This stew is one of my favorite dishes! It's full of delicious sauce of robust flavor, tender meat, and along with a slice of fresh crusty sourdough bread, you'll create a meal that you'll want to eat all the time! Today, I'm going to show you how to make the best beef stew at home and my favorite recipe for mushrooms!
It's one of those simple meals that you can prepare in no time and pop in the oven, where it bubbles nicely for a few hours. In the meantime, you can go for a walk to recharge your energy and when you get home, you'll find a fragrant and delicious meal waiting for you that has already made the whole house smell amazing.
I like to serve this stew with sourdough wheat bread, which is especially great for dunking that wonderful meat sauce!
What's exciting about this stew, and why I think you might find the recipe useful, is the addition of mushrooms. Not only in our home there are certainly those who don't like mushrooms very much. But I do get a craving for them from time to time!
So what's the best way to enjoy mushrooms without making other family members mad?
I've learned to love preparing them as a side dish! Sautéed mushrooms with miso paste have a wonderfully bold flavor and go with almost any dish. This way I can prepare mushrooms separately and add them to my meal right to the bowl.
The stew is mainly my mom's specialty and I have this meal forever associated with her cooking and fall evenings. In fact, stew was the most common dish she cooked for us and even though it was usually turkey stew, for me this dish is the essence of true home cooking!
Mom's stew always included a lot of onions and she also always added a little bit of soy sauce - apparently for color. I put soy sauce in this recipe too and it tastes absolutely fantastic when combined with beef!
Love this recipe? Try my other delicious beef recipes too!
Is making stew difficult?
This recipe is absolutely simple. While it is possible that some may be worried about making stew, I don't really know of a much easier dish! Just mix everything in a pot and simmer. However, if you want to make the BEST STEW UNDER THE SUN, you have to follow a few rules:
- Browning - whether you are cooking the meat whole, cubed or minced, it is always a good idea to first let it fry in the oil to brown the meat. If you have a lot of meat, you need to do it in stages, otherwise it will start to stew. The main reason we fry the meat is to keep all the juices inside and make the meat beautifully tender! Plus, the brown bits on the meat add a lot of flavor!
- Salt and seasoning after browning - my little trick for stews is to salt the meat, and season it overall, after browning. Salt draws the water out of the meat, so you would loose all the lovely juices! Some people add the spices right at the beginning, but for me it is best to add them after browning too, otherwise the spices just burn in the oil and don't add much to the taste.
- The right choice of seasoning - although I love spices of any kind, I try to add as little as possible to the stew and let the taste of the meat stand out! A little herb or worcestershire sauce never hurts though.
- Roasting the onions until brown - on the other hand, don't skimp on the garlic and onions. Sauté the onions after browning the meat in the same pot - this helps to get the bits off the pot and golden brown onions taste best. When sautéing, the onions will then melt into the sauce and add a great umami flavor.
- Simmering at a low temperature - once the meat is browned and covered in water, it's time to give it time! Simmering at a low temperature (140°F) will make the meat so tender and juicy! Slow simmering is best done in the oven or in a slow cooker.
How to cook beef stew with miso sautéed mushrooms?
First, we make the beef stew, which needs to be slowly simmered in the oven so that the meat is tender.
Cut the meat into larger cubes. Heat a large pot with oil or lard and brown the meat. Place the meat in the pot in a single layer so that it does not start to stew already. Remove the browned meat with a slotted spoon and place in a bowl. Add another tablespoon of oil to the pot and fry the chopped onion until golden brown (it takes about 5-10 minutes). Then add the crushed garlic, the meat and all the juices, thyme, salt, pepper and soy sauce. Mix everything well and pour water or broth over it. Cover the pot with a lid and put in a hot oven to simmer at 140°C for about 4 hours, until the meat is tender. For the final 10 minutes, put the pot back on the stove and add the diced potatoes. Cook until soft about 5-10 minutes. You can also add any root vegetables along with the potatoes to the stew - carrots, parsnips, turnips or celeriac are great.
To thicken the stew, whisk the cornstarch with a little bit of water in a small bowl and stir into the stew. I only use 2 tsp of starch because I want to thicken the stew just a little so it is still more like a soup. If you want a thicker stew, add a little more starch. Cook the stew for about 2 more minutes until thickened. Finally, add salt to taste.
Just before serving, prepare the mushrooms . First mix the ingredients for the marinade. In a small bowl, mix the 2 crushed garlic cloves with the miso paste. Then add the soy sauce and stir.
Dry roast the mushrooms in a non-stick pan and pour the marinade over them. Sauté for a while and add water as needed. Finally, stir in the finely chopped parsley and a knob of butter to soften the flavor.
Serve the sautéed miso mushrooms with the stew and a slice of fresh sourdough bread.
Videorecept:
TIPS:
- instead of beef shank you can also use lamb leg or dark turkey meat - it is important that the meat has a fat marbling, which will make it nice and juicy after cooking
- if you don't have thyme, you can try different herbs - oregano, sage, dried basil or parsley are all great choices
- instead of thickening the stew with corn starch, you can also try thickening with flour, but this needs to be cooked a little longer than the starch to get rid of the 'floury' taste
- the meat can also be roasted whole and, once tender, separated into strands with two forks (before adding the potatoes)
Recipe
Recipe 4-6 servings
Beef stew with sautéed miso mushrooms
Ingredients:
for stew:
- 1 kg beef shank (or other meat with marbling)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp white pepper
- about 500 ml of water or broth
- 2 tsp cornstarch to thicken
- 1 large onion, diced
- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- olive oil or lard for frying
- 2 large potatoes, diced
for sautéed miso mushrooms:
- 250 g brown cap button mushrooms, cut into larger pieces
- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 1 tsp miso paste
- 1 tbsp butter
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- finely chopped parsley
Instructions:
- Cut the meat into larger cubes. Heat a large pot with oil or lard and brown the meat. Place the meat in the pot in a single layer so that it does not start to stew already. Remove the browned meat with a slotted spoon and place in a bowl.
- Add another tablespoon of oil to the pot and fry the chopped onion until golden brown (it takes about 5-10 minutes).
- Then add the crushed garlic, the meat and all the juices, thyme, salt, pepper and soy sauce. Mix everything well and pour water or broth over it.
- Cover the pot with a lid and put in a hot oven to simmer at 140°C for about 4 hours, until the meat is tender.
- For the final 10 minutes, put the pot back on the stove and add the diced potatoes. Cook until soft, about 5-10 minutes.
- To thicken the stew, whisk the cornstarch with a little bit of water in a small bowl and stir into the stew. Cook the stew for about 2 more minutes until thickened. Finally, add salt to taste.
- Just before serving, prepare the mushrooms . First mix the ingredients for the marinade. In a small bowl, mix the 2 crushed garlic cloves with the miso paste. Then add the soy sauce and stir.
- Dry roast the mushrooms in a non-stick pan and pour the marinade over them. Sauté for a while and add water as needed. Finally, stir in the finely chopped parsley and a knob of butter to soften the flavor.
- Serve the sautéed miso mushrooms with the stew and a slice of fresh sourdough bread.
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