Classic Beef Stew with a Glenfarclas 25 Year Old Pairing

Beef Stew à la Mom paired with Glenfarclas 25 Year Old

A deeply personal day just passed, with my Mom’s birthday being on February 22. It is the first birthday we are celebrating without her, as she passed away last April.

My Mom wasn’t the best of cooks, but what she lacked in knowledge, she made up for in determination and love. Victoria (Mom) did make a few memorable dishes, one being beef stew (“Hold the peas,” I would say when I was a young lad), that stuck with me on this crazy journey called life.

Over the last 30 years of my professional career, I have seen so many variations of this wondrous dish, and I’m looking forward to sharing this recipe with you. This combination of winter vegetables, beef, and potatoes will have your tastebuds dancing!

I have tried using various cuts of beef for this particular recipe: bone-in, boneless, beef reduced veal stock or regular veal stock, garlic, no garlic, flour, no flour, etc. This particular recipe has yielded the best results and incredible flavour. If you change even one element or technique of this recipe, it will compromise the flavour of this dish and will not taste the same or bring that perfect pairing to this whisky.

Most would immediately think a heavy Cabernet Sauvignon or rich Bordeaux wine would be the automatic pairing with this flavour-packed dish, but I’m telling you, a balanced sherry cask whisky with juicy caramel, raisins, and rich oak flavours will balance the fattiness and earthiness of this hearty beef stew. Don't worry though — we will be deglazing with a red, fruit-forward Bordeaux!!

My choice pairing for this dish is a Glenfarclas 25 Year Old, and here is where Dad drops into this story. Dad and I have been avid whisky lovers for 40 years and 15 years, respectively. We have always had a bottle of Glenfarclas in our collection. There is a brilliant story behind that statement, which I will share in an upcoming blog.

Finally, my fiancée Christina enters the story — she is my world — and about three years ago I dragged her into the fine food and whisky world whether she liked it or not. We had the pleasure of visiting the distillery, and it was both of our first-ever distillery tours on our first trip to Scotland together in September of 2023, which is also a topic for a future blog.

Sooooo, during this tour, a few epiphanies happened. First off, it was a surreal experience listening to our guide explain in brilliant detail the tradition and family history of Glenfarclas. The tour was very in depth and got all access to the distillery and the whisky making process. Near the end of the tour when we entered the dunnage warehouses through the famous red doors (those who know), where Glenfarclas ages their whisky, it turned the lightbulbs on almost immediately. That smell, the history, and the family aura — I thought of my Mom’s beef stew and knew the worlds of food and whisky would be soon colliding in a flavour explosion!!! I hope you enjoy this recipe and pairing as much as my family and I do.

Beef Stew Recipe

3lbs boneless chuck short rib flats (butcher would know)

8 cups of reduced veal stock

1 cup Bordeaux wine

1lb yellow onion

1lb Carrot

1/2 lb yellow flesh potato

1/2 lb Parsnip

1lb Celery root

8 sprigs of fresh thyme

2 sprigs of fresh rosemary

2 bay leafs

1lb smoked bacon, diced

4 cloves of garlic

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1/2 cup flour

Salt & Pepper

Method

1. Measure out all liquids and dry ingredients. Peel and dice all vegetables, tie herbs together in little bundle with butcher twine. Make sure to take a wee nip of wine for quality control.

2. Season beef with salt and pepper, then set aside.

3. In a large sauce pot or stock pot cook diced bacon on medium heat. When bacon is crispy, take bacon out of the pot and set aside.

4. Turn heat on high and sear all sides of the beef, take out and set aside when done.

5. Remove and discard half of the fat that is in the pot and saute vegetables in remaining fat on medium heat for 5 minutes, remove from pot and set aside.

6. Add tomato paste to pot, and cook for 30 seconds. Deglaze pot with red wine and cook for 1 minute. Make sure to have a wee glass as well.

7. Coat seared beef in flour and place back in pot with veal stock and bay leafs and herb bundle.

8. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to a low simmer and cook for 2.5 hours.

9. At this point add all sautéed vegetables and cook for 30 minutes.

10. Remove herb bundle and bay leafs, add reserved bacon and mustard, cook for 10 minutes. Turn heat off and let stand for 10 minutes

11. Taste and add seasoning if needed and volia! We have incredible beef stew to be paired with a 25 year old Glenfarclas!