Variations on stew
Earlier this week, we covered a recipe for chicken stew. So, today, we're going to talk about some variations by making this recipe into beef stew.
While most stews have bold and robust flavors, the flavor of chicken stew would be somewhat milder compared to that of its cousin, beef Stew.
One ingredient to aid the increase in flavor is the addition of red wine. When working with wine in a dish such as this, we add it to the sautéed vegetables and allow it to reduce, thereby removing most of the moisture but intensifying the flavor. For this recipe adding 1 cup of a good red wine would be sufficient.
To further enhance the boldness, add 1 tablespoon of soy sauce along with the Worcestershire sauce. Also, replace the 32 ounces of chicken stock with 32 ounces of beef stock. So, that would be a total of 48 ounces of beef stock.
Obviously, with beef stew, you're going to use beef instead of chicken. Although many stews call for an ingredient called stew beef, I would suggest that you use sirloin steak. You always will be happy with the good beef flavor coupled with the additional tenderness. Purchase a steak that would be over 1 pound in weight so when you finish trimming off the fat you are left with about a pound of meat.
Just like with the chicken, cut your meat into bite-size pieces, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and quickly brown on all sides, sort of like stir frying. When browned, not cooked all the way through, remove to a plate while you finish the rest of the recipe.
All other aspects of this recipe will then be the same. One great variation you might appreciate is making either of these recipes into a pot pie styled dish. Once the stew is finished, place it into a large baking pot that will leave at least 1-1 1/2 inches open. Make the following drop biscuit recipe and gently spread the dough out on top of the stew. Bake at 375 degrees until the biscuit dough is cooked through – about 20-25 minutes. You will love the extra tartness in this biscuit recipe because of the addition of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Remember the higher the quality ingredients, the finer your dish will be.
Drop Biscuits
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3 Tbl unsalted butter, cubed and chilled
3 green onions, chopped
2 Tbl Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated
1/2 cup whole milk
Place the flour, baking powder and salt in a food processor and pulse once or twice to blend. Add the butter and pulse three or four times, add green onion and Parmesan and pulse once or twice more. Add milk and pulse three or four more times to combine.
Remove dough and gently spread on top of your stew. Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes until biscuit dough is thoroughly cooked.
