Cider Stew

Submitted by deborahlee555

"I got this recipe a long time ago from a book called, "Great Recipes From The New York Times." It's one of my most requested recipes. The sauce is delicious, especially sopped up with some fresh, crusty bread, and I always double the sauce and seasoning ingredients when I make it. The stew comes out great anytime, but even moreso during apple season when fresh cider is available, since the better the cider, the better the stew. Hope you enjoy it. (Note that the recipe calls for bacon grease. However, I prefer using a half and half mixture of vegetable or olive oil and butter)."

 

• Ready In: 3hrs 10mins
• Ingredients: 12
• Serves: 6

ingredients

• 1 1⁄2 tablespoons olive oil (see note)
• 1 1⁄2 tablespoons butter (see note)
• 3 large onions, sliced
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2 teaspoon thyme
• 2 lbs stewing beef
• pepper
• 1 tablespoon ketchup
• 2 cups good quality apple cider
• 3 large potatoes, cut in chunks
• 3 large carrots, sliced thick

directions

1. On a medium to medium-high heat, in a large skillet or dutch oven with a cover, heat the fat and cook the onions until browned.
2. While the onions are browning, mix the flour with the salt, pepper and thyme.
3. When onions are browned, remove them from the pan, set aside, and add the beef.
4. When the beef browns, replace the onions and add the flour mixture.
5. Stir to coat all.
6. Add the cider and ketchup, and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
7. Then lower the heat and simmer for 1 1/2 hours more, stirring occasionally and skimming the top of the stew if necessary.
8. Add the potatoes and carrots and simmer another 30 to 45 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.
9. NOTE: The original recipe called for 3 tbs. bacon grease, but I prefer not using that. The butter and olive oil mixture gives excellent results.
10. Also, I always double the sauce& seasoning ingredients. If you decide to also, don't forget to double the onions, oil, butter and flour also.

Reviews

[Lynne the Pirate Queen]

I absolutely love this stew, so much so that I've made it twice already in the past three weeks. :) In one batch I used plain apple juice, and in the other I used a spiced cider. Both came out wonderful, though my fiance actually preferred the one made with the plain juice, saying the other was a bit sweet for him. I loved it either way. It's easy and has great flavors, and I agree about doubling the sauce and seasoning ingredients -- I consider doing so a MUST. The only thing I did differently was to use baby carrots and add a bit more black pepper... and a little bit of garlic powder too. Thank you so much for sharing!

 

[Teri G.]

I made this recipe exactly as it was written using olive oil, not bacon grease, and it came out perfect! Thank you for sharing this recipe.

 

[Kellie in SLO]

I made this again following the instructions just as stated, using fresh pressed cider from a local apple farm. This is such a tasty dish. Both of my kids loved it. The first time I made this I used pork stew meat and cooked it in the crock-pot.

 

[ebburtis]

Excellent! The cider gives it a slight tang that is wonderful. THis is the first stew I've ever had that left me wanting more gravy/broth - and I even doubled the sauce!

 

[Roosie]

This is not your momma's beef stew! This is delicious high-class flavored stuff! The cider is really just a fantastic flavor- it doesn't taste too much like the original beverage (which is a good thing) with the additions, but ooooh is it good! I only used just over a pound of beef (we tend to prefer much less meat in our dishes than many recipes call for), and I felt it was plenty. I think this would be a great dish to serve at a autumn dinner party. I think guests would be wowed by this terrific unusual stew. I did find that I had to simmer the carrots and potatoes for longer than called for in the recipe to get them soft enough for my taste (IMO, stew should be kind of amorphous with everything melded together wonderfully and nothing crunchy). I love having my stew with some dairy in it, so we ate with a dab of sour cream (cottage cheese is my favorite, but we're out). Sweet, spiced and like BocaPat said, with explosive flavors! Next time I will try to make time to simmer mine longer. Thank you for a lovely supper!