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Beef Stew With Winter Carrots And Roasted Garlic

Course Main Dish
Cuisine Irish
Servings 6 people

Ingredients

LAYER ONE - BROWNING THE STEW MEAT

  • 2-2 1/2 pounds Sirloin Stew Meat 1 – 1 ½” cubes
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons Steak Seasoning a coarse grind
  • 1 tablespoon Vegetable Oil (plus an additional tablespoon if needed)
  • 1/4 cup Sweet Vermouth
  • 9 cups Beef Stock

LAYER FOUR - ROASTING THE GARLIC & PEELING CIPPOLINE ONIONS

  • 3 Garlic Bulbs
  • Olive Oil
  • 5 Cippoline Onions
  • 2 cups Boiling Water

LAYER FIVE - ADDING THE VEGETABLES

  • 1 pound Yukon Gold Potatoes quartered
  • 1 pound Winter Carrots 1-2 inch cubes*

THICKENING THE STEW

  • 2 tablespoons Corn Starch
  • 2 tablespoons cold water

Instructions

LAYER ONE - BROWNING THE STEW MEAT

  • Season stew meat with the steak seasoning. Heat a 5 ½ quart Dutch oven over medium heat. Add just 1 tablespoon vegetable oil. Once the oil is heated, add the stew meat in three separate batches. Do not let the meat touch in the pan, this will cause the meat to steam opposed to browning. Sear the stew meat for 2-3 minutes per side, or until it has browned. You may want to add more oil to the pan between batches if the pan becomes dry. Continue by browning two more batches of stew meat.

LAYER TWO - DEGLAZING THE PAN

  • This is an important step that releases all the robust flavor that is seared to the bottom of the pan. While the pan is still on the heat, add the vermouth and ¼ cup of the beef stock. With a flat sided wooden spoon or a spatula, scrap the bottom and sides of the pan. Keep scraping the pan until the pan appears clean and free of any browned remnants.

LAYER THREE - SIMMERING THE MEAT

  • Add the remaining beef stock and the browned beef with the meat juice. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Cook for 1 ½ to 2 hours.

LAYER FOUR - ROASTING THE GARLIC & PEELING CIPPOLINE ONIONS

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut the top off each garlic bulb, place on individual pieces of foil. Drizzle the cut top with olive oil. Wrap each garlic bulb in foil (the shinny side of the foil should be on the inside). Roast for 30 minutes. Let cool. Once cooled, gently remove the garlic cloves and set to the side.
  • This method makes it easy to peel the onions without cooking them. Place cippolini onions in a heat proof bowl. Boil enough water to cover the onions, about 2 cups. Once the water is boiling, pour it over the onions. Immediately drain the onions. When they are cool enough to handle, cut the bottoms of the onion and peel away the outer skin. Set to the side.

LAYER FIVE - ADDING THE VEGETABLES

  • Before adding the vegetables, you will want to skim the fat off the top of the stew. Place the Dutch oven half off the burner. The simmering stew will force the fat to the side of the pot that is no longer over heat. Submerge a soup ladle just far enough into the stew to allow the fat to drain into the ladle. Continue submerging until the fat has been removed.
  • Add the potatoes, carrots, roasted garlic and cippolini onions. Simmer an additional 45 minutes.

THICKENING THE STEW

  • Stir corn starch and water together until the corn starch is dissolved. Slowly add to the simmering stew. Simmer an additional 20 minutes.

Notes

I like to use a scrubby to clean the carrots rather than using a vegetable peeler. You remove less of the carrot and give the outside a shiny smooth finish. Also, when cutting the carrots, you want them to be similar in weight. You’ll need to slice the thinner carrots into larger pieces, the larger carrots into thinner slices.