In My Kitchen: Butternut Squash Beef Stew with Balsamic Vinegar and Rosemary

Sunday was cold and dreary Really, isn't any day perfect comfort food weather.

{A perfect cooler weather entree: Butternut Squash and Beef Stew with Balsamic Vinegar and Rosemary}

Oh.so.good.  This stew is thick enough to serve on a plate but we use a bowl so you can soak up every last drop of "gravy" with a slice of rustic bread (at our house it would be whole grain / whole wheat bread).  I've seen slow-cooked vegetable / beef stews like this on restaurant menus, and maybe dinner at grandma's house includes a "food of love" dish such as this, but there's no reason you can't prepare this too!

The "heavy" culinary work for this stew is chopping ... this is actually an easy one-skillet-wonder dish.  With everything chopped, all you do is "brown" the onions and beef in a skillet, pour in broth and the other ingredients, cover and simmer.  You can do that, right?  And you don't have to hover over the pot.  I'd never suggest leaving food totally unattended on the stove (for fire safety reasons), but keep a watchful eye from a distance and it will be all good.  Perfect.weekend.cooking.


Let's get started (Directions & Recipe)

FYI: there's a printing option at the end of this post.

Here's what you'll need:
1 - 2 medium size, sweet onions
2.5 - 3 lb. butternut squash
1 lb. beef (cut of beef discussed below)
beef stock, dried rosemary, balsamic vinegar, raisins, salt / pepper

large deep side skillet w/lid
cutting board and large Chef style knife

First, dice 1 - 2 medium size, sweet onions.

Then, peel a Butternut Squash and cut into cubes of about 3/4" ... if you cut a larger cube that will extended the cooking time for the stew.  You'll need about 3 Cups of cubed squash.  I've found that a 2.5 - 3  pound squash will yield enough for this dish.  An alternative is pre-cubed butternut squash from the produce section (when seasonally available).  If you end up with more squash than needed, it should keep in the fridge in a well sealed dish for another 7 - 10 days or you can par-boil and freeze the squash and use for this dish in the future (using par-boiled squash will reduce your cooking time).

{Chopped Butternut Squash}

Finally, cut your beef into 1" cubes.  You are going to want about one pound of beef.  I've used both Sirloin Steak and Chuck Roast with great results.  The Sirloin is naturally lean and tender and yields a very nice clean flavor; also quick to prep since it is lean.  The Chuck Roast can yield a tremendously deep, rich flavor but I've found the prep to be very tedious trimming the fat, connective tissue, sinew, etc. that can be found in a Chuck Roast; if you don't trim the meat well you'll have a greasy gravy and possibly some unchewable pieces of meat.  I was also very lazy once and used Beef Tenderloin; great flavor, super super tender and absolutely no prep time other than simple cube cuts; the meat held its shape and didn't melt into the gravy so the appearance of the dish was a bit different, but the taste was great.

If you prep your cube chops in this order you will only need to use a single knife and cutting board (I hate washing dishes).

I use a large non-stick deep sided skillet with lid.

Heat the skillet on medium with a little olive oil and saute the onions until at least soft and translucent; I typically cook the onions until they are softly caramelized.  Transfer the onions to a plate.

{Caramelized onions}

Add beef to same skillet and brown on all sides.  If necessary, add a little olive oil if pan is too dry after onions.

{Browning 1 pound beef, cubed, in skillet}

Once beef is browned, return onions to skillet, add the squash, and:
- 2 Cups Beef Stock (I use the KitchenBasics brand or homemade - no "just broth", ok?)
- chopped, dried Rosemary, about 3 Tablespoons
- 4 Tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar
- 1/8 Cup raisins
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper and 1/4 teaspoon salt (taste at end of cooking and add more of either if desired before serving)

{All ingredients for Butternut Squash Beef Stew with Balsamic Vinegar and Rosemary in a skillet and ready to simmer.}

Cover skillet with lid.  Bring stew to an "active" simmer.  Stir occasionally and test the firmness of the butternut squash; stew is ready when squash yields to gentle pressure ... about that time the squash will naturally start to "melt" into the stock, slightly thickening the stock.  How long the actual cooking takes will depend on the size of your pan (larger pan = shorter time due to not overcrowding) as well as the size of your chopped ingredients (smaller cubes = shorter time); ours typically simmers at least 75 - 90 minutes.

Plate and serve; we accompany this dish with a salad (spinach salad is great with this) and either bread or flatbread whole grain crackers.

A Few Rambling Thoughts
I prepare this stew from memory and haven't seen the scribbled original recipe in a while; don't know the origin of this recipe.  I started adding the raisins to brighten the flavor of the squash during a somewhat "anemic" harvest and its just stayed with the recipe; I bet you could also add a little chopped apple instead of raisins, or if your squash has a rich deep color (and we would assume flavor), then forego this addition all together.  I play loose with my ingredient amounts so don't worry if you have 14 ounces of meat or not quite the full 3 cups of squash; however, the amounts I've listed are the actual measures in the recipe I learned.

Printing
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Grocery Shopping Tip: We all know cooking starts with grocery shopping!  I recently posted about Grocery IQ, an app for I-Pods, I-Phones, and I-Pads that helps me plan, organize, and manage my grocery shopping trips ... read about it here.

Happy grocery shopping and Bon appetite!  If you'd like to see some of my other recipes, click here.  And {please consider} to Pin, Follow or bookmark us so we'll get to visit again!  And for grins Follow Me on Pinterest.  Need an invite to join Pinterest? ... I have a few left so email me and I'll be glad to share. 

Sharing with these great parties:
Real Food Forager, Fat Tuesday: February 28, 2012
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia: Tuesday's Treasures
The Healthy Home Economist, Monday Mania 1/30/2012 — The Healthy Home Economist
Delicate Construction, delicateCONSTRUCTION: Delicately Constructed Friday
The Sweet Detail, The Sweet Details: Savory Sunday
Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms, Melt in Your Mouth Monday Blog Hop #51 | Make Ahead Meals For Busy Moms

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