Wild Mushroom and Beef Stew

Step 1

Cut up the meat into medium bite size cubes and season with salt and pepper on both sides. Preheat a Dutch oven or a thick bottomed pot with vegetable oil until it starts to smoke.

Step 2

Preheat the oven to 325-degrees.

Step 3

Place the beef into the pot, making sure not to overcrowd the pan. Allow to brown on all sides.

Step 4

In the meantime, wash and roughly chop your mushrooms.

Step 5

Check on the meat and remove once nice and brown. Set aside. You will have some fat and bits on the bottom of the pot. Let it be. This is your flavor.

Step 6

Add in the onions, a few cloves of garlic, a few stems of thyme, a bay leaf and mushrooms and toss to cover with the fat in the pot. Sautee for about 10 minutes.

Step 7

Add the meat back into the pot and sprinkle evenly with one tablespoon of flour. Mix to combine until none of the flour remains.

Step 8

Take about 1 cup of cognac and pour into the pot. NEVER POUR OUT OF THE BOTTLE! I flame can catch onto the bottle while pouring and the bottle will explode. You can either let it cook out as it or light the cognac on fire with a long match or if the pot is shallow enough, tilt it towards the flame so it will catch on fire. This is also called, deglazing.

Step 9

Once all the alcohol has cooked out, about 3 minutes, you will be left with a beautiful glazed meat.

Step 10

Pour in enough beef stock to cover the meat and mushrooms almost all the way. Adjust seasoning and cover with tightly fitting lid. Place into the oven for 30 minutes.

Step 11

After 30 minutes, turn the heat down to 275-degrees and allow to cook for another 90 minutes or until meat is nice and tender.