There’s nothing like beef stew when the weather is chilly and you want something comforting and delicious to fill you up and warm you from the inside out. I’m sure I’m not the first person to do a beef stew this way with mustard and white wine. As they say, there’s nothing new under the sun, but this particular stew recipe started out with a craving and some experimentation with what I already had in my fridge.
The white wine was an idea I got from making bolognese sauce and I had a half empty bottle in the fridge that needed to be used up, but the dijon mustard was pure experimentation because let’s be honest… Dijon mustard is delicious with beef! I often have it alongside a steak and it’s a match made in heaven. These two ingredients result in a flavour that’s distinctly different than other beef stew recipes and the colour of the dish is slightly brighter as well.
The ease of this dish is part of its appeal. Almost all of the effort happens when you get started and then it slowly cooks away in the background without much attention. It’s exactly the kind of recipe I love to make on a rainy Saturday or Sunday when I don’t want to spend too much time in the kitchen. I prepare this, leave it alone while I watch a movie on the couch and a few hours later I have a hot steaming bowl of perfection. White Wine & Dijon Beef Stew is the ideal cold weather comfort food recipe.
Using miniature new potatoes for this stew is a conscious choice. Leaving them in their skins, they’ll hold their shape through the long and slow cooking. When making this dish it’s important to remember that the longer you give it, the more tender the beef will be. I like to cook this for about 3 or 4 hours, but you would want to cook it no less than 1 or 2. Low and slow is the secret to soft, tender beef that falls apart so patience is key for the perfect stew. Let’s get started.
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons plain flour
- Salt & Pepper
- 800g braising steak cubes (stewing beef or casserole steak)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Knob of butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 large carrots, peeled and diced
- 2 shallots, peeled and finely diced
- 300ml dry white wine
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 500g miniature new potatoes
- 1 1/2 litres beef stock
- 1-2 tablespoons plain flour
- A little milk (see instructions below)
Method
- Start by placing the 4 tablespoons of flour, some salt & pepper and the beef cubes into a resealable plastic bag. Seal the bag and shake it until all of the beef is coated in flour.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat. Brown the beef on all sides and then remove to a plate and set aside.
- Reduce the heat to medium and add another tablespoon of olive oil along with a knob of butter. When the butter is melted and it starts to bubble add the shallots and the carrots along with a pinch of salt and stir to coat. Cook, stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes. Add the thyme and stir it through, cooking for another minute or two.
- Increase the heat to high and pour in the wine. It should sizzle a bit. Let it bubble away and reduce until it looks thick and syrupy.
- When the wine has reduced, stir in the mustard, potatoes and beef until it’s all coated in the mustardy wine.
- Pour in the beef stock and bring it to a boil. Once it starts to boil, reduce the heat to low, clamp on the lid and leave it to stew for at least 3 hours or until the beef is falling apart and the potatoes are cooked through. Stir occasionally through the cooking time just to insure there’s no sticking and if it looks too dry at any point, add a bit of water or stock.
- When you’re ready to serve, if the stew is a bit watery and thin, you’ll need to thicken it up. Make a slurry with 1-2 tablespoons of plain flour, depending on how thin it is and a little milk. You want to whisk it together until it’s a smooth paste that’s just thin enough to pour into the stew. Bring the stew back up to a boil and pour in the slurry and stir to combine. It should thicken as it bubbles and it will thicken even more as it stands.
- Serve the stew hot, ladled into bowls with some thickly sliced crusty bread on the side.
