Beef Carbonnade (beef, beer and onion) Stew
December 10, 2007
Another great recipe from Cooks Illustrated. WOW! Intense flavor and a real winter comfort food. Serve with a good crusty bread and a glass of cold (raw) milk. It doesn’t get any better than this.
3 1/2 lb. chuck roast, cut into cubes 1″ thick, trimmed of gristle and fat.
3 tablespoons fat (lard, coconut oil or butter)
2 pounds yellow onions (3 medium), halved and sliced 1/4″ thick (about 8 cups). Use yellow only (purple or white onions are too sweet).
1 tablespoon tomatoe paste (tip: save unused tomato paste by putting 1 tablespoon sized mounds on parchment paper and freezing until hard. Take off paper and wrap individually and put into a labeled bag or container. When needed, just grab one out of the freezer and pop into your stew, etc.)
2-4 medium garlic, finely chopped or pressed through garlic press.
3 tablespoons flour (whole wheat is okay)
3/4 (or more as needed) high quality beef stock. See stock note below.
3/4 cup chicken stock
1 1/2 cups (12-ounce bottle) beer. See beer note below. Just any beer won’t do.
4 sprigs fresh thyme, tied with kitchen twine (or 1 tsp. dried thyme)
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
This can be made in the oven or on top of the stove. If using the oven, adjust rack to lower-middle position; heat oven to 300 degrees. Dry beef thoroughly with paper towels, then season generously with salt and pepper. Heat 2 tsp fat in large heavy bottomed Dutch oven over medium-high heat until beginning to smoke; add about one-third of beef to pot. Cook without moving pieces until well browned, 2-3 minutes; using tongs, turn each piece and continue cooking until second side is well browed, about 5 minutes longer. Transfer browed beef to medium bowl. Repeat with additional 2 tsp fat and half of the remianing beef. If drippings in the bottom of the pot are very dark, add about 1/2 cup of above listed beef or chicken stock and scrape pan bottom with wooden spoon to loosen browned bits; pour liquid into bowl with browned beef, then proceed. Repeat once more with last 2 tsp fat and remaining beef. Don’t be afraid to use more fat for frying if you need to.
2. Add remaining 1 tablespoon fat to now empty Dutch oven; reduce heat to medium-low. Add onions, 1/2 tsp salt, and tomato paste; cook, scraping bottom of pot with wooden spoon to loosen browned bits, until onions have released some moisture, about 5 minutes. Increase heat to medium and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are lightly browned, 12-14 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add flour and stir until onions are evenly coated and flour is lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Stir in broths, scraping pan bottom to loosen browned bits; stir in beer, thyme, bay leaves, vinegar, browned beef (and accumulated juices) and salt and pepper to taste. If putting into oven, increase burner heat to medium-high and bring to full simmer, stirring occasionally, cover partially, then place pot in oven. Cook until fork inserted into beef meets little resistance, about 2 hours. If cooking on stove, bring to a full simmer and then turn back down to low/medium low to continue cooking.
3. Discard thyme and bay leaves. Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper to taste and serve.
Stock note: I used homemade beef stock and a big teaspoon of “Better Than Boullion” chicken base mixed in water. Don’t let the lack of homemade stock stop you from making this dish, but the better the stock, the better the flavor.
Beer note: Light beers will NOT work here. Use dark ales, very dark ales or stout. I used a bottle of Guinness and it was wonderful.
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