We had a bit of snow last night and there’s a chill in the air. When I was at the market I found a nice cut of chuck and decided I wanted to make stew for dinner. It was about 4 pm, so it was time to break out the pressure cooker. In 30 minutes I had a great stew that tasted like it was cooked all day in the slow-cooker. Below is the recipe, you can use in with both.

Originally posted 1/2012

Temperature is supposed to drop by 50 degrees between today’s high and tomorrow’s high. Seemed like a good time to break out the slow-cooker.  I’ve also included a variation of the instructions for a pressure cooker, in case my gadget post made you decide to dig yours out of storage.

We’ve done beef stew before here, this is just a variation on the basic recipe.

The thing to know about beef stew is the flavors really come from the meat and vegetables.  Seasoning is better if kept light for the best experience.

Beef Stew in Wine

• 1 lb lean stew meat
• 1 tbsp flour
• salt & pepper
• 1 small onion, quartered
• 4-6 small potatoes, quartered
• 8 oz baby carrots, halved
• 1 rutabaga, peeled and cut into large chunks
• 4 button mushrooms, washed and quartered
• pinch of rosemary
• 2 bay leaves (remove before serving)
• ½ tsp ea. salt & pepper
• 1 tsp crushed garlic
• 6 cups water
• 1 cup of dry red wine
• 3 tbsp flour as needed

slowcooker, skillet

In skillet, heat oil.  Add salt and pepper to flour, dredge meat in flour and add to hot oil.  Cook until evenly brown.

Place meat, onion, vegetables & spices into the slowcooker, add 5 cups water and wine,  cook according to slowcooker directions, (usually 8 to 10 hours on low).

I like my stew thick, so about 2o minutes before serving, I turn the slow-cooker heat to high, bringing stew to a boil, mix 1 cup water and flour completely, add to stew, stirring constantly (works best with a fork), and cook until thickened, reduce heat and let simmer additional 20 minutes.

For Pressure Cooker:

Heat oil in pressure cooker.  Dredge meat in flour, salt & pepper mixture and cook in oil until evenly brown.  Add onions and sweat for a minute.  Add vegetables, spices, 5 cups of water and wine to pressure cooker, cover and bring to pressure.  Reduce heat and cook for 20 minutes.  Turn heat off and let depressurize naturally (as opposed to the cold water method).  For a thicker stew follow directions above.