Roundup Stew

This is cowboy cooking distilled to its essentials. Six ingredients, one Dutch oven, no flour, no thickeners, no fuss. Roundup stew got its name from cattle drives, when the chuckwagon cook fed a whole crew off a single pot simmered over a campfire.

The technique is staggered for a reason. Beef gets the longest cook because tough cuts need time for the collagen to break down into tender, fall-apart bites. Carrots go in second because they hold up to 45 minutes of simmering. Potatoes and onions go in last because they soften fast and turn to mush if overcooked.

Bacon drippings are the secret. They add a smoky depth that plain oil simply cannot deliver. If you don’t keep bacon fat around (many people don’t anymore), fry off a few strips of bacon at the start, save the fat, and crumble the bacon back into the stew at the end.

No broth, no wine, no aromatics. The stew makes its own liquid from the beef and vegetables as they cook. The longer it simmers, the richer it gets.

Serve in deep bowls with hot biscuits or crusty bread for sopping up the broth.

Pro Tips

• Use chuck or stew meat with good marbling. Lean cuts dry out over a 2-hour cook.
• Pat the beef cubes dry and brown them in batches. Crowded meat steams instead of searing.
• Don’t lift the lid during the long simmer. Each peek releases steam and adds 10 minutes to the cook time.
• The stew is better the next day. The fat solidifies on top so you can scrape it off easily, and the broth thickens as it sits.

Variations

• Add a couple of bay leaves and a sprig of thyme for an herbal lift.
• Stir in a tablespoon of tomato paste with the meat for deeper color and umami.
• Toss in a handful of green peas in the last 5 minutes for color and sweetness.