It’s a dreary, wet Tuesday in San Francisco. Reminds me of this little coffee shop I used to work at in Larchmont, NY. I was young then but I developed a life-long affair with beef stew. It started with the beef goulash the coffee shop served, the one I would eat ceremoniously every Saturday and Sunday afternoons after my shift ended. I can’t remember if it was the tenderness of the beef, or the permeating taste of rosemary or the potatoes stewed to perfection that got me hooked, but hooked I was. My obsession has since developed into all kinds of stews – my sisters pollo guisado (chicken stew), boeuf bourguignon, bean and beef stew – as long it has meat and it is cooked slowly, I can be counted on to devour this hearty dish.

Well, today is like one of those lazy rainy days in the coffee shop when no customers would come around and all I had to do was peel potatoes, listen to the much older cooks tell stories of their Friday and Saturday evening adventures and eat stew. Copious amounts of stew. So in honor of stew, please enjoy this recipe I found in Esquire Magazine courtesy of Chef  Bryan Voltaggio of Volt restaurant in Frederick, Maryland.

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Ingredients:

2 1bs beef brisket. trimmed and cut into large 2·inch dice coarse salt and coarse ground pepper to taste
2 tbsp Wondra (or instant) flour
About 5 tbsp canola oil 2 cups
2 cloves garlic. Minced

Vegetable mix (all peeled):
1 1/2 cups white or red pearl onions (about 8 oz).
1 cup diced carrots (2 medi· um).
1 cup diced celeriac or

celery root (1 medium).
1 cup diced rutabaga or turnip (1 large)

2 bottles brown lager (Wild Goose if you can find it) or brown ale
2 cups beef broth or stock
1 cup diced large Yukon gold potato
3 tsp malt vinegar
4 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves picked from the stem
2 small sprigs rosemary. Leaves picked from the stem and roughly chopped

Instructions:

Generously season all sides of the beef with salt and pepper and lightly dust with Wondra flour.·

Add the canola oil to a Dutch oven and place over high heat. When oil is almost to smoking point (or shimmering in the pan).
Brown the meat in small batches. Turning to sear all sides and removing each batch as it is finished.·

When all brisket is browned and removed from pot, add the garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until just softened (but not colored), about three minutes. Remove and reserve.

Add vegetable mix and cook, stirring frequently, allowing onion to brown, about ten minutes. Re­move vegetables.

Return beef to the pot and add lager. Bring beer to a boil, then reduce heat, skimming any fat from the surface using a spoon or ladle. Reduce the beer by about eight minutes. (Pay attention-it’ll re­duce quickly.)
Add the beef broth or stock. Cover and simmer over very low heat until meat is starting to be­come tender-about one hour-then add the potato and the browned vegetable mix.’

Check stew after an­other hour: If simmering very slowly, the meat should be fork-tender at this point.

Add vinegar and adjust seasoning to taste. Stir in the herbs to heat through.

Serve.