Bavarian Beef Dinner

I drove to my mother's house in Orem on Wednesday because I do that on Wednesdays, and Wednesday is a day I have organized around my mother. The week was a summer week, the kind where the light through the kitchen window arrives at a particular angle and the freezer hums in a different register depending on the temperature in the garage. I made notes in my prep notebook on Sunday afternoon, the way I always do: meal name, ingredient list, cost per serving, prep time, freezer instructions. Twenty-eight bags. Two hours and eleven minutes. A little slow this week, by my standards, but Brandon was helping and the conversation was good, and I have learned, slowly and against my own grain, that the conversation is sometimes the point and the time is sometimes a courtesy I extend to my husband for being willing to chop onions on a Sunday afternoon.

The recipe of the week was marinated chicken thighs in bulk, which I have made some specific number of times in my life and have refined to a system that I now hand to other people in printed form. The version I made this week fed eight, cost under fifteen dollars, and required twenty-six minutes of active prep, which is within my requirements and not a coincidence. The vacuum sealer is the most important small appliance in this house and I will die on this hill. I have stopped explaining the freezer-meal philosophy to people who already follow my work, and I have stopped apologizing for it to people who do not. The philosophy is simple: tomorrow is coming whether you are ready or not. You can either be ready or not. I pick ready.

The children are doing what they do, which is the central report of every week of my adult life. Ethan, 20, is in the Philippines on his mission. He sends emails on Mondays. I read them on Mondays. The day is now structured around his email. Olivia is 18, at BYU studying elementary education — the path she chose at age seven and has not deviated from once. Mason, 15, is in Brazil on his mission. His weekly emails are short and full of jokes. He does not write much about the work. He writes about the food. Lily is 13, in high school, asking the kind of questions in Sunday School that make the teachers uncomfortable, which I find difficult and also, secretly, admirable. Noah is 11, the comedian, the performer — the kid who does an impression of my disappointed face in front of company, and gets away with it. That is the family report. I do not have a system for these reports. I just listen and remember and call back when I said I would call back, which is most of the time and not all of the time, and the difference between most and all is the territory of motherhood.

Grace would have been 8. I do not let myself imagine the alternate version. I keep her in the facts. I do not write about her every week. I do not avoid her either. She is in the kitchen the way the kitchen is in the kitchen — woven into the structure, not announcing herself, present. The photograph above the stove is the only one of her smiling, and it has watched me batch-prep more freezer meals than I can count, and I have stopped feeling strange about the parasocial relationship I have with a four-month-old who has been gone for years. She is my daughter. The photograph is what I have. I look. I keep cooking.

Brandon is asleep on the couch. The dishwasher is running. The kitchen is clean. That is what counts as victory in a long marriage.

The chicken thighs were already sealed and labeled by the time Brandon fell asleep on the couch, but I had one more slot in the freezer rotation that needed filling — something with a little more weight to it, the kind of meal that earns its place on a Wednesday when you drive to Orem and back and still have to feed five people at home. Bavarian Beef Dinner has been in my freezer rotation long enough that I don’t second-guess it anymore. I make it when I want something that asks nothing of me at 6 p.m. — something I already said yes to on Sunday, when I had the time and the energy and a husband willing to chop.

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 2 hr 30 min | Total Time: 2 hr 50 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

2 lbs beef chuck roast, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large onion, sliced into half-rings
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups beef broth
1 cup dark beer or additional beef broth
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 medium carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces
3 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons cold water (for thickening)

Instructions

Brown the beef. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven or heavy pot over medium-high heat. Working in batches, brown the beef cubes on all sides, about 3–4 minutes per batch. Transfer browned beef to a plate and set aside.
Sauté the aromatics. In the same pot, reduce heat to medium and add the sliced onion. Cook until softened and lightly golden, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more.
Build the braise. Stir in tomato paste, brown sugar, red wine vinegar, caraway seeds, thyme, paprika, salt, and pepper. Pour in beef broth and beer, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
Slow-braise the beef. Return beef to the pot. Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 1 hour 45 minutes, until beef is beginning to turn tender.
Add the vegetables. Add carrots and potatoes to the pot. Cover and continue simmering for an additional 30–40 minutes, until vegetables are fork-tender and beef is fully tender.
Thicken the sauce. Stir in the cornstarch slurry and cook uncovered over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens to a gravy-like consistency. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Freezer instructions. Cool completely before portioning into freezer-safe bags or containers. Remove as much air as possible before sealing. Label with date and contents. Freeze for up to 3 months. Reheat on the stovetop over medium-low heat, adding a splash of broth if needed to loosen the sauce.

Nutrition (per serving)

Bavarian Beef Dinner — The Meal That’s Ready Because You Made It Ready