New Beef Stew Recipe: Spiced Beef Stew with Carrots & Mint

[Lenardo]

Making this tonite:


2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
12 ounces beef tenderloin, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 cup sliced shallots (about 3 large)
8 ounces peeled baby carrots
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
2 1/2 cups beef broth
1/3 cup chopped fresh mint, divided

Preparation

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large nonstick skillet over high heat. Sprinkle beef with salt and pepper. Add beef to skillet and sauté until cooked to desired doneness, about 2 minutes for medium-rare. Using slotted spoon, transfer beef to bowl. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to skillet. Add shallots and carrots and sauté until golden, about 3 minutes. Add all spices; stir 30 seconds. Sprinkle flour over; stir 30 seconds. Stir in broth and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium; simmer until carrots are just tender, about 8 minutes. Return beef to skillet; cook until sauce thickens slightly, about 1 minute. Season stew to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in 1/4 cup chopped mint. Transfer stew to bowls. Sprinkle with remaining chopped mint and serve.

[Tazer]

Hmm. Let me know how this turned out please. Sounds interesting.

[Lenardo]

turned out really good

wife loved it....meat melted in your mouth --well it IS filet mignon--

kids ...not so much

next time will try over couscous

personally i liked my other recipe better

[Shawee]

Nice. I cooked something like this a month back. I will tell you how i did it if you want to try a little twist. I first cooked the beef (slightly seasoned with cajun spice) in a little oil until it had little burnt coatings at the bottom of the pot. Take your spoon and continuously loosen the bits from the bottom/dont let it burn stick to the bottom of the pot. Carmalize(?sp) i think is the word. It imparts a good flavor and adds to the color and richness of the sauce. I added about a cup of diced onions and bell pepper. I cooked that down and added flour and beef broth. I want to try this version coupled with yours. I would like to try it with carrots.

Pumpkin pie spice? Interesting.

[Massif]

Damn, that sounds good.

[Bodhidharma]

Kind of late for me to reply on this... but tenderloin for a stew meat? Talk about living high on the hog.

I mean I'm sure it was incredibly delicious, but using a cheaper cut of meat might appeal to more people, and still taste great. :)

[Azith Evertoon]

Nice. I cooked something like this a month back. I will tell you how i did it if you want to try a little twist. I first cooked the beef (slightly seasoned with cajun spice) in a little oil until it had little burnt coatings at the bottom of the pot. Take your spoon and continuously loosen the bits from the bottom/dont let it burn stick to the bottom of the pot. Carmalize(?sp) i think is the word. It imparts a good flavor and adds to the color and richness of the sauce. I added about a cup of diced onions and bell pepper. I cooked that down and added flour and beef broth. I want to try this version coupled with yours. I would like to try it with carrots.

Pumpkin pie spice? Interesting.

It's usually a good idea to sear the outside of meat before going in stews or just a solid roast beef...keeps the moisture inside while it slow cooks in the oven or in a stew.

I think sear is the word your looking for, carmalize is the melting of sugar.

[Kaane Feiwong]

It's usually a good idea to sear the outside of meat before going in stews or just a solid roast beef...keeps the moisture inside while it slow cooks in the oven or in a stew.

I think sear is the word your looking for, carmalize is the melting of sugar.

A lot of my stew recipies call for the meat to be battered, cooked in a pan, then put in the stew.

[Shawee]

Right. Wrong word. Sear is more like it.
Yeah, you can batter the meat with flour. I add flour also to thicken the sauce if needed. I usually dissolve the flour in a little warm water and add it that way. You have less of a chance of ending up with little flour balls.

[Ahatma256]

Instead of flower, I like buying some beef or pork bones and cooking them with the stew. Ill take them out before I serve it, but the flavor and gelatin they give is really nice.

That being said, Im a big fan of brisket in stew and that requires close to 3 hours of cooking at a lower temp. So using the bones is fine. In the quicker stews id imagine the bones wouldn't work.

[Azith Evertoon]

I've never heard of flouring the meat for a stew before...what i learned from mom was to use a packet of lipton onion soup mix in the water...gives the gravy and roast a nice flavor.

[Ahatma256]

I've never heard of flouring the meat for a stew before...what i learned from mom was to use a packet of lipton onion soup mix in the water...gives the gravy and roast a nice flavor.

The soup mix probably contains corn starch or tapioca. Which, if you brown the meat first gives a very similar result to putting flour on the meat before cooking it. You need to cook the flour in order to avoid a slightly odd taste that can only be described as ... "raw flour". The corn starch or perhaps tapioca can cook in the broth while the flour seems to need the oil.