About 6-8 servings
Ingredients:
2 pounds of stewing meat
Olive oil
Flour
1 medium onion
10-15 crimini or brown mushrooms
2-3 cloves garlic
1 red hot pepper
6-8 small red or yellow potatoes
1 cup cubed carrots
14.5 fl oz. low sodium beef stock
2+ cups of red wine (e.g., Merlot, Cabernet)
2 bay leaves
2-3 pinches rosemary
Salt, black pepper
Instructions:
To Prepare Vegetables:
Clean and dice onion, mushrooms, garlic & hot pepper. In a medium sauce pan on low to medium heat, sauté vegetables in about 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil until soft. Put vegetables in bowl and set aside.
Clean potatoes and cut into quarters. Clean carrots and cut into ½-1 inch cubes. Set aside.
To Prepare Meat:
Cut meat into about 1 inch cubes. Dry off meat using a paper towel. In a plastic bag, add about ½ cup of flour. Add a handful of meat cubes to the bag at a time and coat the meat with flour. Place coated meat onto plate. Continue process with rest of meat cubes. Note: The meat can be more heavily coated with flour – this creates the thickness of the stew.
In large pot, add about 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil and cook the meat on medium heat. Keep turning the meat to brown evenly on both sides, about 5 minutes. Note: Do not worry about the flour sticking to the pan, add a bit more olive oil; once the stock is added, this will create the thickness of the stew.
To Prepare Stew:
Once the meat is cooked, add back in the sautéed vegetables. Add the potatoes, carrots, bay leaves, rosemary and most of the can of beef stock. Add about 1-2 cups of red wine. Do not add too much liquid initially (just enough to cover the stew mixture). Add salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper to taste.
Cover the stew and let simmer on low heat for about 30 minutes. Add more stock/wine if you want you want the stew to be less thick.
Cooking Tips:
- Don’t be tempted to use cheap, tough meat. Instead, opt for a higher quality cut that will have less fat and more flavor.
- Select small red or yellow potatoes and leave the skin on to boost the nutrient content.
- For a tender sweet taste, use baby sweet carrots instead of large carrots.
- Red wine adds great flavor and dimension to beef stew.
David H. Rahm, M.D. is the founder and medical director of The Wellness Center, a medical clinic located in Long Beach, CA. Dr. Rahm is also president and medical director of VitaMedica. Dr. Rahm is one of a select group of conventional medical doctors who have education and expertise in functional medicine and nutritional science. Over the past 20 years, Dr. Rahm has published articles in the plastic surgery literature and educated physicians about the importance of good peri-operative nutrition.
