A Simple Stew of Onions, Beer, and Beef

Name: A Simple Stew of Onions, Beer, and Beef
Yield: enough for 4
Ingredients: butter – a thick slice; stewing beef in one piece – 1 1/2 pounds (750g); large onions – 2; thyme – a few sprigs; all-purpose flour – 2 heaping tablespoons; Trappist beer – 2 small bottles; bay leaves – 2 or 3; red currant or apple jelly – a tablespoon; apples – 5 or 6, the sharper the better; butter – a walnut-sized knob; sugar – a little to taste; ground cinnamon – a pinch

December 14, 2011

This extraordinarily deep-flavored stew is one for a day when there is frost on the ground. The inclusion of applesauce isn’t quite as daft as it sounds, and there is much magic to be found at the point where the sharp applesauce oozes into the onion gravy. Boiled potatoes as big as your fist, their edges bruised and floury, are the ideal accompaniment.

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