Friday 8 June 2018

Easy Beef Stew


The other day while shopping at Jaya Grocer, I spied very fresh cuts of beef shin. This is the tough cut and is suitable for long stewing like for cooking rendang, beef curry or beef stew.

I know. I am not supposed to stock up anymore for the time being until I finish up what I have in the freezer. But it's not often that I come across fresh beef and the cut that I want. So I gave in and bought not just one packet but four.

To justify my purchase, I made sure to cook two packets of the beef. It has been quite some time since I cooked beef stew. It's a very versatile dish because it has meat and vegetables (albeit all soft and mushy) and it can be eaten on it's own or accompanied by crusty bread (yum!), rice, mashed potatoes or pasta.


Usually I would use either tomato paste or crushed tomatoes for the base but this time, I went for a shortcut method by using bottled pasta sauce. After all, pasta sauce is made with tomatoes and has all the seasonings that are similar to what is used in beef stew.

I used Tomato and Basil pasta sauce as I liked the flavor. I only added diced carrots, celery and onions besides the beef which I browned first in olive oil.


Thanks to my very cute red dutch oven (worth every cent I spent), I was able to cook the stew in the oven, something I had been wanting to do, just like how they do on TV. 

After I browned the beef, I sauteed the diced carrots, celery, onions, chopped garlic and a sprig of rosemary until aromatic and softened. Then I added the pasta sauce and returned the browned beef into the pot. After it came to a simmer, I covered the dutch oven and transferred it to the oven to slowly cook for 2 hours. After 2 hours, I let it cook for a further 1 hour on residual heat.


Since the pasta sauce was already well seasoned, I only added more freshly cracked black pepper to the stew and garnished with some Italian parsley. This stew tastes even better after sitting for a day in the fridge.

I have already had 3 portions for my weekday meals and the remaining one portion is still in the freezer for another day.

Easy Beef Stew
Recipe source : Phong Hong

Ingredients :
- 700g beef, cut into chunks (I used beef shin)
- some flour to coat beef
- 1 spring rosemary
- 2 ribs of celery, sliced
- 1 carrots, cut into cubes
- 2 onions, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 jar Tomato and Basil Pasta Sauce (680ml)
- freshly cracked black pepper to taste

Method :
1. Heat oil in dutch oven.
2. Coat beef pieces in flour and brown in the hot oil in batches. Remove and set aside.
3. In the same oil, saute the celery, carrots, onions, garlic and rosemary until aromatic and onions are wilted.
4. Pour in the pasta sauce and return beef into the dutch oven.
5. Bring to a boil and lower to a simmer.
6. Either continue cooking on the stove or cook in the oven at 180C for 3 hours or until beef is tender.

20 comments:

  1. delicious! I can say for certain by just looking at your photos that your beef stew is much more scrumptious than the lamb stew I ate recently.

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    Replies
    1. Really? Thanks for the compliments :)

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  2. That looks so good. Shin is tough? I buy chuck tender, also tough...boil for hours and in the end, the meat is not so very nice.

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    Replies
    1. Shin and chuck are the tough ones. Needs longer braising.

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  3. If I can cook well, I can stock up the fridge like you... But mine, forever, no eye see..

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  4. Love the red dutch oven. Your beef stew looked good. I used to cook lamb stew and freeze few containers for future consumption.

    I must try your recipe one day.

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    Replies
    1. Stews freeze well and makes it very convenient to cook more and freeze in smaller batches.

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  5. This dish looks so yum yum! I can eat 2 plates of plain rice at one sitting with just this beef stew. I wish I could cook them but I cannot as my wife does not eat beef. I am such a sinner. LOL

    Now I can only wish to get invited by you. In return I can do laundry and mop your kitchen floor. I promise to leave 100 comments in your blog post too besides giving your mum a foot massage which I am good at. Do I sound hilarious or ridiculous?

    Happy Weekend Beef Stew chef!

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    Replies
    1. LOL! You are a very funny man! I love beef but my partner does not eat beef. Sometimes I feel bad ordering beef when I dine with him.

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  6. PH, I can even smell it from here, dear! xoxo

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  7. 700g of beef must have cost you quite a bit. I don't buy beef very often coz they're so expensive. Sometimes I wait for them to be discounted to 50% before I buy (which is 2 days after packing date if they're still unsold). I would love to make this...but I have no Dutch oven and beef is so expensive...haha! ;) Of course you're gonna say I can do it with other pots but I like this cook everything in one pot, stick it into the oven and with just one pot to wash method...hehe! ;P

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    Replies
    1. It cost me slightly below RM40. Maybe you should get yourself a dutch oven during year end sales hee..hee..

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  8. I love anything stew just that i don't take beef

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    Replies
    1. You could have lamb or chicken stew.

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  9. That stew is begging to be soaked up with some crusty loaf of bread.

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  10. I love beef stew... I usually have to cook a very huge batch as it disappears very quickly in my house. :P

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  11. Never know beef stew need to be cooked in oven for 3 hours! What I think about is the electric bill, haha!

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