Ingredients
- 1 1/4 pound trimmed beef chuck roast, cubed (1 inch)
- 8 ounces whole mushrooms, quartered
- 6 ounces celery root, peeled and cubed into 3/4 inch pieces (or sub turnips or radishes)
- 4 ounces pearl onions, trimmed and peeled (or regular onion, large dice)
- 2-3 ribs celery, sliced
- 3 ounces carrot, roll-cut (or sliced)
- 2 cloves garlic, sliced
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 tbsp olive oil, avocado oil, or bacon grease
- 5 cups beef broth (I used Kettle and Fire bone broth)
- 1 large bay leaf
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- salt and pepper to taste
Steps
- Remove the chuck roast from the refrigerator to come to temperature. Quarter the mushrooms and set aside. Wash and chop the vegetables putting them together in a bowl for later. Trim the excess fat off of the chuck roast (pot roast) and cut into 1-inch cubes. (I used 1 1/4 pounds of meat, but you may use more if you wish.) Thoroughly mix two teaspoons of oil into the beef.
- Place a dutch oven or heavy bottomed pot on the stove over medium heat. When hot, add the rest of the oil and swirl to coat the bottom of the pot. Add the mushrooms and stir to coat. Do not disturb them for 2 minutes. Stir and let them cook for two minutes more. Remove the mushrooms from the pot and add them to the other vegetables.
- Brown the beef in the pot in batches, adding more oil as needed. Place all of the beef into the pot and stir in the bay leaf, thyme, and tomato paste making sure to coat the beef. Let it cook for less than a minute, then slowly add 1 cup of broth while scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Add the rest of the broth and bring the stew up to a simmer. Cover and reduce the heat to low-ish and simmer gently for 1 1/2 hours.
- Insert a fork into a piece of meat to check for tenderness, it should meet little to no resistence. If tough, let it cook another 20 minutes. When tender, add the vegetables and turn up the heat until it simmers. Turn down the heat and simmer uncovered for 40 minutes to an hour or until the vegetables and meat are tender. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Notes
HIGH ALTITUDE INFORMATION: A reader said that it took 4 hours of cooking for her beef to get tender. She also said that the recipe was worth the time.
ADDITIONAL NOTES: It’s important to get nice color on the beef and in the bottom of the pot. The fond (browned bits on the bottom of the pan) should be dark in color (not black) and dry. This caramelization is what gives a nice depth of flavor to the stew. Other ways to add more flavor is by adding 1/2 cup of red wine after adding the tomato paste and letting it reduce by half, or adding 1 teaspoon of beef base, and also making sure that the broth is seasoned appropriately with salt and pepper. I find that adding more pepper makes the stew nice and savory.
Original recipe: lowcarbmaven.com