Braised Stew Beef with Green Peppercorn Brandy Cream Sauce

A year and a half ago, Tim and I invested in a small chest freezer so we could start purchasing our meats from Costco. We felt buying in bulk, while pricey up front, would minimize our expenses over time. I mention this mainly to express that sometimes we pick a recipe simply to rotate our stock. This recipe is an adaptation that comes from our Bride and Groom cookbook and was originally for Fillet Mignon. However, I wanted to use up some of the stew beef and yet Tim didn't want a stew as we'd been having quite a few lovely soups.

 

What I love about this recipe is the beauty of the pan sauce. The challenge was adapting a recipe that was meant for a meat that is so tender you can cook on high for a few minutes on each side and move on to the sauce. Well Stew Beef has connective tissue that needs to be broken down before the meat is tender. So I decided to craft the pan sauce in two steps by first creating a braising liquid. 

 

The next departure was not straining the braising liquid. Instead I used the immersion blender to smooth the sauce which had the benefit of the aromatics to actually thicken the final sauce.

 

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees F.

 

Step One:

• 2 lbs Cubed Stew Beef
• 1/3 C Flour
• Kosher Salt & Freshly Ground Green Peppercorns
• 2 T Olive Oil

In most of the stew recipes I've seen the stew beef is first given a coating of flour before being browned. I'm uncertain why other than the flour contributes to the final thickening of the sauce. Possibly I use more flour than is actually required as the coating wasn't attractive in the final product. However the flavor was nice and the sauce covered any embarrassing "skin".

 

Combine the flour, salt & pepper in a gallon sized plastic bag. Drop in each piece individually; I did this one pound at a time per shake. Seal the bag and shake to coat the cubes. Remove the meat shaking off any excess back in the bag and set on top of a cooling rack.

 

In a cast iron Dutch Oven, or similar oven safe vessel, heat the oil over medium heat until the smoke point. Add in the beef in three batches or as space allows without any crowding. Brown the meat for 2 minutes on each (or at least three) sides. Move to a plate and cover with foil to rest.

 

Step two:

• 1/2 C Shallots, diced (I used 6 very small ones)
• 4 Garlic Cloves, minced (or garlic pressed)
• 3 Celery ribs, diced
• 2 T Olive Oil
• 1 t Green Peppercorns
• 1/4 C Brandy
• 2 C Beef Stock (estimated)

In the same Dutch Oven with the lovely fond, heat the oil over medium heat. Add in the shallots and celery and cook stirring occasionally until softened, approximately 3 - 5 minutes. Add in the garlic and peppercorns (it was at this point I noticed the original recipe called for green peppercorns in brine. I used your standard ready to grind green peppercorns) and cook stirring constantly for one minute more. Add in the Brandy and deglaze the pan. Using a wooden spoon to scrape up the brown bits. Continue to cook until the liquid reduces by half.

 

Add in the beef on one layer. Slight overlap is fine, but make sure there are none stacked. Pour in the stock until it reaches half way up the beef. If you were to cover the meat with the liquid, this would be a stew. Ensuring the liquid only reaches halfway is a braise. Bring the liquid to a boil. Cover with a tight fitting lid and place in the oven. Essentially the braising liquid will create a moist heat which will bring up the internal temperature of the meat and hasten the conversion of collagen to lip smacking gelatin. 

 

We cooked ours for one hour. The meat was tender, but not fall apart. If you let it go for 30 to 60 minutes more, it would be fall apart tender.  Next time... but it was still good!

 

Step three:

• 1/4 C Heavy Cream
• Kosher Salt and Ground Pepper to taste

Remove from the oven and return to the stove. Remove the meat and set on a plate covered with foil. Rather than straining out the bits, I used an immersion blender to smooth out the sauce. Add in the heavy cream and heat through. Don't bring to a boil, but a gentle simmer is OK. Stir constantly and adjust seasoning as needed.

 

We served this over whole grain wild rice with sweet/hot glazed carrots.

 

Enjoy!