tenenbaum sisters’ sweet and sour beef stew

Ethel, “Beanie,” Fanny, or Evelyn… Who’s recipe is it?

Cousin Jeannie Sakol attributes it to Aunt Fanny, but I’ve always thought of it as Grandma Ethel’s. Truth is, all four of them made this dish. Perhaps it originated with their mother, Sarah. Or her mother, who’s name I’ve never known. Regardless, it’s been in our family since at least the 1800s and it brings back warm and happy childhood memories for me.

This isn’t your average run-of-the-mill beef stew. The expected carrots and potatoes are there, but the flavors are anything but expected. The sweet comes from the addition of plump prunes. The bright taste of lemons gives it its sour component. But that je-ne-sais-quai is the gift of old-fashioned ginger snap cookies.

The ingredients list is long, but once you’ve got it all assembled it doesn’t take long to put it all together. Then, you can do something else while it stews…get it? Stews. That’s why it’s called stew.

And not only can you make it in advance, it’s actually best made the day before serving. Today, I’m making it as part of my menu for Parasha Vayera.

Ingredients:

• 3 lbs well-marbled beef chuck roast, cut up for stew

• 1/4 cup flour

• 3 tablespoons good olive oil

• 2 large yellow onions, large dice

• 4 large carrots, cut on the diagonal into 1 inch chunks

• 1 lb small yellow potatoes, cut in half or quarters depending upon their size

• 6 cloves garlic, chopped

• 2 cups beef stock

• 15 ounce can of plain tomato sauce

• the juice of one fresh lemon

• 3 tablespoons honey

• a pinch of cloves

• 1 lb pitted prunes

• 6 gingersnaps cookies

• 2 teaspoons kosher salt

• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 325°F

• In a Dutch oven or an enameled cast iron pot (such as a Le Creucet), warm a little of the oil and brown the meat. Then remove it from the pot and set it aside. You may need to do this in batches, using some of the oil for each batch. Don’t overcrowd the pot or you won’t get a good sear on the meat.

• Add the remaining oil to the pot and stir in the onions and garlic. Cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes.

• Add the flour, stir to combine it well with the vegetables, and continue to stir until the flour is cooked.

• Add the meat back into the pot, add the beef stock, and stir to combine, scraping up any burned brown bits from the bottom.

• Add in the rest of the ingredients, holding back the potatoes and carrots. Stir it all together, cover the pot, and slide it into the oven.

• Braise the stew for 2 hours. Remove the cover and taste for flavor balance. You can add more salt, or honey, or lemon, or gingersnaps if you like. Mix in the potatoes and carrots, re-cover, and cook for 1 more hour.

• Serve the stew, with crusty bread or egg noodles, to soak up the sauce.

• Or, even better, let it come to room temperature, refrigerate, and re-heat and serve the next day.