Summer Peterson is a chef in Fargo. In this segment from The Great American Folk Show, she shares a recipe that’s dear to her heart: Mom’s Beef Stew. Listen above.
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Mom's Beef Stew
by Summer Peterson of Fargo, ND
Ingredients
- 2 large onions, medium diced
- 6 carrots, medium diced
- 1 head of celery, medium diced
- 3 russet potatoes, medium diced
- 5 garlic cloves, sliced thin
- 1T fresh rosemary, minced
- 1T fresh thyme, minced
- 2 lbs. chuck roast
- Flour for dredging
- Canola oil for searing
- 1/2c red wine
- 2 qts. vegetable or beef broth (I like to do a mix of both using Better Than Bouillon paste.)
- 1/2c honey
- To taste: Salt, pepper, and sherry vinegar (or red wine vinegar)
Procedure
- Prepare all vegetables and herbs to set aside. Medium dice onions, carrots, russet potatoes, and celery. slice the garlic, and mince the rosemary, and thyme.
- Cut the chuck roast into about 1½ inch cubes. Doesn’t need to be perfect, just equal sized.
- Season the beef with salt and dredge them in flour.
- Heat a dutch oven skillet to medium high heat and cover the bottom of the pan with vegetable or canola oil.
- Once the oil is ready, sear the pieces of beef in two batches so there's no crowding. Make sure to brown all sides. Set the meat aside. If there’s too much oil left over, pour some of it out so the stew isn't greasy.
- Turn the heat down to medium and add the onion to the skillet. Cook until translucent then add the garlic and cook until fragrant.
- Pour 1/2c of red wine into the garlic and onions and scrape the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon to deglaze.
- Toss in the celery and carrots and cook for about 3-5 minutes.
- Add the herbs and potatoes to the pot for an additional 5 minutes.
- Pour in the broth until the vegetables are covered. (I like to use Better Than Boullion vegetable and beef paste — about 1T of each.) Then add the meat back into the pot.
- Turn to high heat and simmer the vegetables until they are toothy or al dente.
- To keep the vegetables from over cooking- take out all of the vegetables with a slotted spoon and set aside in a bowl. Drizzle the honey over the vegetables and toss them around.
- With just the meat and broth in the pot, let it simmer. Cover the pot so that the lid is slightly ajar to braise the meat until it’s falling apart. This will take up to an hour or hour and a half. Shred the meat up if needed.
- Take the lid off and let the broth reduce until it has thickened. (Dip a spoon into the broth. If the broth sticks to the spoon, it’s ready.)
- Add the honey tossed vegetables back into the pot.
- Taste everything while it's together. Season with salt, pepper, and sherry vinegar to your liking.
