Beef Stew

One of my goals is to learn to cook tougher pieces of meat and make a dish that is both tasty and very tender.  I think learning to cook with these tougher cuts is important for 2 reasons:  First, it is cheaper and saves money, and two, these cuts are better for slow cooking type of meals.

The inspiration for this dish came from seeing an episode of Diners, Drive-in & Dives and seeing a German stew created.  Now, Sauerbraten is not a flavor I love, so I modified it to have flavors I enjoy and used a Roux at the end to thicken it up.  I used bottom round and it came out really tender.

Recipe
Beef Stew:

1. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a stock pot on medium high heat
2. Add 3 chopped carrots and celery stalks with 2 diced onions and sweat for 15 minutes; add salt, pepper and Emeril’s essence during the sweating process
3. Add the juice of 1/2 of a bottle of mild banana pepper rings and continue to simmer vegetables
4. Add in the meat cubed so it can get a little browned on all sides
5. Add 2 cups of beef stock and simmer on low for 2 – 2 1/2 hours
6. Right before serving, in a separate sauce pan, melt 3 tbsp butter and add 4 tbsp all-purpose flour and stir for 2 – 3 minutes
7. Pull out the cubed beef and cut off the fat (there will be pieces that have some fat on it and since the beef has cooked down, it is really easy to get at) 
8. Add the Roux to stock pot and turn heat up and cook for 5 minutes on high mixing it in well 
9. Add beef back to pot and simmer for another 15 minutes before serving.