Beef and Porter Stew

By tonya370

This is the yummiest stew ever. All I could hear from my family was "slurp, mmmmmm." This recipe is adapted from two different beef stew recipes. http://highlandsranchfoodie.com/2012/05/boulder-beer-porter-stew/ and the recipe by Chef Michael Lomonaco. Great for a cold, stormy night.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil, divided
• 2 1/2 pounds beef chuck stew meat, cut into 1 inch cubes.
• 1 large onion, diced
• 5 garlic cloves
• 1 TBS chopped rosemary
• 2 bottles, 24 ounces, American porter-rich dark ale.
• 3 cups low-sodium beef broth
• 1/2 cup tomato paste
• several thyme sprigs
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 carrots, peeled and sliced
• 3 stalks celery, diced
• 3 lg. red bliss potatoes, washed and diced
• Kosher salt
• fresh ground pepper
• 1-2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
• 4 TBS unsalted butter
• 1 TBS flour
• 1 TBS cornmeal

Preparation

Step 1

DIRECTIONS
1. Heat 1 tbls in cast iron skillet. Add onions and cook until translucent. Add garlic and rosemary and cook about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Place onion mixture in a heavy soup pot.
2. Coat dried beef cubes in remaining oil. Season the
beef with salt and pepper. Add the beef to a cast iron skillet
in a single, not-too-tightly-packed layer and brown
the beef well on all sides, approximately 8 minutes
total. Transfer the beef to pot and set aside.
This may be done in batches to brown all the beef
evenly.
3. Deglaze skillet with one bottle of beer, add to pot.
4. Add the remaining porter ale, beef broth, tomato paste, bay leaves and thyme to pot and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer
1 hour.
4. Add the carrots, celery and potatoes.
Adjust seasoning with salt, pepper and crushed pepper, if using. Simmer for 30 minutes.
5. Soften butter and mix in corn meal and flour to make a paste. Add to stew and simmer for 30 more minutes.
5. Serve with warm crusty bread to soak up the lovely juices.

PS: don't skimp on the ale. I tired one bottle of good beer, and one bottle of crap beer the second time I made this stew and it was not as good as the first time I made it. I think I used Sierra Nevada the first time.