Pilgrim's Rest Oven Stew
This simple and hearty oven stew is a great way to use up leftover stew meat.
This simple and hearty oven stew is a great way to use up leftover stew meat.
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 1/2 cups water
- 2 pounds stew meat i cut mine up a little smaller because it seems to get tender faster
- 1/4 cup flour place in ziploc baggie
- 1/2 teaspoon salt place in baggie with flour
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper place in baggie with flour
- 1/2 teaspoon granulated beef bouillon optional
- 2 14.5 ounce cans stewed tomatoes
- 1/2 large onion chopped
- 3 potatoes cubed
- 8 whole baby carrots or one or two regular sized slice
- 1 rib celery chopped
- Carbohydrate 26.043933562464 g
- Cholesterol 59.3674999999848 mg
- Fat 8.40383481248647 g
- Fiber 3.55762818052173 g
- Protein 28.9763289374757 g
- Saturated Fat 2.3714960112278 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (364g)
- Sodium 322.05873747416 mg
- Sugar 22.4863053819423 g
- Trans Fat 1.18859032984593 g
- Calories 289 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Place in baggie: 1/4 cup flour, salt and pepper.
- Shake baggie to mix.
- Add the stew meat to the baggie and toss, making sure all the meat gets coated with flour.
- Put 2 tablespoons of oil in a heavy oven-safe pot with a tight fitting lid.
- Put the coated meat in the pot or skillet and put it in the oven after making sure your oven shelves are adjusted so the stew can cook in the middle of the oven.
- Set a time for 30 minutes and stir the meat every ten minutes while you are preparing your vegetables.
- Add to large mixing bowl: Beef bouillon, Canned Tomatoes, Water, Chopped onion, Cubed potatoes, Carrots, Chopped celery.
- Stir to mix well and when the meat finishes browning add the vegetable mixture to the meat and stir to mix.
- Place the lid on the pot and reduce heat to 375 degrees.
- Cook for two hours or until meat is tender.
- Do not raise the lid during cooking time.
- Add salt and pepper to taste before serving.
- Serve with cornbread.
Swapping the water for unsalted beef stock transforms a watery pan liquid into a proper gravy, since plain tap water lacks the gelatin needed to reinforce the flour thickener. Traditional colonial oven stews relied on heavy cast iron vessels to maintain stable thermal mass inside masonry hearths, a practice modernized here by utilizing a securely lidded heavy pot at high heat. Browning cubed chuck in dry flour before introducing moisture creates crust via the Maillard reaction, generating savory pyrazines that simply boiling the meat in liquid could never achieve.
The Chemistry of Oven Braising
Enclosing tough cuts like chuck in a 375-degree environment breaks down tough collagen into unctuous gelatin without scorching the bottom, provided the heavy lid remains firmly sealed. Starch molecules from the flour swell between 203 and 212 degrees, trapping free water molecules in a uniform matrix that thickens the surrounding juices as the tomatoes contribute malic and citric acid to gently tenderize muscle fibers.
- Stir the meat every ten minutes during the initial thirty-minute browning phase to prevent localized burning.
- Keep the oven lid securely shut during the two-hour braise to maintain a stable interior vapor pressure.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to four days, noting that the starches will continue to bind liquids as the dish cools.
