23 hours Ago
I know it’s spring in Santa Fe when we’ve fired up the grill for a few meals, the neighbors' tree is plush with pink blooms, and a chance of snow just popped up in the forecast for later in the week. So being that last week I shared a salad, this weekend I fired up the soup pot inside and made the simplest stew I could muster. Something protein-packed that would feed us for a few days and be easy to reheat was my goal.
It all started when we were chatting about meals to make for the week and we stopped by the grocery store. Beef stew meat was on sale and looked awesome — boom! I knew I had onions, carrots and sweet potatoes at home. I picked up a pint of mild frozen red chile purée and a bunch of fresh cilantro.
Sometimes it really is this easy. I’m calling this recipe “simple” because if we leave out the salt, pepper, oil for searing and butter for sautéeing vegetables, there are only eight ingredients. I have to admit, I was tempted to add additional things, all of which would be totally OK.
But I really wanted to try and keep this as minimal as possible while also creating incredible flavor. The key flavors at play here are the beef, which brings a savory grounded focal point; the red chile, which adds rich and slightly pungent notes of fruit with a hint of bitterness; and sweet potato, which brings a natural sweetness that creates balance — resulting in a delicious, deeply satisfying stew. Makes: 6-8 servings; total time: 31⁄2 hours For the beef: Olive oil, for searing beef 2 pounds beef stew meat, trimmed and cut into 1⁄2-inch pieces Salt and pepper For the stew: 1 large onion, diced 4 carrots, peeled and sliced 2 medium sweet potatoes, diced 4-6 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced 2 cups mild red chile purée, defrosted 4 cups chicken or beef broth 1 tablespoon herbs de Provence or High Desert Herbs (stokli.
com) Salt and pepper, to taste Cilantro, for garnish Preparation: Add oil to a large, heavy-bottomed soup pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Season the beef with salt and pepper on all sides and, working in batches so as to not overcrowd the pan, brown the beef, transferring the pieces to a bowl and reserving them for later. Now add butter to the pot.
Add the onion, carrot, sweet potatoes and cook for around 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and cook for another couple of minutes. Add the red chile purée, broth, dried herbs and reserved browned beef.
Once this comes to a boil, reduce the heat to a low simmer and cook for 21⁄2 hours, or until the beef is completely tender. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. Ladle into bowls and garnish with fresh cilantro.
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