I’ve never cooked beef stew before but I want to try. A lot of recipes I’ve looked up have red wine and I’m a bit unsure about using it. Neither me or my family drinks so I’m worried adding wine will ruin the whole dish together. However a lot of recipes recommend using it since it gives the stew a deeper flavor and makes the meat more tender and I don’t want to miss out on something potentially amazing.
Does the stew taste different with red wine? Can you taste the red wine when it is used? Is the stew still good without it?
I use red wine if I have it around, but I find that long slow cooking using cheap cuts ( not fillet etc, it will dry out), adding a good quality stock cube like Kallo, hard herbs like thyme, rosemary and bay, garlic, orange peel, some balsamic vinegar and a spoonful of something sweet like cranberry sauce, will do the trick to get a rich gravy. Adding fried baby onions/shallots,whole baby mushrooms, carrots etc towards the end of cooking will add flavour as well as nutrition. If you use a slow cooker, the meat will be tender but the gravy a bit watery as it doesn't evaporate- just drain off the juices into a pan and reduce, taste and add seasoning etc then add back in before serving. I love a good beef stew in the winter, I add herb dumplings sometimes, and serve with creamy mashed potatoes, sweet roasted parsnips and carrots, sauteed spinach, spiced cabbage- whatever's looking good in the market at the time. Enjoy! No need to use alcohol if you don't like the idea.
The alcohol cooks out and evaporates so you won't notice it. Wine is there for flavour and it won't taste of alcohol at all. There are also beef stew recipes that use beer.
And also those that use no alcohol. A good beef stock will make a nice stew, and you could make that by making some up from stock cubes according to the instructions. Another thing I've done is use water with a shake of Worcestershire sauce. The sauce is very strong and concentrated so you don't need much, only a teaspoon or two. And of course either of these options are much cheaper than wine!
Wine won't make the meat more tender - it's long slow cooking that does that. And on that point, don't use expensive beef. Cheap is actually best! Use stewing steak. Normally this will be from the leg or shoulder of the cow where the muscle will have done a lot of work during its lifetime and that makes the meat tough. No good for cooking it quickly but long slow stewing is just what it needs - that melts the connective tissue into the gravy and leaves you with lovely tender beef.