Beef Burgandy Stew and Whole Wheat Beer Bread... Yum!
I thought I'd share since this is one of my favorite dinners and I freeze the stew which lasts a few days anyway. It's a huge hit at work for lunch as well. Hearty without being too heavy. And the bread is delish!
Beef Burgandy Stew (yield 12 one cup servings) (cook time: 2.5 hours)
1.5 lbs lean boneless round steak (1/2" thick)
Vegetable cooking spray
1 t vegetable oil (I use ex light virgin olive oil)
1/2 t dried thyme
2 lg cloves garlic, minced (I use 4
)
2 bay leaves
3 c Burgandy or other dry red wine
1/4 c tomato paste
1/2 c plus 3 T of water, divided
2.5 c quartered fresh mushrooms (~1/2 lbs)--baby bellas are best
12 small round red potatoes (creamers), quartered (~1.5 lbs)
6 medium carrots, cut into 1/2" to 1" pieces (your choice on size, I like them a little smaller)
2 small onions, quartered (~1/2 lb)
2 - 10.5 oz cans low sodium chicken broth
3 T cornstarch
1/4 c chopped fresh parsley
1 1/4 t salt
1/4 t pepper
Trim fat from steak, cut into 1" pieces (I like them a little smaller). Coat a Dutch oven (or big soup pot) with cooking spray, add oil, place over MedHigh heat until hot. Add steak, cook until browned on all sides, stirring often. Drain and wipe drippings from the Dutch oven. Return steak to pan, place over Med heat. Add thyme, garlic and bay leaves, cook 1 minute. Add wine and tomato paste, bring mixture to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 1.5 hours or until steak is tender. Add 1/2c water, and next 5 ingredients, bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer ~40 minute or until veggies are tender. Remove and discard bay leaves. Combine cornstarch and 3T water, add to the stew. Cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes or until stew is thickened. Stir in parsley, salt and pepper.
**for non-alcoholic version: 1 - 13 oz can no-salt-added beef broth, 3/4c nonalcoholic red wine, 1/3c water, and 1/4c red wine vinegar instead of the 3c of Burgandy.
Whole Wheat Beer Bread (Yield: 1 loaf) (cook time 50-60 minutes)
1.5 c all-purpose flour
1.5 c whole wheat flour
4.5 t baking powder (important! use only Aluminum-Free!)
1.5 t salt
1/3 c packed brown sugar
1 - 12oz can/bottle of beer (I use Guinness, naturally)
Preheat oven to 350' Farenheit. Lightly grease 9"x5" loaf pan. Combine dry ingredients. Pour in beer, may be necessary to mix dough with hands. Scrape dough into prepared loaf pan. Bake 50-60 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
**you can also use 1/4 c melted butter on top of the loaf before cooking, but I didn't want the added fat.
The bread is fairly hideous to look at and pretty crumbly but goes really well with this and my Guinness-cocoa-coffee chili. Both recipes are low fat and good sources of protein. Guinness adds B vitamins, too. Ahh... I think I may have developed a pattern with my cooking...
Enjoy!
whoops... credit, where credit is due... stew from Cooking Light 5-Star Recipes, bread from AllRecipes.com. With some modifications by me.