Paprika Beef Stew

Stew Season!

As much as we love the fresh produce of summer, it sure does feel nice to eat a big hearty winter stew when the weather turns. This is one of our favorites. It is simple to make, full of flavor, and is a crowd pleaser. 

The dry aged beef ends up being falling-apart-tender and there is lots of yummy sauce to go with it. You can eat the dish alone or better yet serve it on top of dumplings or alongside some crusty bread to dip in the sauce. If you are using wet aged grass fed beef (anything from the store), be sure to plan on cooking longer and lower temp or the beef will be too tough.

Ingredients:

• 3 lb. (approx.) grass fed chuck roast or round steak
• Coconut oil or other preferred cooking oil
• 2 large onions, thinly sliced
• 6-10ish carrots, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 6 T. paprika – all sweet or partly smoked or hot. We use 4 T. sweet and 2 T. smoked
• Sea salt
• 1 T. flour
• 2 pints beef stock (remember to make your own with 48-72 hours of simmering)
• 6 crushed garlic cloves
• 2 bay leaves

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 300°.
2. Thaw the meat most of the way but not completely – this makes it really easy to cut. Cut meat into 1” cubes.
3. In a heavy large stockpot, heat a layer of oil then add enough beef to cover the bottom. Brown beef on all sides, remove from pan, and repeat until all beef is browned. 
4. Add more oil if the pan is dry and cook the onions and carrots on low until they begin to soften.
5. Add the paprika to the veggies and stir for a couple minutes. 
6. Return beef to pan, season with lots of salt, add flour and stir.
7. Add stock, garlic and bay leaf and bring the whole thing to a simmer. 
8. Cover and cook in the oven for three hours. Check it every hour to make sure it hasn’t dried out – if there isn’t much broth left add more broth or water. If you trimmed out a bone-in roast for the dish, save those to make more broth.
9. Remove from oven, plate and serve!

Tip

If you ever cook a roast and it hasn't dried out, but is still a bit tough, you can cut it in smaller pieces against the grain if it is close to being done. Otherwise, you can keep cooking longer until it becomes tender.  Some roasts just work better at a lower temp for longer time, like 190 degrees for perhaps 8-12 hours.  

You can always throw any cut of meat back into a crockpot or 180-190 degree oven with some liquid and continue to cook until it becomes tender and amazing.