Beef and Beet Stew

It’s deep and decadent like the best of beef stews but also has a subtle sweetness and lightness, thanks to the beets. The combination creates the perfect bridge food between wanting the depth and comfort of winter food, but the air is a bit too warm. I love eating the stew with millet, but you can sub in any grain.

I created this dish during the beginning of the pandemic when it was “buy what we have, not what you want” at the grocery store. As you might notice the ratios of my trinity turned mirepoix are off.

You can always use the traditional ratios and go trinity or mirepoix, but it was so good the way I first made it, I never tried to correct it. Do the ratios really matter all that much? Maybe you can have a perfect ratio in mind, but never run to the store or not make something because your season ratio will be off.

I didn’t specify the type of wine, because it doesn’t matter. In some dishes, you don’t want to stray because the signature flavor could come from that, but this isn’t one of them. I hadn’t even thought of using wine in it when I started cooking it. I was living in a new condo for about a month into the pandemic when someone knocked on my door. The girl across the hall was moving out. She said, “Hey, I know we don’t know each other, but I know you cook alot because your food smells good. A friend brought me this cooking wine from one of her travels, but I never got to use it. I’m sure you could put it to good use.”

The words on the bottle were written in an unknown alphabet to me. Like a kid in a candy store, unable to control my urge, I popped the bottle open. It smelled deep, earthy, and herby. Definitely alcoholic, but I’m not positive it was wine. After a few good sniffs, I was like well, that wasn’t my brightest idea, because now the life span of the mystery liquid is ticking. Into the stew it went. It brought an incredible complexity to the stew. Go ahead and go wild. Try new stuff.

Beef and Beet Stew Ingredients
4-6 servings

24 oz beets
2 lbs of beef roast
1 Tbl oil
3 Tbl whole wheat flour
2 c chopped onion
⅓ c chopped bell pepper
1 c chopped carrots
½ c chopped celery
1 ¾ c thinly sliced green onions (plus more for garnish)
8 oz (1 c) tomato sauce
2 c water
2 c dry cooking wine
1 Tbl worcestershire sauce
1 ½ tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
½ tsp red pepper (cayenne)
½ tsp thyme
1 ½ tsp oregano
2 tsp basil

Beef and Beet Stew Directions
Roast 24 oz of beets. Heat an oven to 350. Wash your beets and cut off the foliage (make beet green chips!). Poke a couple of holes in the beets.

Add the beets and a thin layer of water to a Pyrex. Cover them tightly with an oven proof lid or with aluminum foil. Place them in the oven.

After the beets become fragrant, remove the beets from the oven and pierce one with a knife. If the knife penetrates the beet easily, it’s done. If not, add a little water to the dish if needed, tightly cover them and return to the oven and check on them in 15 minutes. It usually takes 1-2 hours depending on the size of your beets.

When the beets are finished cooking and just cool enough to handle, peel them. Cut the top and bottom off of the beet. Stand it upright. Use a knife and slice the skin off vertically. Cut the beet into ½ “ planks. Lay them flat. Cut into ½” strips then ½” across to create ½” cubes.

While the beets cook, make the rest of the stew. Cut the beef into 1 ½” cubes. The meat will shrink when it cooks and will become bite size. Dry the meat with paper towels. This is a crucial step to get a good gravy cover.

Heat 1 Tbl of oil in a saute pan. Make sure it does not reach smoke point. Add a single piece of meat to the pan. It should sizzle and continue to sizzle. If it does not, remove the meat and keep heating. When it’s the proper temperature, add meat. Make sure the meat is well spaced. When the under side is dark brown, flip the meat. When you flip the meat, you can move them around to give you more room to add fresh pieces of meat. You should develop gratin (the brown stuff at the bottom of the pan). When all sides are brown, remove the meat and put it on a plate. Repeat until all meat is browned. Depending on how much fat is in your meat, you may need to add a little oil to the pan. All you need is a very thin layer to increase the browning capability.

While the meat browns, make the roux. Add 3 Tbl of whole wheat flour to a dry frying pan. Heat it to medium low heat. When you begin to smell toasted flour, stir. When it’s a bit darker than peanut butter, pull it off the heat.

When the meat is finished, add 1 c chopped carrots, ⅓ c chopped bell pepper, 2 c chopped onion, ½ c chopped celery, 1 ¾ c thinly sliced green onions. You should hear a sizzle. Lower the heat to allow it to sweat. You do not want it to sizzle at this point. You can cover the pan to quicken the process. The vegetables will pick up a brown color from the gratin, but you don’t want the actual vegetables to brown. When the vegetables are soft and the onion is clear, add 8 oz tomato sauce, 3 Tbl roux, 2 c water, 2 dry cooking wine, 1 Tbl worcestershire sauce, 1 ½ tsp salt, 1 tsp black pepper, ½ tsp red pepper (cayenne), ½ tsp thyme, 1 ½ tsp oregano, 2 tsp basil, and cooked meat.


Bring it to a boil, reduce it to a simmer, and cover. Let it simmer for 2 hours. Stir about every 20 minutes. It should thicken into a glorious gravy. If it gets too thick, add water. If at the end of 2 hours it’s too thin, remove the cover and simmer until desired thickness. You want the gravy to slowly run, but thick enough to grab the millet and be able to eat it with a fork. It should be a little thinner than a thick cake batter.

When it’s at desired thickness and the vegetables are nearly invisible, add the beets. Stir. Taste. Adjust salt.

Serve over millet and top with green onions

Notes
If you use white flour instead of whole wheat, your roux should be peanut butter color.

After you add the liquid and spices to the pot, taste. I want you to taste the rawness of the wine and roux. Taste it at least 3-4 times during the cook time. You’ll see how the flavor and texture develops.

Millet Ingredients
1 c millet
½ tsp salt
4 c milk

Millet Directions
Add the ingredients to a 3 quart sauce pan. Cover. Bring to a boil and reduce it to a simmer. Stir occasionally or it will stick to the bottom of the pot. It will be done in 30-35 minutes.

Notes
If the millet gets away and the bottom is sticking so much you can’t scrape the bottom, transfer it into a clean pot. Otherwise, the bottom will burn.