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Cognac Beef Stew

A hearty beef stew flavored with cognac, tomato paste, and red wine, baked slowly with potatoes, onions, garlic, and herbs.

From the Wikibooks Cookbook · 17 ingredients
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Why it works: Beef and chicken match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,148 recipes. Both carry 2-furfurylthiol, which smells coffee, roasted. The science ↓

Cognac Beef Stew

Oven250°F (120 °C)
Time5 hours

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the beef

  1. Dredge beef in flour.

  2. Heat oil in a 6‑quart Dutch oven.

  3. Working in batches, add beef and thoroughly brown on all sides.

  4. Remove browned beef and add cognac.

Deglaze and build the base

  1. Bring cognac to a boil and ignite.

  2. Deglaze the pan by scraping the bottom.

  3. Once the liquid has reduced by half, pour it over the beef.

  4. Melt butter over medium heat and add onion.

  5. Cook onion 1–2 minutes before adding garlic.

  6. Sauté garlic until pale gold color is achieved.

  7. Add everything else.

Bake and serve

  1. Place the pot in a 250°F (120 °C) oven and bake for 5 hours.

  2. Let rest 10 minutes and serve.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1368Calories
78 gProtein
46 gFat
153 gCarbs

Counts 15 of 16 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 15 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Beef100g cooked250
Chicken100g cooked165
Potato1 medium (173g) baked161
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Wine2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)25
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Soy Sauce1 tbsp (15ml)9
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Thyme1 tsp dried (1.4g)4
Bay Leaf1 leaf (0.6g)2
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Cognacnot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Wikibooks Cookbook.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Beef + chickentop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,148 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).

  2. Tomato + potatotop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,798 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Pepper + tomatotop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Chicken + potatotop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,756 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-decenal (green, must).

  5. Beef + tomatotop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,448 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Beef stew meat
Provides the meat that becomes tender during the long, slow braise.
All-purpose flour
Coats the beef so it browns well and helps thicken the sauce.
Cognac
Adds aroma and flavor when boiled and ignited, then reduced into the sauce.
Tomato paste
Adds concentrated savory depth and body to the braising liquid.
Red wine
Adds acidity and depth of flavor to the braising liquid.
Red-skinned potatoes
Hold their shape during braising and absorb the flavorful sauce.

The step that matters

Browning the beef in batches. Crowding the pot makes the meat steam instead of brown. Browning on all sides in batches builds the deep, savory flavor the sauce depends on.

Swap the potato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, meat, flour, pepper, tomato, chicken, sauce):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Potatothe original
  3. Okrafits about as well
  4. Onionfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, meat, flour, pepper, tomato, chicken, sauce. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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