Beef Stew

I apologize for the lateness of this post.  I was in Ann Arbor running around all day yesterday before attending the second day of the Ann Arbor Folk Music Festival.  I suppose I could have found a coffee shop to camp in and write this entry (goodness knows there are endless choices of coffee shops in Ann Arbor).  But I decided to do some rare shopping while I was there.

John has been telling me he was craving beef stew with barley for a little over a week now.  And of course, since he brought it up, I started craving it as well.  Despite the fact that I had just made a batch of Brunswick stew, I felt this would be a good thing to keep him stocked up for the next week.

I did some research to try to learn how to make effective beef stew (mine usually turns out more like beef soup). Once I had cobbled together ideas for what I thought would be an effective recipe, I gathered the ingredients that I had on hand.  Then on the way to John's place, I stopped and picked up the rest.  I chose to use a red blend from my stash for the red wine, a decision I might rethink if I use this recipe again, however, it was tasty wine, so while not as hearty as I might prefer, still nice enough.

I wanted something that I could start on the stove, but finish in the crockpot.  This recipe worked very well for this purpose.

Hungarian Beef Stew with Barley

• 1 1/2 lbs stew beef
• salt & pepper, to taste
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 large sweet onion, diced
• 8 small (or 2 regular) red peppers, sliced
• 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp caraway seeds
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 lb red-skinned potatoes, large dice
• 3 carrots, coarsely diced
•  3/4 cup barley

1. Prepare the vegetables.  Season the beef with salt and pepper.  Heat olive oil in large Dutch oven over medium-high heat.  Add 1/3 of the beef to the pan and sear on each side.  Remove beef and set aside.  Repeat two more times with remaining beef.

2. Add onion and peppers to pan.  Cook, stirring, about 5 minutes or until vegetables begin to soften.  Add flour, paprika, caraway seeds and garlic.  Continue cooking for 1 minute.  Add wine and stir, cooking, until thickened, making sure all dark bits are stirred up from the bottom of the pan.  Add the remaining liquids, mix well.  Cook about 1 minute more and then remove from heat.

3. To assemble: Place carrots and potatoes into the bottom of the crockpot.  Place beef on top and then pour wine mixture over all.  Cover and cook on LOW for about 6 hours.  Adjust seasoning and add barley.  Mix well and then cook, covered, for another 1-2 hours on LOW, or until the barley is cooked.