Stews and braises are more method than recipe. The end product is a deeply-flavored, more mellowed-out and homogenized dish.

You could try adding a gremolata before serving, which will brighten the flavor and give you high notes. Otherwise, you could change the flavor profile to say, Asian, with star anise, cardamom, ginger and Chinese 5-spice.

Do you use wine with your stews? The acid, imo, is desirable.

Sometimes I use wine, sometimes beer, sometimes balsamic vinegar

Had to look up gremolatta, which in the narrow sense, I don't use. However I often add Italian parsley or cilantro for a fresh touch. I will give serious thought to spice profile, that would help, I thkmk

If i wing-it i get a similar outcome every time. I've started to search and glance a few or a dozen recipes in advance to see what i might add to the party.

I make a beef stew just a few times a year...early Fall, just recently, and again soon. The last was far superior by looking at a few recipes. (i used JuliaChilds).

I also looked at MarcellaHazan and a Food&Wine book i have. Used the method of roasting the beef and veggies in the oven first instead of the boring task of stovetop browning.

bossyvossy

Had to look up gremolatta, which in the narrow sense,

*****

Me too. I like lemon zest and parsley. No fresh garlic for me.

Freshly grated nutmeg is also good.

The last time I made beef stew, I did adhere closely to Julia's recipe and it was fantastic. Wow.

"Stew" like meatloaf, are as individual as the people who make them. ;-) But there is some science to it, once you research the subject.

1. Browning the meat - whether to dredge first or not? I dredged the meat before browning it because that was what my mother did. Then I followed a recipe from an old Farm Journal Cookbook that didn't dredge, and all the sudden it was a whole new game. After some research on the subject, I discovered the flour interferes with the browning process (you don't get a good sear on the meat), flour often burns at the high temperatures needed to brown meat, and also makes the bottom of the pan stickier due to adding the starch from the flour, and flour can give an undesirable "raw flour taste" to the stew. If you want to thicken your stew, wait until the end and add a slurry or zap part of the vegetables in a blender and add them back.

Browning develops flavor in both the meat and the sauce. Make sure you have lots of heat for this step and don't crowd the pan. It may take 2 or 3 batches to get all the meat browned properly. If the pan and fat isn't hot enough, it won't do the job. If you don't brown the meat first, it will simply stew in its own juices instead of developing the flavors from searing.

Browning meat caramelizes the sugar in meat (the Maillard reaction). FYI - searing the meat doesn't "seal in the juices" as we were taught in Home Economics, browning is for developing flavor - not juiciness.

To salt, or not to salt.... If you dredge the meat with flour/salt/pepper mixture, the salt draws out more juices and the meat dries out. This is often why people who dredge or salt the meat first use large chunks of beef for stew - to compensate for the toll taken from salting before browning. If you wait to add the salt to the stew after the meat is browned, it produces juicier beef (and also pork if making a pork stew), and you can use smaller cubes of meat and still have moist, fork tender meat when done.

2. The last thing I would purchase is so-called "stew meat", which is always over-priced "meat scraps" and from an unknown portion of the animal, probably the bottom round. I prefer a cut from the chuck, including the shoulder, the top blade, and the chuck eye. I'll also use top round or sirloin tip.

3. Eat it with a spoon, or a fork and knife... I'm a spoon person for a stew (with lots of liquid), but that's just a choice, neither is right or wrong. I prefer meat and vegetables cut into 3/4-inch size pieces so I can get a little of everything on the spoon at once. I don't want to have to tackle a large chunk of meat with a knife and fork, then 1/2 a carrot or a small potato - I like it all together in one nice tidy package. Otherwise I would make New England Boiled Dinner.

4. Variations...

-If there is enough liquid, you might want to add some dumplings. My mother used to make tiny dumplings with sage in them when she made chicken stew that was to die for ;-).

-There are recipes that add dried fruit (apricots or peaches) to lamb stew.

- Add peas or lima beans - I usually add both.

- A touch of Worcestershire sauce, a teaspoon of lemon juice or balsamic vinegar, are nice add-ins at the very end, along with fresh parsley..

5. Simmer the meat mixture for a couple hours, but add the vegetables later in the cooking process (about 30-minutes before it's done) so they don't cook to mush and retain some texture and individual flavor. I'll add peas and lima beans just long enough to cook through (10-15 minutes). Try leeks or shallots instead of onions for something different.

6. Less meat.... I don't use a lot of meat in stew due to cost, and to compensate for that I'll add chewy/meaty vegetables like Portobello or shiitake mushrooms, eggplant, sun-dried tomatoes, or even hominy.

7. From "On Food And Cooking" by Harold McGee - "Stew involves more liquid, smaller pieces of meat [than braising], and generally longer cooking times than the braise. In a stew, we want the flavor of the meat to permeate the large amount of liquid, so we tend to let the meat be cooked well beyond the point at which it is "done". In both cases, though, the end point in cooking is rather fuzzily defined as "fork tender," and so timings are not terribly precise."

-Grainlady

For soup, stew, chili, "hotdish"/casserole, even meatloaf and the like, for me, a recipe is a guideline and a checklist for me. Reminds me to put in all the ingredients but I often wing it depending on what's on hand.

FWIW, for me, a stew needs to be thick and chunky or it's not a stew in my definition. That's why I prefer a "stew" over a "soup". I like to eat a meal, not drink it (ever since my 20s!).

Interesting you mentioned the dredging Grainlady. For things like a pot roast or something I never dredge it when browning. Something like a "Swiss" steak I do. Different flavoring. I guess I never thought about dredging it for a sear.

Grainlady, will you come live with us and feed us? I KNOW that if you feed us we will live to 100 and be skinny and healthy!

i dredge/brown and I don't see much diff flavor wise. The only plus for me is nice brown color vs gray from when thrown in crock pot. I like cooking but it is soon nice when I'm tired at end of day and there is a nice meal waiting for us. In my perfect world I could use crock pot at least once weekly but the flavor sameness is what keeps me from doing it as often.

cynic. I like broth or thick, hubby likes thick. Not a big prob but it's a constraint.

Stew at our house starts with chuck roast cut into about 1" cubes...seared. No dredging. Broth, potatoes, carrots, onion, garlic, green beans, bay leaf. Worchestershire & some Marmite or Vegemite work miracles in a beef stew. Sometimes, I'll put about a tablespoon of pickling spice in a tea ball and simmer it along with the veggies to change up the flavor profile a bit. We like it brothy-soupy vs a thick gravy. I always like a few dashes of Tabasco sauce in my bowl. It's always better the second day.

Edited to add that I forget to mention that I also like cabbage along with the other veggies. I never put peas or corn in 'beef stew'.

Perhaps you need to taste your stews carefully to identify the
ingredients that announce themselves. I figured out that way that the
thing that makes my spaghetti sauce taste specifically just so is green
bell pepper. I might put in a chili pepper or not and while it affects
the flavor, it doesn't change it. It's still spaghetti sauce
either way. Same on the meats. Turkey or not, beef or just sausage,
it's the same. Green bell pepper is it.I usually make some kind of mulligan stew, improvised around the standard base. If I want something different, I make North African flavored lamb stew. There are a lot of stew flavors that aren't so popular with my family, like most Indian and Asian ones, but you can make a stew with any standard flavor profile if you just want it to taste different. With or without tomatoes makes a big difference. You can go "Italian" with tomatoes, bell peppers and Italian herbs (oregano, thyme, etc.) You can go "Greek" with lemon, marjoram, and yoghurt. "Spanish" with saffron, sweet red peppers and bay.

There are two kinds of stews: Stone soup with a little of everything and anything, and ones with a planned flavor profile. That planned flavor requires focus. Instead of putting everything in, choose several things and do more of them. Challenge yourself to five ingredients plus a few basics (e.g., salt and pepper, flour if you must, and (ordinary) oil if you need it). Then all your ingredients really matter, and when you do a different set, it'll make a big difference.

Think of them as specific dishes rather than "stew".

Boeuf bourgignon doesn't taste the same as Osso bucco or Lancashire hotpot or beef in beer. Try following a recipe to discover the differences.