Beef Stew With Red Wine Sauce

A French classic. The quintessential beef stew, Jacques Pepin's Beef Stew with Red Wine sauce is a very special dinner. A sauce that you won't believe.

Course Main Course Beef

Cuisine French

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 2

Total Time 2 30

Servings

Calories 602kcal

Author Lea Ann Brown

Equipment

6-7 quart Dutch Oven
1 large Fry pan

Ingredients

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoons olive oil divided
2 pounds beef roast, trimmed beef flatiron steak or chuck Trimmed of any large pieces of fat. Use either flat iron or chuck roast, or round roast. Cut into 8 pieces.
1 Tablespoon Salt divided
2 teaspoons Freshly ground black pepper divided
1 cup onion fine chopped
1 tablespoon garlic fine chopped
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
750 milliliter dry red wine
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon dried thyme or a large sprig of fresh thyme
5 ounces pancetta either a piece or a package of chopped pancetta
15 pearl onions or cipollini onions, peeled
15 cremini mushrooms
15 baby carrots peeled
½ teaspoon Sugar
Chopped fresh parsley for garnish

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°.
In a large enameled cast-iron casserole or a large skillet, melt the butter in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. One the oil is hot, Arrange the meat in a single layer, (don't crowd) and season with salt and pepper. Cook over moderately high heat, turning occasionally, until well browned, about 4 minutes per side.
Add the chopped onion and garlic and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the onion is softened, 5 minutes.
Add the flour and stir to coat the meat with it. If using a skillet, transfer the meat to a 6 - 7 quart Dutch oven.
Then deglaze the skillet with about a cup of the wine. bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve any brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pot. Add that to the Dutch oven with the beef.
Add the remaining wine, bay leaves and thyme.
Cover the casserole and transfer it to the oven. Cook the stew for 1 ½ hours - 2 hours, until the meat is very tender and the sauce is flavorful.
Meanwhile in the frypan, sautee the chopped pancetta until browned.
Combine the pancetta, pearl onions, mushrooms and carrots. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil, ¼ cup of water and a large pinch each of sugar, salt and pepper.
Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer until almost all of the water has evaporated, about 15 minutes. Uncover and cook over high heat, tossing, until the vegetables are tender and nicely browned, about 4 minutes.
To serve, stir some of the vegetables and lardons into the stew and scatter the rest on top as a garnish. Top with a little chopped parsley and serve.

Notes

Tips For Success:

Wisely cooking the vegetables separately with some pancetta, and adding them at the end, keeps the carrots sweet, the mushrooms earthy and the pearl onions crunchy. Not to mention void of purple color from the wine.
Choose a good piece of meat. Purchase a roast that is well marbled with veins of fat. This adds flavor to the sauce. Stay away from meat that packaged as "stew meat". It's usually cuts of lean meat that simply won't become tender.
Slow Cooking Beef Stew: Make this stew when you have extra time to follow Jacques Pepin's instructions. It's a little timely to prepare.
Red Wine For Beef Stew: Use a full bodied merlot, or cabernet sauvignon. Nothing too expensive, but still on a quality level that you would drink.

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