutes
I'm adding in one cup of a nice red wine
and by the way the recipe called for two
tablespoons of brandy but I read that as
half a cup so more is more alright and
stir this down now in the homestretch
we're adding in a 28 ounce container of
crushed Tomatoes this is almost 800
grams if you're wondering so now it's
time for 1 quart or almost a thousand
milliliters or a liter of beef broth
some beautiful bay leaves these are
gonna give the most wonderful flavor in
I'm adding in three but you can have
more or less if you want and then about
a tablespoon or so of fresh thyme give
that a nice stir and don't forget the
beef add all of that in bring this to a
simmer and as soon as it happens we'll
be moving on to the next step
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all right my stews just come to a simmer
we're gonna cover it up and then
transfer it into an oven at 275 for two
hours all right it's out of the oven
everything's nice and tender and just
before serving it you're going to zest a
lemon you want to wake this up because
it's a lot of super rich flavors so a
little bit of acid will go a long way
tap that in don't forget the juice and
just stir it all those oils will go into
your stew and really give you a nice
depth of flavor look what came in the
mail right after I pop that into the
oven I just transferred it over because
it's a proper Dutch oven
anyways so flavorful there's like a
flavor bomb I'm gonna transfer some of
this into a bowl just however much you
think somebody would want onto somebody
named me and then it's ready to serve
you can add a little bit of fresh thyme
on top for garnish maybe some rosemary
too if desired and how about a sprinkle
of that crumbled bacon duh licious and
perfect for a cold winter or fall night
or just any time any day it's my last
shoot of the day and I am very very
hungry I cannot wait to take a bite so
hot though I like took a little sip and
it's scald of my tongue so ten minutes
later we're coming back to it all the
Browning we did with the meet the
caramelizing with the brandy and the red
wine oh there's a lot of depth in here
and that little bit of lemon juice at
the end really kind of cuts through and
brings a nice clarity to it I can't
describe it and do it justice but you
have to trust me and give it a try if
you have any questions leave them in the
comments below and maybe you have some
things you'd like to add you know be
great in here mushrooms you know it's
somebody won't eat in my household
mushrooms
just sayin so tell me what you would add
to this do if anything I love hearing
from you and if you like my videos hit
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