It’s a hot and humid summer day but I’m still going to share a stew recipe with you today.
I’m not rushing us into Fall with today being the first day of August. That would be annoying since we still have half of the summer to go. However, I have jumped straight to winter momentarily because I’ve been watching the Christmas movies in July on the Hallmark Channel. The movies have definitely put me in the mood for hot cocoa but that’s probably going a little too far for the middle of summer, even for me.
Anyway, my husband watched some of the movies with me by default because he was doing other things while he was in the room with me while I was watching them. One of the movies mentioned Mulligan Stew and even though we’ve seen that particular movie 27 times (it’s one of our favorites), we didn’t know what it was. My husband looked it up online and in a matter of moments said “I want to make Mulligan stew.” Yes, I did give him funny look because who makes stew in August in New England? The recipe he settled on was the third or fourth one he looked at, and this is that recipe.
This isn’t officially a Dave’s Bread Corner post because the recipe doesn’t involve making any bread, but my husband was the driving force behind this recipe and the chef that created it for me. Speaking of bread, I highly recommend making Italian Bread to go with this stew because there is lots of delicious sloppy stewiness to sop up with it.
Even though I thought my hubby was crazy for making this now, I do have to say that it is some very delicious eats. It’s that kind of dish that is simple and comforting. I don’t blame you if you want to hold off and make this when it gets cooler. I assure you that it’s the ideal meal that you’ll crave when you want to cozy up at home with some cold weather comfort food.
Muligan Stew Recipe
(about 6 servings)
Warning: This was made in a 12 inch wide skillet that was 3 inches deep with a lid. Don’t bother going ingredient shopping until you have the required hardware.
Ingredients:
- 6 large carrots
- 2 large potatoes
- 1 large white onion
- 6 cloves of garlic
- 8 ounces mushrooms (pre-sliced works fine)
- 1 pound beef brisket*
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
- 2 cups beef broth
- 1 bottle of beer (lager or stout)
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
- 1 tablespoon cold water
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley
*Note: Using a bit of extra beef is fine, but you should probably cook it in batches to avoid over crowding the pan while you are trying to brown it.
Instructions:
- Prepare the carrots by peeling them and cutting them into roughly 1 inch long chunks, and then place them in a large bowl.
- Prepare the potatoes by peeling them and cutting them into roughly 1 inch cubes, and then add them to the bowl with the carrots. Set this bowl aside.
- Prepare the onion by peeling it and chopping it, and then place the chopped pieces into a second large bowl (separate from the carrots and potatoes).
- Prepare the garlic cloves by peeling them and finely chopping them, and then place them into the bowl with the onion.
- If you purchased whole mushrooms, slice them now. If you bought pre-sliced mushrooms, there may be very large pieces in the mix. You should break those up into smaller pieces. Place the mushrooms into the bowl with the onions and the garlic. Set this second bowl aside.
- Prepare the brisket by cutting it into 1 inch cubes, and then place the cubes into a medium bowl.
- Sprinkle the flour over the brisket cubes and then toss them with your hands until they are coated in flour.
- Heat a very large skillet (at least 12 inches in diameter and 3 inches deep) over medium-high heat.
- Add the oil and the brisket to the skillet and brown the brisket cubes on all sides. You may may end up with a pretty thick layer of stuff cooked onto the bottom of your skillet during this step, but don’t panic, the beef shouldn’t stick.
- Once the brisket is browned, return it to the bowl you used to coat it in flour. (Don’t worry, you’ll be cooking the beef more later, so there is no concern about raw contamination here.)
- (Not technically a step but an important note.) Don’t clean the skillet! You want all the tasty cooked on bits for flavor.
- Lower the heat to medium and then add the onions, garlic, and mushrooms (i.e. the ingredients in the second bowl) to the skillet and cook them for about 4 minutes. They should get a bit tender and the onion juices should start to loosen up any stuff that cooked onto the bottom of the pan while you were cooking the beef.
- Add the tomato paste, carrots and potatoes to the skillet.
- Add the browned beef cubes back into the skillet.
- Add the beef broth and beer to the skillet. (This order helps to reduce splashing.)
- Carefully stir everything together and then cover the skillet and simmer it for 1 hour. After an hour, check your potatoes and carrots for tenderness. If they aren’t done, try a few more minutes.
- Stir the corn starch and cold water together in a small bowl.
- Add the corn starch mixture to the skillet and stir carefully.
- Garnish with fresh parsley when you serve the stew.
Source: recipetips.com
It’s funny you posted this delicious looking meal because I made Swiss steak today and also, I’ve been looking for a good recipe for brisket. I’ve never cooked brisket before and now I have a recipe.
By the way, these pictures made my mouth water. Mmmmmmm
You will love this recipe!