RecipesDinner
Dinner
Hearty Beef and Ale Stew
Lean beef braised in dark ale with carrots, pearl onions and thyme, ladled deep into bowls with plenty of gravy. It reheats well, so one braise covers several dinners.
- Serves
- 4
- Prep
- 20min
- Cook
- 140min
- Total
- 160min
Programs: Fat Loss, Muscle Gain, Lean Bulk and Recomp, Maintenance, Blood Sugar, Blood Pressure, Cholesterol, Cardiometabolic
Per serving
- Calories
- 361kcal
- Protein
- 31.8g
- Carbs
- 26.6g
- Fat
- 10.1g
- Fibre
- 3.5g
Ingredients
For 4 servings · MetricUS
- 500glean diced stewing beef
- 500mldark alestout or brown ale
- 400mlbeef stockhot
- 300gcarrots, cut into chunksroughly 3
- 250gpearl or baby onions, peeledleft whole
- 2 tbsptomato puree
- 2 tbspcornflourslaked in cold water
- 1 tbspoilfor searing
- 3 sprigsfresh thymeor 1 tsp dried
- 2bay leaves
- salt and black pepperto taste
- 1 lblean stew beef, cubed
- 16 fl ozdark alestout or brown ale
- 1½ cupsbeef stockhot
- 10 ozcarrots, cut into chunksroughly 3
- 8 ozpearl onions, peeledleft whole
- 2 tbsptomato paste
- 2 tbspcornstarchslaked in cold water
- 1 tbspoilfor searing
- 3 sprigsfresh thymeor 1 tsp dried
- 2bay leaves
- salt and black pepperto taste
Method
Prep the beef.
Pat the beef dry and season it well with salt and pepper.
Dry meat browns, wet meat steams, so this step earns the colour.
Sear the beef.
Heat the oil in a heavy casserole over high heat.
Sear the beef in batches, one layer at a time, until each piece has a dark crust.
Crowding the pan drops the heat and stops the browning, so give it room.
Lift the seared beef out and set aside.
Build the sauce base.
Drop the pearl onions into the same pan and let them take some colour, about 3 minutes.
Stir in the tomato puree and cook it for a minute until it darkens and smells savoury.
Pour in the dark ale and scrape the base of the pan to lift every browned bit into the liquid. That is where the flavour lives.
Let it bubble hard for 2 minutes to cook off the raw edge.
Assemble and simmer.
Return the beef and any resting juices.
Add the carrots, thyme, bay leaves and the hot stock. The liquid should sit just below the top of the meat.
Bring to a gentle simmer.
Braise.
Cover and braise on the lowest heat, or in the oven at 150C fan, for 2 hours.
Check once at the hour mark and give it a stir.
It is ready when the beef gives way to a spoon with no resistance.
Finish the gravy.
Slake the cornflour with a splash of cold water, stir it through, and simmer uncovered for 3 to 4 minutes until the gravy coats the back of a spoon.
Fish out the bay leaves and thyme stalks.
Season and serve.
Taste and adjust the salt and pepper.
Serve a quarter per person, ladled deep with plenty of the gravy.