Two Meats in One Dish – Delish!
As I eagerly anticipate my freezer packed full of pork and beef by next Monday, I’m suddenly looking at the ubiquitous pile of gift catalogues with fresh eyes. I’m drawn to all the slow-cooker gadgets and fancy knives and even just bought a new gravy separator for myself for Christmas. Here’s a really good-looking recipe I tore out of the Williams-Sonoma temptation rag:
Steak and Mushroom Stew (featuring chuck roast AND bacon!)
6 oz. thick-cut bacon, diced
3 to 4 lb chuck roast, cut into 1-inch cubes (I’ll use a few packages of Circle M Stew Meat, since it’s quality squares cut from round steaks)
Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
2 small onoins, diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 celery stalks, diced (I’ll use celeriac, since I’ve still got that in the cooler)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 TBSP tomato paste
3/4 lb cremini mushrooms, sliced (I’ll substitute something more mundance, unless I get to Willy Street Co-Op soon)
1 TBSP veal demi-glace ( I had to look this up. It’s basically a reduction of veal stock. You can buy it in finer stores, but I’m going to use lamb stock that I’ll reduce, since I don’t use veal anything. I know way too much about it!)
3 TBSP Dijon mustard
1 1/3 C beef broth ( I make my own from soup bones. Canned or powdered really aren’t in the same realm of flavor. Buy some soup bones from us and make your own! You won’t be sorry and you’ll heat your house up for two full days.)
1/4 C finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Cook bacon in skillet on medium heat for 10-11 minutes. Drain on paper towels and pour fat into bowl. Season beef with salt and pepper. Return 1 TBSP fat to skillet and heat to medium high. Brown beef in batches for 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.
Reduce heat to medium, warm 1 TBSP bacon fat. Cook onions, carrots and celery 10 minutes. Add garlic and tomato paste, cook 1 minute. Add mushrooms, saute 10 minutes. Transfer to slow-cooker. Add demi-glace, mustard, beef, bacon, broth, salt and pepper. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours. Skim off fat, stir in parsley. Serve with creme fraiche mashed potatoes (at williams-sonoma.com/recipes).
