Who doesn’t love a bowl of warm, comforting stew on a cold and windy day? You know when the cold gets in your bones and you want to curl up in front of a fire? Yeah, that kind of cold! A steaming bowl of savory beef stew with horseradish will warm you from the inside out.
Making a large stew to feed an army or my small family multiple times is one of my favorite winter foods and this beef stew with horseradish fits the bill perfectly. Maybe you have a hectic evening coming up but you still want a meal that brings your family to the table. With this beef stew with horseradish, you can prepare it the day before and then store it in the fridge.
This is one of those dishes that gets better as it sits so often times the leftovers are even better than the first go around. Who doesn’t love a meal that keeps on giving, right?
I got a little creative with this stew by trying to change it up from my tried and true beef and Guinness stew. Using that same basic recipe, I added in horseradish and cipollini onions because they were guest stars in my weekly CSA box.
Have you seen real, live (well, I guess it is not alive anymore) horseradish before? Other than a jar on the grocery shelf, I had no idea what it would look like. If you don’t have access to fresh horseradish, then go for a jar from the store. It will work fine. Fresh horseradish tends to lose its flavor as it cooks so it is best to add towards end of cooking. I grated the horseradish into the stew and stirred it in. I also added some additional horseradish to each bowl as garnish.
Before we get to the cipollini onions, let’s talk about the meat. You can use beef stew meat or bone-in beef short ribs (or boneless) for this recipe. I made it with a mix of both. When I found myself searching out the beef short rib meat, I knew I had a favorite. The short rib meat is much more tender and the bones help to add some additional flavor. Do what works best for you and the ingredients you have. This would also work well with lamb stew meat.
For the dredging mixture, I did not measure any of the spices. I added mustard, paprika, oregano, salt and pepper to the flour until I felt it was colorful enough. The meat is only going to hold onto a small amount of the seasoning so you don’t need to worry about over doing it. If you can’t eat wheat based flours, try it with coconut flour or cassava flour.
On to the cipollini onions. Other than being cute little onions (cipollini actually means little onion in Italian), I wasn’t sure they would be any different than a regular onion. Well, these little guys surprised me. They are more sweet and subtle than a regular onion almost melting into the beef stew with horseradish.
Before you get too excited singing the praises of the cipollini, I must warn you that these guys are a pain to peel. The time you save cutting may be directed at peeling of the skin instead. I used a pairing knife to cut the peel from root end and pulled towards opposite end. It worked, but it wasn’t easy. They are totally worth the effort, though.
One more tid bit about the stew. If you do not have a Guinness or other dark beer on hand, try substituting red wine. Switch in about 1-2 cups red wine in place of beer. The flavor will vary slightly but not in a bad way.
Give yourself time with this stew. The recipe isn’t challenging but patience pays off. Low and slow is the way to go. The richness and warmth of the stew will fill your kitchen as it cooks. As you ladle it into bowls for your family or friends or yourself, enjoy the moments of satisfaction in the meal you made.
If you decide to give this recipe a go, please let me know how your beef stew with horseradish turns out by leaving a comment below! Enjoy!
Beef Stew with Horseradish
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. Beef short ribs bone-in (See Note)
- 3 tbsp. coconut oil lard or butter will also work
- 4 medium carrots cut into 2 inch pieces
- 3 large celery stalks sliced at diagonal into ½ inch slices
- 1-2 lbs. Cipollini onions cut in half if large (1 large onions can be substituted)
- 1-1.5 lbs. small potatoes
- 8 oz cremini mushrooms
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 rosemary sprig
- 1 bottle Guinness
- 2 cups beef broth
Flour Mixture for Dredging
- 1 cup All-purpose flour
- ground mustard using generous amount of these spices
- smoked paprika
- dried oregano
- salt & pepper
Garnish
- Fresh horseradish garnish
- Italian (flat-leaf) parsley garnish
Instructions
- Warm oven to 300F.
Dredging the meat with flour mixture
- Combine the flour and other seasons to dredge the meat. You can season the flour heavily and it still should not be too much.
- Gently coat the meat in the flour mixture on all sides and set back on plate.
Making the stew
- Warm large Dutch oven over medium heat. Once hot, add in coconut oil. If oil smokes, it is too hot. Once oil is hot, start browning meat on all sides. Brown meat in batches if necessary to prevent overcrowding the meat in the pot. Remove browned meat from pot and set aside on plate.
- If pan is too dry, add a touch more coconut oil to the browned bits in pot. Add in onions and celery and sauté on medium heat for about 5 minutes until celery starts to get tender.
- Add in garlic, rosemary leaves, and bay leaf and cook for one minute until fragrant. Season with salt and pepper.
- Add meat back into pot with veggies. Pour in Guinness to deglaze the bottom of pot. Use a wooden spoon to scrape up any bits from bottom. This is where the flavor is!
- Add in potatoes, mushrooms, and carrots. Pour in beef broth and stir to combine.
- Bring stew to a boil. Cover with oven safe lid. Place Dutch oven in oven for 3 hours until meat is tender. Check halfway through cooking to ensure liquid level is still at least halfway up ingredients.
- 10. Remove from oven and let sit covered until ready to serve.
Garnish
- Just before serving grate fresh horseradish into stew or add some store-bought horseradish. Do this to taste. Season with salt and pepper. Then garnish with fresh parsle
Notes
[nutrifox id=”27084″]
Are you a granola fan? Well, I love the stuff and have for many years. In college it was my snack almost every night and it easily helped me get through many final exams. Guess what? This addictive combination of oats, seeds, spices, nuts, and dried fruit is actually easy to make at home once you get the hang of it. My persimmon and spice granola is sweetened with honey and molasses and will, hopefully, make you want to ditch the store-bought granola for good.
My older son, Xavier, is also a serious fan of granola as well and is training his younger brother to follow in his footsteps. Xavier has called it “nola” since he was a toddler and the name has stuck. He was thrilled when he learned that not only can I make it for him, but also that he can help me make the granola. This is a great way to get your children involved in cooking and interested in what they are eating.
Many of my recipes are born out of experimentation or what I refer to as, “playing in the kitchen.” My granola recipe is one of these ideas. I love eggs for breakfast and I could eat them everyday, but my sons don’t always want them. We are not a big cereal family so I try to come up with hassle-free breakfast ideas especially on the mornings that my older son has preschool.
For this persimmon and spice granola, I use warm, wintery spices to boost the flavor as well as molasses and honey to sweeten it up. Since the nuts are a no-go, I like to add coconut and sprouted seeds for texture and variety as well as for some healthy fats. This granola is incredibly versatile and you can change up the ingredients based on yours and your family’s taste preference.
Persimmons are possibly one of my favorite fruits and I have tons of them thanks to my mother-in-law. I thought some dried persimmons would be a nice change from raisins and they give the granola that festive, winter vibe. The dark orange color is also eye-catching.
I had to think fast. Enter the brilliance of the Instant Pot. I rummaged through our freezer of meat and discovered a pork shoulder. Problem solved, hopefully. Using some of the same spices that I had for the ham, I made a spice blend to rub all over the pork. No time for marinating so I plopped it into the Instant Pot and let it work its magic. Less than two hours later our dinner was saved!
