Cozy up (Holly-fied Gaston Beef Stew – Inspired by The Joy of Cooking)

I have many many cookbooks, but rarely follow a recipe.  I love to read them, get inspired by them and kinda treat them like text books from a favorite class.  But there’s one recipe that I count on when the weather turns cold:  Gaston Beef Stew from The Joy of Cooking.

I’ve been making this yummy stew for as long as I’ve been living away from my folk’s house.  That’s a very long time.  

Through the years, I’ve continued to tweak this homey basic here and there, so now it is more my own. For example, I use bacon rather than salt pork - a couple of slices does the trick; I used to use dried thyme and fresh rosemary, but lately have been on a herbs d' Provence kick. (I always thought it was odd that the original recipe had no spices or herbs, other than the parsley.)  In addition, the original recipe does not call for either mushrooms or peas, and frankly, I don't think a stew is a stew without them.  So in goes frozen peas and sliced mushrooms. I've also bumped up the amount of both the tomato sauce and beef stock.  Oh, and I also add the parsley in three stages, rather than all at one time when making the tomato-based cooking liquid. So it's still basically the same, but it has been "Holly-fied."

With the recent snow melting and showers off and on, I made a big pot of it yesterday.  It was absolutely delish.  And, as the original recipe says, it gets better after sitting overnight, so we’ll really enjoy the leftovers tonight.

Holly-fied Gaston Beef Stew

Serves 8

Ingredients

This looks like a lot of ingredients but you probably have most of them in your pantry

• 2 – 3 pieces of bacon cut into ½ inch slices (this replaces the salt pork called for in the original recipe)
• 2 pounds of beef, all visible fat cut away and cut into bite sized pieces. (I like to use a roast suitable for making pot roast, but you can buy pre-cut stew meat as well.)
• 2 large cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 large brown onion, chopped
• 1 16 oz can of tomato sauce
• 16 oz of beef stock (fill the empty tomato sauce can)
• 12 whole peppercorns
• 4 whole cloves
• 2 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
• 2 Bay leaves
• 1 cup of chopped parsley
• 6 small white potatoes cut into bite-sized pieces
• 6 carrots, peeled and cut into thick coins
• 2 ribs of celery, sliced into ½ inch pieces
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 2 cups sliced mushrooms
• About ¼ cup flour
• Lots of kosher salt
• Lots of fresh cracked pepper
• Lots of Herbs d’ Provence
• Few splashes of red wine vinegar

Method

• In a Dutch oven, brown the bacon until the fat is rendered and the meat is crispy.  Remove the bacon and reserve the fat in the pot
• Season the meat with salt, pepper and Herbs d’ Provence.  Brown the meat in the bacon drippings over a medium high heat.  Do this in 3 to 4 batches so you brown the meat and don’t boil it in its own juices.  Add a bit of olive oil if the pot gets dry during this process.
• When all the meat is browned, put it back in the pot with the bacon and sprinkle the flour over it.  Stir to combine.
• While the meat is browning, combine the tomato sauce, beef broth, onions, garlic, cloves, peppercorns, Bay leaves, 1/3 of the parsley, another few shakes of the herbs d’ Provence, and the Worcestershire sauce in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil. Pour this mixture over the browned meat after you dust it with the flour.
• Bring the entire mixture to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, cover tightly with a lid and cook for 2 hours. You can stir now and then, but try to leave it alone!
• In about 45 minutes, put the potatoes and carrots into a pot of cold water with a generous amount of Kosher salt.  Bring to a boil and then simmer for 5 minutes, or until slightly tender.  Don’t over cook!
• Strain the veggies, and add them to the stew pot, along with the raw celery, another 1/3 of the parsley and the frozen peas.  Add a shake or two of the Herbs d’ Provence, and a pinch of salt,  couple grinds of pepper. Bring back to a bubble, reduce to simmer, cover and cook for another hour.  
• At the end of the final hour, stir the stew, check the seasoning – add salt and pepper if necessary.  
• Just before serving, stir in the remaining parsley, and a few shakes of red wine vinegar to wake it up.  (This is a great trick for anything you cook for a long time.)
• Serve with crusty bread if you like, but this is just fine all alone.

Enjoy!