I have never used a pressure cooker. But if you have experience with one I'm sure you could adjust it to fit this recipe.

2-3 Tbsp Olive or other oil
1 lb or more of beef shanks in 3/4 in slices
1 lb or more of chuck roast cut in small pieces
Salt and pepper
6 garlic cloves
4 large carrots
a large handful of celery leaves and stalks
1 large onion
Leave veggies whole - easier to remove at the end

12 cups of water

Brown meat in oil. Add the remaining ingredients, bring to a boil and simmer for 3-4 hours on low. Sometimes, after bringing to a boil, she cooked it in the oven at 250 degrees for 5 hours.

Remove vegetables and meat. Toss the veggies and bones and shred the meat. My mom used to add a little soy sauce or Worcestershire sauce towards the end of cooking. There is a really great beef paste on the market - the brand I like is "Better than Bouillon." I would prefer to use that over the soy sauce or Worcestershire. The broth was then thickened and sometimes she added sour cream if she was serving it over egg noodles. If we had it with rice, she threw in some Morel mushrooms the last hour of cooking that we had growing at our cabin. We also had hazelnut bushes growing at the cabin and sometimes the nut meats ended up in the dish. I remember picking 2-3 shopping bags of the nuts in the fall.

I might even add a couple of bay leaves.

My mom is 85 and pretty forgetfull. This is what she recalled doing. Adjust as you see fit.

I just Googled pressure cooker beef roast and alot of recipes turned up. I'm amazed at how fast a PC can cook beef!

I do not need a PC.....I do not need a PC........

I do not eat beef. I do not need a PC. Sounds good to me!

This is not a direct answer as I don't have a pressure cooker - but you are making me want one. However, I know that if you simply take 2 pounds of beef (not a lean cut, the more fat and connective tissue the better, and ideally with bones too), brown it in 4'' chunks, then put into a pot with a tight-fitting lid along with a few oz of tomato paste and 4 oz of red wine (or beef broth) plus herbs of your choice, then bake at low heat (275-300F) for a longish time (4 hours), the beef will be tender (pull apart with forks) and the beef's juices and gelatin will have collected and cooked with the wine and tomato into a tasty liquid. You defat the liquid and then can thicken with flour or cornstarch into a sauce or gravy. So, if that is sort of what you are looking for, all you need to do is to translate into pressure cooker technique. Maybe you can just use those recipes for pressure cooker beef stew and use the same cooking time, just omit the vegetables.

In some cuisines, beef stew means simply beef. In the US we think of having lots of vegetables and potatoes, but they are not necessary to the process. And of course if you add way more wine, then at the end you thicken the liquid by reducing it down instead of by adding a thickener, you get . . . boeuf bourguignon or in my case boeuf deux-buck chuck.

I wonder is this is what you're looking for?? Beef, onions, no veggies, and can be cooked in a pressure cooker.

Beer Braised Beef with Onions

This tasty dish can be cooked slowly in the oven, all day in your crock-pot or quickly in a pressure cooker. It's all good.

Ingredients

* 2 pounds beef chuck, cut into cubes, visible fat removed
* 4 tablespoons flour, divided
* 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
* 1 pound onions, thinly sliced
* 2 tablespoon unsalted butter
* 2 tablespoon white wine vinegar
* 12 ounces dark beer
* 1 cup beef broth
* 1 teaspoon dried thyme
* 2 bay leaves
* salt and freshly ground pepper
* 1 teaspoon dark brown sugar

How to make it

* Heat oven to 325 degrees F. Toss the beef with salt and pepper; coat with 2 tablespoons flour. In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat; add the beef, in batches and saute until brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. When adding the last batch of meat, add the onions and saute until browned. Remove when the meat is browned. Lower the heat ; add the butter along with the remaining 2 tablespoons flour, stir and cook until your roux just starts to brown. Continue to stir while slowly adding the beer, beef broth, vinegar and thyme. Once the sauce is smooth, and just starting to thicken, add the bay leaves, salt and pepper to taste along with the meat ,onions and any accumulated juices. Sprinkle the brown sugar over the top. Cover and cook in the oven for 2 hours.
* *If cooking in a pressure cooker, bring to a simmer; cover and bring to pressure. Lower heat and allow to cook for about 40 minutes. Turn off heat and allow pressure to release naturally.
* Serve over your favorite pasta, rice or potatoes.

Here is a link that might be useful: Beer Braised Beef with Onions

When pressure cooking beef, you want something with a little fat in it like chuck; eye of round, for instance, might come out dry. Also, when pressure cooking beef, do NOT release the pressure with a valve or by putting the PC in the sink and running cold water over it; allow the PC's pressure to come down by itself after you turn off the heat. Releasing the pressure too quickly can make certain meats (especially beef) somewhat stringy.

I posted this recipe in the past from Lorna Sass; it's a good starting point for timing for pressure cooking meats. It's for a curry, but if you leave out the curry paste you essentially have stewed beef.

Here's a post for a great pressure cooker curry which uses Patak's curry paste. I find a equal parts of the mild and hot paste suits my palate just fine, but if I'm having a real yearning for hot-as-hades food I'll use all hot paste:

CURRY IN A HURRY

This recipe from Lorna Sass's Pressure Perfect is a quick and easy way to make a pretty tasty curry. You can make it with chicken, beef, lamb or pork, and vary the hotness by using mild or hot curry paste. 2 tablespoons of mild curry paste makes a pleasant-but-wimpy curry; 4 tablespoons of mild paste makes it pleasantly zingy; 4 tablespoons of hot curry paste makes it very hot, near my limit of tolerance (and I really like hot food). I generally use 2 tablespoons of hot and 2 tablespoons of mild curry paste. This is a recipe that's ridiculously easy yet produces delicious food. If you don't want to mess with the yogurt, peas and cilantro, don't bother--the dish will still be very tasty, but the sauce won't be as rich or velvety-smooth. ( I personally don't like cilantro, so I don't use it.) The recipe calls for 3 pounds of bone-in chicken; I find it easier to use about 2 or 2.5 pounds of boneless skinless chicken thighs. --Once you get the pressure cooker up to pressure, make a pot of rice. By the time the rice is done, so is this.

1 cup water
4 tablespoons Patak's Mild Curry Paste
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
3 pounds bone-in skinless chicken thighs or breasts, or 2-2.5 lbs boneless skinless thighs, or 2 lbs. other meat
(see chart below)
1 cup plain yogurt
1 cup frozen peas
3 tablespoons cilantro, chopped (optional)

Pour the water into a 4-qt or larger pressure cooker and blend in the curry paste. Place on high heat and add the onion and meat of your choice.
Lock the lid in place. Over high heat bring up to high pressure. Reduce the heat just enough to maintain high pressure and cook for the time indicated in the chart. Turn off the heat. Allow the pressure to come down naturally. (If cooking chicken, release any remaining pressure after 4 minutes.) Remove the lid, tilting it away from you to allow steam to escape. If the chicken or meat isn't tender, cover again and simmer until done.
If necessary, skim off the fat that rises to the surface or degrease the broth in a fat separator. Blend the yogurt into 1 cup of the broth. Stir the peas into the curry and simmer until they are defrosted, about 1 minute. Turn off the heat and stir the yogurt mixture into the curry. Stir in the cilantro and salt to taste. Serve in bowls over rice.

Meat choices Cooking times

Chicken (see notes above) 8 minutes high pressure, 4 minutes of natural release, then quick release

Beef (boneless chuck, 1" cubes) 8 minutes high pressure, then natural release

Pork shoulder (1" cubes) 8 minutes high pressure, then natural release

Lamb (boneless, 1" cubes) 12 minutes high pressure, then natural release

Teresa, You could probably make some adjustments to this one and do it in the PC. I know it's not exactly what you are looking for but it is exceptionally good and could be a starting point for you to experiment with.

Beef Daube Provencal

Ingredients
2 teaspoons olive oil
12 garlic cloves, crushed
1 (2-pound) boneless chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 2-inch cubes
1 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
1 cup red wine
2 cups chopped carrot
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1/2 cup less-sodium beef broth
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
Dash of ground cloves
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 bay leaf
3 cups hot cooked medium egg noodles (about 4 cups uncooked noodles)
Chopped fresh thyme (optional)

Preparation
Preheat oven to 300�.
Heat olive oil in a small Dutch oven over low heat. Add garlic to pan; cook for 5 minutes or until garlic is fragrant, stirring occasionally. Remove garlic with a slotted spoon; set aside. Increase heat to medium-high. Add beef to pan. Sprinkle beef with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Cook 5 minutes, browning on all sides. Remove beef from pan. Add wine to pan, and bring to a boil, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Add garlic, beef, remaining 1 teaspoon salt, remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper, carrot, and next 8 ingredients (through bay leaf) to pan; bring to a boil.

Cover and bake at 300� for 2 1/2 hours or until beef is tender. Discard bay leaf. Serve over noodles. Garnish with chopped fresh thyme, if desired.

Note: To make in a slow cooker, prepare through Step 2. Place beef mixture in an electric slow cooker. Cover and cook on HIGH for 5 hours.

Yield 6 servings (serving size: about 3/4 cup stew and 1/2 cup noodles)

Thank you everyone! This really helps me; I think the Braised Beef and Onions recipe is perhaps the closest, but I'm pretty sure Mom did not put any beer in her recipe, but I was thinking Beef Carbonnade even before I posted for help.

Last night I did some short ribs in the PC with some redwine, onions, Worcestershire sauce, and a little liquid from some canned tomatoes. Cooked for only 15 minutes and the meat was falling off those little bones. I browned the onions and beef first in some oil. Tonight I will thicken the cooking liquid and serve with some new potatoes.

Teresa mn - YES! you do need a pressure cooker!

They are great even if cooking for 1 or 2. Mine is a 4 qt. but I wish I had gotten the 6 qt. Brown rice in only 12 minutes instead of 55! For my stewed beef, I want the meat falling apart (like my mom's) so I will cook cubes at least 15 minutes.

Many thanks!
Teresa

Hi,
I've been using my PC for 30 years and make a heck of a beef stew. Don't really have a recipe, but this is how I make it and the grave is to die for!
Brown 1 lb. cubes of beef, sliced onion and crushed garlic in oil in PC. When browned add about 2 to 3 tablespoons of Kitchen Bouquet, one can of beef broth, a half a can of water and a can of diced, stewed tomatoes. Toss in sliced carrots, and potato chunks. Then I add a cup each of frozen kernel corn and green beans. Bring to pressure and cook for 25 minutes.
While it is cooking I make a small about of barley to be added at the end.
When cooker done and pressure dropped, remove meat and vegetables to serving bowl, leaving gravy in PC. Mix cold water and 3 tablespoons of corn starch, add to gravy and bring to a boil and let thicken, then remove from heat and pour over meat and veggies. Add cooked barley ahd serve with biscuits!
NEVER make barley in PC.
Now I'm hungry.
Kathy G in M

What happens to barley in the PC?

My experience is that barley cooks just fine in the PC as long as you add a little oil or butter to help prevent foaming which can block your pressure vent. I cook barley all the time mixed with a package of ground turkey and a TB of oil - this is for my little dog's food (along with some veggies) that I make about twice a month. I also cook barley with soup in the PC with no problems.

Grains and beans should have a pat of butter or a couple teaspoons of oil added when cooking in the PC.

Teresa

Tracydr, Kathy said "NEVER make barley in PC".

I have an old Mirro-matic presure pan from the early 60's and still have the recipe book that came with it.
Beef Stew:

Beef 1 and 1/2" pieces ---- 4qt 1 1/2 lbs 6qt 3 lbs.
fat ------------- 4qt--2 Tbl 6qt--1/4 c.
salt, pepper and paprika
water ------------- 4qt--1 1/2 c. 6qt.--1 3/4 c.

1. Brown meat in hot fat and season with salt, pepper and paprika. Add water.
2. Cover, set control and cook 12 min. after control jiggles.
3. cool pan normally 5 min.; then reduce pressure instantly. Add onions, carrots and potatoes.
4. Cover, set control and cook 8 minutes after control jiggles. Reduce pressure istantly.

Make gravey with stock from pan, with flour and water.

Not exactly what you asked about, but my Grandmother made something she called "Canadian Stew". She'd brown a pot roast really well in a little oil in big soup pot. Then add carrots and celery in BIG pieces... maybe just cut in half. And a lot of little whole onions, peeled. Some kind of tomato product... plain sauce, a little tomato paste, etc. The REQUIRED bay leaf, and S&P. Then a low, long simmer. Potatoes at the very end, so they wouldn't go to mush. Meat was falling apart... that's how she knew it was done. All the meat and veggies were fished out. She'd always make homemade bread to go with this. You had meat, potatoes and veggies on a plate and a bowl of the delicious broth on the side and slices of warm, buttered bread for dipping.