This old-fashioned New England beef stew recipe from 1974 will warm your soul - Click Americana (2024)

FAQs

Who made the first beef stew? ›

Ancient Romans simmered beef in wine, spices, and raisins to craft a dish called copadia. Vikings combined meats, beans, and ground bark in hot water over coals to make a dish called skause. And there's even mention of stewed meat consumption in the Old Testament.

BRAISING OR STEWING

Good stewing cuts include: Chuck steaks, including shoulder London broil and other shoulder steaks Shank cuts Plate steaks Round cuts, including bracciole, sandwich, and silverside steaks Rump and oxtails Any of these cuts should make for hearty, flavorful dishes that'll be worth the wait.

The 14th century French epicure, Taillevent, also alludes to beef stew in a recipe for the first time in modern history. The recipe was called ragout, a braised dish wherein the main ingredient is beef (bovine or cattle meat). Since then, hundreds of beef stew recipes have appeared all across the globe.

In Japan, the restaurant Otaf*cku in the Asakusa district of Tokyo serves a stew called oden, which has been replenished constantly since 1945. The only reason it doesn't date back until 1916, when the restaurant opened, is said to be because that soup was lost in a World War II air raid.

Stew meat is made from cuts of beef with lots of tough connective tissue, namely chuck and/or round. When you simmer it in a liquid, the connective tissue breaks down and becomes melt-in-your-mouth tender. That's why it's traditionally braised in stock and turned into beef stew.

If you want super tender beef, you'll need to cook it on a low heat in a Dutch oven on the stove or a slow cooker for at least a few hours. Chuck meat is your best bet for beef stew, but it's also a pretty tough cut so it needs time to break down and become tender.

Next time you're shopping for stew beef, look at your options and see what cuts of meat will work best for your recipe. For example, chuck is a lean and tender cut of beef that works well in stew. However, if you would prefer a thicker and more flavorful stew, short ribs or oxtail may be better choices for you.

It can be broth, wine, beer, or any other flavorful liquid. The broth is a good all-purpose liquid, as it is flavorful and adds moisture to the meat. Wine can also be used, and it will add a deep flavor to the braised dish. Beer can also be used, and it will add a malty flavor.

Mushy veggies will ruin your stew. Hearty veggies like potatoes, carrots, and turnips should be added halfway through cooking, while more tender veggies like peas and corn should be added about ten minutes before turning the burner off.

What gives beef stew the best flavor? ›

Coating the meat in flour and searing adds incredible color and flavor to the beef, which is then infused throughout the stew. It also creates browned bits on the bottom of the pan, and when we deglaze those with red wine, it takes the flavor to new heights.

A bit of tomato paste amps up the flavor of beef stew, giving it a richness and a punch of umami that makes the stew truly memorable.

Ingredients can include any combination of vegetables and may include meat, especially tougher meats suitable for slow-cooking, such as beef, pork, venison, rabbit, lamb, poultry, sausages, and seafood. While water can be used as the stew-cooking liquid, stock is also common.

Yes, it is possible to overcook a beef stew. As much as we like the idea of a stew that sits on the stove all day long, too much time will result in dry beef and mushy veggies. It depends on how much stew you're actually making, but the sweet spot is about 2–3 hours.

Beef Stewing Cut Closer Look: Chuck

The chuck is a primal cut from the forequarter of the cow and includes the shoulder, neck, and upper arm muscles.

Indeed, the centerpiece of the day's meals was a boiled meat stew, called skause. As meats and vegetables were taken out of the pot, new ones were added, and the broth became concentrated over days of cooking.

Consisting of four members, Preston Hall (Lead Vocals, Lead Guitar), Blake Dobbs (Rhythm Guitar), Bennett Baugus (Bass Guitar) and Wyatt Griffith (Drums and Backing Vocals), the band formed in the fall of 2020 in Auburn, Alabama.

As Bon Appétit explains, etymologists trace the word stew back to the Old French word estuve, which referred to a cauldron, stove, or heated room. This word was rooted in the Latin extufare, meaning "evaporate," which was in turn borrowed from the Greek word typhos, meaning "smoke."

We've been eating bovines, or beef, since prehistoric times. The earliest cave paintings made by man depict cavemen hunting the aurochs, the primitive ancestor of today's cows. The Aurochs or wild ox of Europe were roughly six feet high at the shoulder and had spreading, forward-curving horns.