Wow, Kenji’s beef stew delivers the goods. Deep complex flavor, each bit properly cooked.

The sacrificial veg strategy is genius. Allows you to have tender meat, loaded veg flavor, and properly cooked veg all at once.

Not using beef stock is also smart, it can be too overpowering and stew should deliver on the meat *and* the veg flavors. One change I’ll do next time: I use “better than bouillon” brand bouillon in a pinch and did this time—chicken. But their veg bouillon is phenomenal— intense umami and really deep complex flavor profile. I think it would fit the vibe well.

What you see in these photos is the way MY mom made stew, with dumplings steamed on top. We’d fight over them! It’s a loose drop biscuit dough, dropped on top, and cooked in the last 10’ with lid on. I added chives. They’re a built in way to be sure the plate is wiped clean of stew 😉

I might move the last 45’ after the potatoes are added to the stove top (as mentioned) to be able to better assess timing and desired liquid concentration.

by Mimidoo22