Beef Cider Stew

As promised I will share the recipe for the Beef Cider Stew from the Apples, Apples, Apples cookbook. This recipe was fairly easy and after some simple prep work and the cooking time was tweaked. This is a hearty dinner for a St. Patrick's Day however beef cider stew is good anytime.

Beef Cider Stew  

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Serves 6 

2 lb (1 kg) stewing beef

3 tablespoons (45 ml) all purpose flour

1 teaspoon (5 ml) salt

1 teaspoon (5 ml) pepper

1/4 cup (50 ml) vegetable oil

2 sliced onions

2 cups (500 ml) sweet cider, I used Magners, or apple juice

1/2 cup (125 ml) beef broth or water

2 tablespoons (25 ml) cider vinegar

1/2 teaspoon (2 ml) thyme 

4 small potatoes

4 medium carrots 

1/2 cup (125 ml) sliced celery

1. Cut stewing meat into 1 inch (2.5 cm) cubes. Combine flour, salt and pepper in a plastic bag. I added a bit of paprika to the flour mixture. Add meat and shake to coat. Heat oil in a Dutch oven or large stewing pot over medium heat and brown meat on all sides, in two batches. Add sliced onions and sauté for 3 minutes or until soft. Drain off excess fat.

2. Return meat to Dutch oven and add cider or apple juice, beef broth or water, vinegar, and thyme. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer covered for 1 hour or until meat is nearly tender. 

3. Peel potatoes and carrots. Quarter potatoes and carrots. Add vegetables to stew and simmer covered for 30 minutes or until vegetables and meat are tender.

Notes: I decided to pre-cube the meat and chop the vegetables before starting. I also added a bit more stock, I used vegetable stock, because I had chopped a more vegetables than stated in the recipe. I added a small tin of no salt stewed tomatoes. So that it would make an adequate gravy also because of the extra veggies I added. I also added a few dashes of Worchestershire sauce. I had purchased better cuts of beef therefore the cooking time was not as long as stated in the recipe.