Slow cooked beef stoop with bone broth and roasted little potatoes
Servings 8-10 | Time 2hrs cook time, 20mins prep, up to 2hrs marination
Description: Close up photo of Slow cooked beef stoop with bone broth and roasted little potatoes in a white bowl. Rich orange carrots, button mushrooms, tender beef pieces, light small potatoes, chopped green onion and orange zest on top.
Inspired by: Julia Child- Bouf Borguignon, Patricia Wells Provençal white wine beef daube
While reading: Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat by Samin Nosrat
Description
Stoop because its not quite a stew or a soup, it’s somewhere in between. This stoop is light and flavor filled, warm and cozy style of beef stew. Lighter than Bouf Borguignon but just as satisfying.
I find it hard to eat a big pot of heavy red wine beef stew sometimes, so swapping the red wine for the lighter white wine or shaoxing wine and omitting the bacon, using sliced onions instead of pearl onions to make for a different soup base. Taking the potatoes out of the mix and cooking them separately so the starches don’t take over and make the soup thick.
Another change, omitting the flour makes this a gluten-free recipe. The flour is usually dredged over the beef to create a coating that then thickens the soup base to a stew. All of this makes it a bit different, lighter and quite easy to gobble up over a few days.
This is honestly one of the first large dishes my partner and I have finished in less than a week! We usually have to rotate our dishes to have enough variety for a week but we finished all the servings in a matter of days!
This is a complex recipe but you can substitute a lot here, take a look…
• You can make it with all the fancy details or
• You can use store bought bone broth instead of making it yourself.
• You can use roasted baby potatoes or egg noodles or pasta. Or omit the potatoes completely if you don’t want the starch but I strongly suggest them for they are delightful crisp, snappy and creamy texture to bite into. When you have roasted baby potatoes as your base it tastes like a wonderful variation of mashed potatoes and gravy.
• You can use Chinese Shaoxing wine or white wine or you can use extra chicken broth instead. But the wine creates such a wonderful depth of flavor you’ll miss!
"…tastes like a wonderful variation of mashed potatoes and gravy.”
Ingredients to gather
Liquids
2 tablespoons Coconut oil
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil e.v.o.o
2 tablespoons Brandy
1 cup of Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry
Meats
Prime rib bones (left over from previous meal)
2lbs of beef stew meat ( check that each piece is around 1.5-2 inch cubes )
Veggies and fruits
2 Large onions (slices, half moons)
4 Medium Carrots (slices, whole moons or coins)
4oz Button Mushrooms (stems removed sliced and heads sliced 1/4” thick)
1 whole head of garlic (smashed, peeled, and chopped)
Zest of one orange, more for garnish
2 ripe tomatoes (chopped) or can of chopped tomatoes (drained)
Seasoning and herbs
1/4 cup of parsley, chopped, for garnish
2 tablespoons of “better than boullion - chicken broth” whisk in 1 cup of warm water
1 bouquet of garni ( small bunch of parsley, 4 leaves of sage, 4 springs of thyme, 2-3 bay leaves tied together )
1 teaspoon of whole black peppercorns (in tea ball, teabag, or tied cheesecloth)
Kosher salt to taste
Instructions to follow
In wide bowl or container or sealable plastic bag. Combine stew meat, 2 teaspoons cognac, a couple big pinches salt and pepper, and 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil. Toss to combine. Set aside to marinate at room temp for up to 2 hours. (this last time i wasn’t able to do more than 30mins but it came out tasty)
Place rack in center of oven. Preheat oven to 325, you want this to cook gently, slow simmer, if you have the time bring it down to 300.
Slice up all veggies and fruits and place in bowl
In large dutch oven, coat with coconut oil and olive oil mixture, heat to medium-high.
Add onions, carrots, garlic, stir and cook 2mins
Then add mushrooms, zest of one orange, tomatoes, stir and cook 2 more mins
Then add beef stew meat, stir and cook 2 mins.
Ensure oven is pre-heated, place dutch oven on sturdy baking sheet, Cook at 325 (or 300 for 4-5 hours) with tightly sealed dutch oven lid for 2-3 hours. Slow simmer, gentle cooking for long time ensures tender juicy meats.
Remove and place on stovetop or heat-proof surface, allow to cool for a bit.
Serve up with a few small roasted potatoes in bottom of wide bowl, pour hot stew over top, garnish with orange zest and parsley. ( other serving options above)
Recipes that pair nicely with this one
Bone broth
Roasted little potatoes
