Beef Stew (Pressure Cooker)

This is a bold and flavorful beef stew that can be made in 1.5 hours or less if you have a pressure cooker.   Adapt my recipe to Paula Deen's cooking style if you do not have a pressure cooker, and it will still take under 3 hours.

Served with the wine I used to cook it :)

Some time ago I wanted to learn to make beef stew, and I used Paula Deen's recipe, found here. I liked her recipe because the cook time wasn't extremely long like some others I saw. But most importantly she did not include potatoes, and used corn starch in lieu of flour. This makes the stew a lot more healthy. It becomes suitable to serve with bread, or nuts and fruit, or honestly anything you please as a compliment. I think this style of stew is not only more healthy, but helps to open up different ways of enjoying it.

While I did like Paula's basic technique the end result is a mild stew that takes over 2 hours to cook. Over time, I've mastered seasoning to my taste, as well as adapted the recipe to work perfectly in a pressure cooker.

This is one of my most successful pressure cooker adaptations, because this version is indistinguishable from the traditional cooking method.



* cut up 3lb of stew beef
good beef cuts:
Chuck, Chuck Shoulder, Chuck Roast, Chuck-Eye Roast, Top Chuck, Bottom Round Roast, Bottom Eye Roast, Rump Roast, Eye Round Roast, Top Round, Round Tip Roast, English Roast, Pot Roast

* marinate 3 lbs stew beef while doing other prep
~1 tsp salt
~2 tsp coarse ground black pepper
~1 Tbsp ghee, or EVOO
~1 Tbsp worchestershire
dry red / xiaoxing wine, as need to spread the marinade

* create soup base
~3 cups of water
~4 beef cubes
~3 lg or 6 sm bay leaves
~2 med or 1 lg onion chopped into petals
* bring it to enough of a simmer to combine the boullion well
* reduce to lowest setting while waiting for the beef to brown
* cover if needed to prevent evaporation

* heat cast iron pan with some high heat oil (i.e. peanut, sunflower, ghee, or gingelly)

* fry beef until it's all browned. some searing is desired (not required), so only stir as needed.

* add the following ingredients to the pot:
~1 Tbsp minced garlic or 1.5 Tbsp garlic powder
~8 fresh ground allspice berries
~3 fresh ground cloves
~2 tsp additional black pepper
~1 Tbsp paprika
~1/2 tsp red chili powder
~1 tsp sugar / honey / molasses / jam
~1 Tbsp additional worchestershire

* add the beef to the pot, leave the resultant liquid in the pan (heat off)

* seal pressure cooker and set to high
* once high pressure is reached (stream of steam from nozzle switch), set to 4 notches above low and set timer for 15 minutes

* chop ~4 large carrots, and ~5 large celery sticks into bite size pieces

* without cleaning cast iron pan, add carrots and celery
* fry until nice seared and carbon is built on bottom of pan
(do not add extra salt in this step)
* deglaze with enough dry red / xiaoxing wine to cover the bottom.

* once the time is up release the pressure from the cooker with the nozzle
* beef should be a little tender but not quite done yet

* add vegetables and deglaze sauce
* seal and set to high
* once high pressure is reached (stream of steam from nozzle switch), set to 4 notches above low and set timer for only 5 minutes
* uncover pot / release steam

* add 1~2 Tbsp corn starch slurry with the same amount of water
(adjust to preference. 1 Tbsp is slightly soupy. 2 Tbsp is pretty thick once cooled)

* simmer only until the stew thickens
* make sure to stir the bottom of the pot aggressively to loosen anything that is cooked to the bottom, this is actually intentional
* taste test and add more salty, spicy, sweet, or savory flavors to match taste

remove bay leaves and serve hot

Marinated meat.  Anywhere from ~10 minutes to overnight is fine.

Making the stock while beef browns.

Had more free time, so I added all seasonings too.

This is about how much done-ness I look for in the beef.  If you want more searing, crank the heat.  I was chilling so I didn't bother this time.

Combined and prepared for pressure cooking.

These veggies are browned enough, and the pan has built some nice carbon.

Deglazing veggies and releasing pressure at the same time :)

Here you can see how the deglaze sauce has become nice and brown.  I think this is ideal, but it doesn't need to be perfect every time.

Beef just after pressure cooking, note that onions are still in-tact.

After stirring in the veggies.  This was enough force to break apart the onions (bye!)

While waiting for the final cooking I prepared the corn starch, and cleaned my cast iron pan... as well as the rest of the kitchen :)

Final pressure cooking completed.  The beef is already nicely tender.

After thickening.