California Beef Stew with Zinfandel, Take 2

I've been craving this dish since I finished the remains of my first execution back in February. Now that my apartment is back in order I made it a point that this dish would be one of the first in my return to cooking.

California Beef Stew with Zinfandel

adapted from Costco Connection Feb 2011

Herb and Paprika Rub for Beef
1 tbsp kosher salt
1 tbsp smoked paprika
2 tsp freshly ground course black pepper
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped

3.5 lbs boneless beef chuck roast, cut into 2" pieces
2 tbsp olive oil

1/4 lb dry coppa, cut into 1/2" dice
1/4 lb pancetta, cut into 1/2" dice
1/2 c flour
2 c chopped onions
1 tbsp garlic, minced
3 c (about 700 mL) California Zinfandel, such as Barefoot
1 14-oz can whole San Marzano tomatoes, coursely chopped
1 c beef stock or broth
1 bay leaf

salt and pepper to taste

Combine all rub ingredients. Toss the mixture with the beef cubes, cover and marinate overnight in the refrigerator. Remove beef in advance of the following steps to allow it to come to or at least toward room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 325°F. In a large Dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium heat.


Cook the coppa and pancetta until the fat is rendered and pork is golden, about 5 minutes, stirring often.

Remove the coppa and pancetta with a slotted spoon; drain on paper towel place in a small bowl.
I tasted a piece and it was deliciously crisp but not overly-so bacon!

Meanwhile, toss the seasoned beef with the flour in a large dish, shaking off excess flour. In batches, brown the meat on all sides over medium-high heat, then transfer it to a platter.

I'd forgotten to increase the heat under the pot for browning the meat and it took quite a while.

Add the onions and garlic, reduce heat to medium and cover pot. Cook and stir until onions are soft and beginning to color, about 5 minutes. Scrape up any browned bits from the pot.

Add the wine to the pot and bring to a boil; scrape up any more browned bits from the bottom of the pot.


Return the beef, coppa and pancetta to the pot along with the tomatoes, beef stock and bay leaf.

Bring to a simmer, stirring well.

Cover the pot, put the stew in the oven and bake until the beef is fork-tender, about 2-2.5 hours.

Remove from the pot from oven and degrease fat from the surface. Taste the stew; if it is watery, remove the solids and boil the liquid to concentrate the flavors and thicken the sauce. Remove the bay leaves and return the solids. Season with salt and pepper; serve.

I skipped all that after removing the pot from the oven business and simply let it stand covered on the stove-top while I prepped my side dish.

And this time, there was some fat that could be removed.


Tomorrow, after chilling overnight in the fridge, I will scrape the solidified fat from the top of the stew. Dinner tonight, even though the stew wasn't degreased, was sheer bliss. I had been craving this meal since mid-March. There is no doubt in my mind that I will have this beef stew regularly and I wonder if it would ever be possible to find something better than Chef Bruce Aidells's take on Beouf Bourguiognon.

Oops, did I just set myself up to try Julia's recipe?

 

The first difference instantly observable is how this time the fat rendered from the pork and the pork browned within the 5 minutes suggested by Chef Aidells. That didn't happen last time. Because I was short on fat for beef-browning last time, I didn't bother removing any fat from the pot and it turned out to be just enough to brown all of the beef pieces.

 

This revision was noticeably saltier than the first try, to the point of being almost too salty. As I'd added in coppa this time instead of using only pancetta and also utilized a can of San Marzano's instead of the Ralph's brand of Italian-style diced tomatoes I'm not sure where the added saltiness came from. Unfortunately, while I know the Strianese San Marzanos had salt added, I don't know if the Ralph's Italian-style diced did. Guessing though, it was probably the addition of coppa that gave this result.

 

Another thing noticeably different about this revision is how the pork really made itself known during consumption. Coppa being so dry was quite distinct in the dish. Coppa held it's dice-shape through braising while pancetta, like last time, did not. The pancetta essentially melted into the stew liquid both times.

 

Lastly, the majority, but not all of the beef pieces were completely tender though I followed through on the entire 2.5 hours of braising time. Admittedly, I was a lot more conscious the first time prepping this dish that the beef pieces were approximately 2" cubes. This time, I simply cut the beef chuck roast into X number of pieces so some of those toward the edges were cut small and those toward the center were quite large. Note to self: aim for uniformly-sized pieces.

 

The next time I do this, I will go back to the Ralph's brand of tomatoes as I didn't observe a better "tomato flavor" with the San Marzano's while utilizing both coppa and pancetta to determine exactly where the saltiness came from. And I'll be more conscious of the beef piece sizes to achieve equally tender texture from each of the beef cubes.

 

Cost:

• rub: $1
• chuck roast: $10.14
• coppa: $3.36
• pancetta: $2.62
• onion: $0.40
• garlic: $0.30
• CA Zinfandel: $5.99
• Strianese San Marzano tomatoes: $2.69
• beef stock: $0.16

Total: $26.66 or $3.33 per each of eight servings.

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