French onion beef stew with Gruyère gratin recipe | Sainsbury`s Magazine (2024)

FAQs

What is the famous French stew called? ›

A meaty stew of poultry, sausage, pork, and beans, all under a rich, dark brown crust.

In this cozy beef stew, tender chunks of meat in a silky, savory, ale-tinged sauce share the pot with wedges of red onion and sweet nuggets of carrot. A little coriander and allspice add fragrance and depth to the mix, while a spoonful of tomato paste deepens and rounds out the flavors.

Bring to a boil, then reduce to a slow simmer. Cover and cook, skimming broth from time to time, until the beef is tender, about 1½ hours. Add the onions and carrots and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. Add the potatoes and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes more.

Beef Bourguignon (pronounced “beef bur-gee-nyon,”) or beef burgundy is a version of beef stew. The difference between this recipe and our usual beef stew is the richness of the broth due to bacon and red wine. Carrots, onions, mushrooms, and garlic round out this one-pot meal.

The dish is usually served with rice, but carrots, leeks, and cucumbers also make great accompaniments to this gem of French cuisine.

Add the wine and tomato paste to the onions and other aromatics in a pan before slow cooking. Plus, this helps to really deglaze any fond that's left. This ingredient is one that your mum and nan would probably use in their stews. It adds a bit of tang, sweetness and savoury spices that give an extra punch of flavour.

While certain vegetables can work just fine added directly to simmering soups and stews (say, carrots and celery), other vegetables (onions, garlic, and the like) will almost always need at least a brief sweat in a fat-based liquid before adding the remaining ingredients.

Once the meat is tender - but not falling apart, add the potatoes, celery, carrots and butternut squash. Pour over another 2 cups of beef broth and enough water to cover the vegetables. Raise heat and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer partially covered for about 30 minutes - until the vegetables are tender.

But the liquid itself should not be thick in the same way that gravy is thick. So skip the roux, and don't bother dusting the meat with flour or cornstarch before browning, either, as some recipes will suggest. That will interfere with getting a good sear on the meat, and gum up the stew with unneeded starch.

I contacted Laurence to get the lowdown on why she adds tomato paste to her beef stew. "I include tomato paste in many braised recipes because it adds a depth of flavor without increasing the liquid quantity in the dish," Laurence explains.

Is it better to use beef broth or stock for stew? ›

If you have homemade beef stock, use it! However, most commercially produced beef broths taste rather fake; chicken broths are much richer and complex. Bay leaves and thyme – Aromatics for more flavor! Carrots, potatoes and peas are the staple of a traditional stew.

Daube (French pronunciation: [dob], Occitan: adòba or adobo) is a French slow-cooked stew, usually of beef, but other meat is sometimes used.

Garbure – a thick French soup or stew of ham with cabbage and other vegetables, usually with cheese and stale bread added. Oille – a French potée or soup believed to be the forerunner of pot-au-feu composed of various meats and vegetables.

Mary Anne here. Preparing a traditional French Cassoulet (a la Julia Child) is incredibly time-consuming and can be fairly pricey since it requires hard-to-find ingredients like goose and mutton.

A perpetual stew, also known as forever soup, hunter's pot, or hunter's stew, is a pot into which foodstuffs are placed and cooked, continuously.