French Beef Stew with Old-Fashioned Vegetables
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For more delicious French recipes be sure to try my:
- Canelé
- Cherry Clafoutis
- Coq au Vin
-
- French Lavender Almond Cake
- Pot de Crème
- Socca
- French Beef Stew
- Braised Lamb Shanks
- Beef Bourguignon
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French Beef Stew with Old-Fashioned Vegetables
Ingredients
- For the Marinade:
- 2 pounds beef chuck , cut into 1-inch cubes
- 2 medium carrots , peeled and chopped
- 2 medium yellow onions , chopped
- 3 cups full-bodied red wine , e.g., Bordeaux like cabernet sauvignon or merlot
- 3/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 1 bouquet garni
- For the Stew:
- 3 tablespoons oil or lard
- 1 medium yellow onion , chopped
- 3 cloves garlic , minced
- 1 14.5 ounce can plain tomato sauce
- 4 whole cloves
- 2 medium carrots , cut into bite-sized chunks
- 3 turnips , cut into bite-sized chunks
- 2 medium rutabagas , cut into bite-sized chunks
- 2 medium parsnips , cut into bite-sized chunks
- 2 medium Yukon gold potatoes , cut into bite-sized chunks
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Place the beef in the dutch oven with the onions and carrots and and bouquet garni. Add the red wine and the red wine vinegar. Cover and let marinate in the fridge for 24 hours.After it has fully marinated, remove the beef and pat it with paper towels to remove the excess moisture. This will enable it to brown properly and get that brown crust that is essential for the flavor of the stew.
- Heat the oil in the dutch oven over medium-high heat once the oil is very hot add the beef, a few pieces at a time. Be sure not to overcrowd the pot otherwise the beef won't brown, it will simply steam. Generously brown the pieces on all sides. Transfer them to a plate and set aside.Add the onions and cook until golden brown. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.
- Strain the contents of the marinade into a sieve over the dutch oven (DO NOT discard the marinade). Discard the onions and carrots from the marinade but keep the bouquet garni.
- Return the beef to the Dutch oven with the bouquet garni and the whole cloves. (Note: You can choose to wrap the cloves in a bit of cheesecloth or muslin so that you don't have to fish them out later from the serving on your plate.) Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 1 hour.Towards the end of the hour, chop up the vegetables. (For contrast and variety, I like to chop each of the vegetables into different shapes and sizes.) Add the vegetables along with the tomato sauce, salt and pepper. Stir a bit to combine.Return everything to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for another hour or until the vegetables are soft. Add salt and pepper to taste. (If you think the beef can handle further cooking without falling apart, go ahead and simmer it for another 30 or more minutes, it will only get better!)
- Serve with some crusty bread.This stew is even better the next day after the flavors have had time to meld.
Notes
Another vegetable that would commonly be added to this traditional stew in France is salsify, a delicious and versatile Winter root vegetable in the dandelion family. It's very difficult to find here in the U.S. but if you have a local produce shop that carries it, grab some and add it to the stew.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
I can almost smell it! And I love that orange Creuset!
This stew is perfect for winter. So meaty and delicious…I want a bowl now!
I love beef stew, and yours looks heavenly. Perfect for this cold, wet weather we’re having in Portland.
This is absolutely stunning. I love beef stew but always find it hard to photograph. You nailed it. This is so beautiful. I dig that you used such fabulous root veggies. I grew up eating all of those ones. I love parsnips, but turnips not so much. But back in the day we ate them anyway. No picky eating allowed back then. I swear I can just imagine how awesome this tastes. Day one would be fabulous, then day two the flavour would build even more and leftovers would rock. If there was any left because it’s so darn good.
My hubs bought me a Le CreCre (I say that because I can’t pronounce the actual name properly). It’s my first dutch oven from them. I have a grill pan my friend Liz (that skinny b) gave me at a conference one year. She won it but already had one so she gave it to me. Then I passed out. I have one of their tiny little Cocottes too because I wanted to say I owned a Le CreCre back in the day and it was the only one I could afford, it was a whooping $20. Lol.
What an incredibly gorgeous stew!! I’ll bet my stew hating husband (crazy right??) will absolutely love this one!! I love how you wrapped the herbs in the leek and also your idea of different sizes of veggies and of course the wine in the broth!!
This stew sounds & looks so rich & flavorful! :) I LOVE that red wine marinade. And it is such a nice change to use the turnips, parsnips, & rutabagas instead of the usual potatoes & carrots.
OMG, I just want to dive right in! And I just bought a dutch oven… can’t wait to test it out with this recipe! :D
The french do know how to make a great stew. Probably because they aren’t afraid of fat. This is a gorgeous stew, I bet your house smells amazing while you are making it!
I have a Le Creuset with the same color and love using it all the time!! This delicious and hearty beef stew is the perfect dish to cook in it! Perfect comfort food for winter!
Such a beautiful meal, and it looks so comforting!
This stew looks so good, definitely one of my favorite cold weather meals!
Oh my goodness this looks rich and good. I was reading the recipe, and have never tried the 24-hour marination at room temp. I’m ready to do it! I do wonder, though, when to add the beef back into the pot? I see we brown it and then take it out and set it aside, but I don’t see at what point we add it back. Thank you!
Having a Le Creuset dutch oven is certainly on my wish list! Winter stews are the best and a quality dutch oven makes them easy to let simmer for hours.
I agree, Brandy, and I love that you can use them for a long slow simmer on the stovetop or in the oven.
The enameled 8 QT Dutch ovens I’ve had only lasted about 3 years before the enamel started coming off the inside…The first one was a Le Creuset, the 2nd was a Martha Stewart. I replaced the MS with an AllClad D5…In November I bought the 6.5 quart Tramontina enameled dutch oven (looks gorgeous) on sale at Sam’s Club for 36.00 including shipping….so far, it’s just as good as the other brands….The Le Creuset would have cost 10X as much….
How are you cleaning the dutch ovens? If you don’t let them cool before cleaning that will surely shorten their lifespan. I’ve had all my enameled (Le Crueset and Staub) for between 5-12 years with no issues.
I really like that you cut the vegetables into varying shapes and sizes. I’ll be doing that in the future! The stew looks delicious. I wish I could have been hanging around your house while it was simmering.
Thanks, Christiane, the aroma was exquisite!
This stew looks so hearty and delicious. Love!! I really enjoy making dishes like this over the weekend, so I can have leftovers for the week. Perhaps I’ll make this tomorrow :)!