I've seen a lot of recipes for this- most of which call for demi-glace (who in Middle America has access to demi-glace- really) and something called a 'kilo' of meat. This recipe is written for the American cook in plain (American) English.
The Stew
3 tbsp butter
3 lb stew beef, 2" dice (Anything labeled 'chuck' or 'pot roast')*
1 c onion, small dice
1 c leeks, sliced
1 c carrot, small dice
1 c celery root, small dice (or celery if unavailable)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp herbs de Provence (or substitute parsley, sage, rosemary, and/or thyme)
2 c beef broth or water (if you can't get low sodium broth use water)
2 tbsp butter, melted
2 tbsp flour
1 cn Guinness beer (14.9 oz)
Salt and pepper to taste
Before beginning you might want to do a quality check on the beer. Select a can at random, pour into a heavy (stout) glass, and enjoy.
Melt butter in a heavy bottomed pot over medium heat and add the beef. Cook until the meat gives up its juice and you get a nice caramel color. Add the onions and cook until they are browned, then add the leeks. Continue cooking until leeks are soft. Now add the carrots and celery root- again, cook until browned. ** If using celery, add it after the carrots have caramelized. Celery has very high moisture content and will prevent the other ingredients from browning.
Once the vegetables have caramelized add the garlic, herbs, broth, salt and pepper. (Careful with the salt- this broth is going to reduce by half and concentrate all the flavors.) Bring to near boiling then reduce heat until it only just simmers. Cover and cook for an hour, maybe an hour and a half, until the meat is nice and tender. Check occasionally to see if you need to add water. There should be just enough liquid to barely cover the meat. The vegetables will probably melt into the broth- that's fine; they're still there in spirit.
Once the meat is pretty tender- but before it starts to fall apart- make a roux by combining the 2 tbsp melted butter and the flour in a separate pan and cook a few minutes under low heat until it has a nice "nutty" aroma. Bring the stew to a rolling simmer and add the roux until well thickened. Add the Guinness and cut the heat. Adjust the salt and pepper to taste.
Mashed Potatoes
5 or 6 good size Yukon Gold or other potatoes (about 4 lb)
1/2 c cream (or milk)
6 tbsp butter, cut in chunks
Salt and White pepper to taste
Dash of Nutmeg (optional)
Special Equipment: Ricer (if you don't have one, get one)
Peel the potatoes and slice about 1/2" thick. Place in cold water and bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium and cook about 20 minutes or until potatoes are very soft; drain well.
Squeeze potatoes through a ricer. Place cream and butter in the pot and heat until butter is melted. (If using milk simply melt the butter by itself and barely warm the milk. Milk, unlike cream will scald if it gets too hot.)
Return the potatoes to the pot and fold into the cream mixture with a wire whisk or rubber spatula. Try not to smash all the volume out of your beautifully riced potatoes. Adjust with more cream and/or butter if desired. (Cream is for texture, butter is for flavor.) Add salt, white pepper, and nutmeg to taste.
Roasted Root Vegetables
1 lb carrots, medium dice
1/2 lb parsnips, medium dice
1/2 c onion, small dice
1/2 c leeks, sliced
1 tbsp fresh garlic, slivered
1/4 c medium quality olive oil for roasting
Salt and pepper to taste
3 tbsp high quality olive oil for finishing
3 tbsp parsley, chopped
Toss the vegetables with cooking grade olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast at 375 about 30 minutes or until nicely browned and tender. Drizzle with Lucini or other high-end loive oil, add parsley and adjust salt and pepper to taste.
*Note: I suggest you get a chuck roast and dice it yourself rather than buy the 'stew meat' you find pre-cut in the supermarket, which is usually from the round. Chuck is from the shoulder of the animal and has more fat marbling and thus more flavor. (That's right- fat equals flavor.) Just trim it up to remove big chunks of fat, and leave the pieces pretty big- at least 2" square- they'll shrink up during cooking.
**This process is called 'caramelization'. You are extracting moisture from the ingredients and allowing the natural sugars to collect on the bottom of the pot. This produces what the French call 'fond' or 'base'.)
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