There is something so beautiful and restorative about a braised beef dish that is topped with fluffy savory biscuits. Each spoonful filled with a little biscuit, a little beef and a little sauce – making each bite a delicious and comforting memory.
Rather than stew meat, I use flank steak in this gorgeous dish. Although I typically use flank steak for grilling, a well marbled flank steak makes a nice alternative to stew meat. It’s a flavorful cut of beef and becomes quite tender when braised or slow cooked. Braising and slow cooking are basically the same, however, a few minor adjustments usually need to be made when interchanging these methods of cooking. Click HERE for an excellent conversion guide for Dutch oven and Slow Cooker cooking methods.
Flank steak also pairs deliciously with winter root vegetables and adding porcini mushrooms into the dish deepens the flavors and the sauce. The crowning glory of this dish? Those sour cream and chive biscuits
The finished dish makes the most gorgeous and delightful comfort food. This is a meal to be enjoyed family style with big bowls and spoons and maybe a little butter for those biscuits. Winter never tasted so good.
Delicious Wishes and Loads of Love,
Karista
Winter Beef & Vegetable Cobbler with Sour Cream & Chive Biscuits
February 5, 2015
Category
Beef
Karista's Kitchen
Kid Friendly
Main Dish
Ingredients
- 2 lbs flank steak, one inch cubed
- Salt and Pepper
- 1/4 cup flour for dusting
- 3-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 ounce dried porcini mushrooms
- 1 cup hot water
- 1 large onion, diced
- 2 carrots, diced
- 3 gloves garlic, minced
- 2 ribs celery, diced
- 1 parsnip, diced
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, chopped
- 1 teaspoon fresh oregano leaves, chopped
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
- 1 cup red wine
- 2 cups beef broth
- 2 teaspoons Dijon Mustard
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- !For the Sour Cream and Chive Biscuits
- 1 cup self rising flour, 1/4 cup for rolling out
- 6 tablespoons very cold butter, diced
- 8 ounce sour cream
- 1-2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh chives
Instructions
- Place the dried mushrooms in a bowl and cover with the one cup of boiling water. Let the mushrooms sit for about 15 minutes. Once they are soft, strain them from the water and then finely dice the mushrooms. Set aside.
- Season the steak cubes with salt and pepper and then dust with the 1/4 cup flour, tossing to combine. Heat a Dutch oven or heavy pot over medium high heat and add a few tablespoons of olive oil. When the oil is hot add some of the beef cubes. You will need to cook the beef in batches. If you load up the bottom of the pot with too much beef, it will bring down the temperature of the oil and the pot and the beef cubes won’t brown. Transfer the browned beef to a platter and reserve.
- Next, in the same pot, turn the heat down to medium and add the onions, carrots, parsnips and fresh herbs, adding a little more oil if needed. Sauté the vegetables until slightly tender (the onions will be the most tender), about 8-10 minutes. Stir in the garlic the last few minutes of cooking. This is so the garlic doesn’t brown. Brown garlic tastes bitter and we don’t want to risk your lovely cobbler tasting bitter.
- Return the beef with juices to the pot and then stir in the chopped porcini mushrooms, mustard, red wine and beef broth. Bring the stew to a lively simmer then turn down the heat to low and let the stew cook for about 20-30 minutes or until the vegetables are tender and the liquid feels a little saucy. Season to taste with salt and pepper. While the stew is simmering, prepare the biscuits.
- Pre-heat the oven to 400F.
- Transfer the beef and vegetable stew to an 8×11 or 9×13 baking dish. I prefer an 8×11 baking dish because it’s smaller and allows the stew to be deeper in the pan, which makes for fantastic cobbler. Top the beef and vegetable stew with the biscuits and brush each biscuit with butter.
- Place the baking dish in the oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes or until the biscuits are nicely browned on top. You want a rich color on the biscuits to be sure they are done. Take the cobbler out of the oven and let it stand for about 5-10 minutes before serving.
For the Biscuits
- Add the flour and diced butter to a large bowl and work in the butter using a pastry cutter or your hands. You should see pea sized crumbs. Then mix in the sour cream and chives until the dough forms a ball and pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
- Pour the dough onto a well floured surface and roll out to your desired thickness. Cut into biscuits with a 2″ biscuit cutter, dipping in flour in between cutting biscuits. Place the biscuits on the beef and vegetable stew and brush each biscuit with melted butter. Continue with recipe above.
- If you’d like to make these biscuits without the stew, place the biscuits on a lined baking sheet, brush with butter and bake for about 15-20 minutes or until the biscuits are a deep golden brown. Bring them out of the oven and serve warm
Winter Beef & Vegetable Cobbler with Sour Cream & Chive Biscuits
Ingredients
- 2 lbs flank steak, one inch cubed
- Salt and Pepper
- 1/4 cup flour for dusting
- 3-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 ounce dried porcini mushrooms
- 1 cup hot water
- 1 large onion, diced
- 2 carrots, diced
- 3 gloves garlic, minced
- 2 ribs celery, diced
- 1 parsnip, diced
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, chopped
- 1 teaspoon fresh oregano leaves, chopped
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
- 1 cup red wine
- 2 cups beef broth
- 2 teaspoons Dijon Mustard
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- !For the Sour Cream and Chive Biscuits
- 1 cup self rising flour, 1/4 cup for rolling out
- 6 tablespoons very cold butter, diced
- 8 ounce sour cream
- 1-2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh chives
Instructions
- Place the dried mushrooms in a bowl and cover with the one cup of boiling water. Let the mushrooms sit for about 15 minutes. Once they are soft, strain them from the water and then finely dice the mushrooms. Set aside.
- Season the steak cubes with salt and pepper and then dust with the 1/4 cup flour, tossing to combine. Heat a Dutch oven or heavy pot over medium high heat and add a few tablespoons of olive oil. When the oil is hot add some of the beef cubes. You will need to cook the beef in batches. If you load up the bottom of the pot with too much beef, it will bring down the temperature of the oil and the pot and the beef cubes won’t brown. Transfer the browned beef to a platter and reserve.
- Next, in the same pot, turn the heat down to medium and add the onions, carrots, parsnips and fresh herbs, adding a little more oil if needed. Sauté the vegetables until slightly tender (the onions will be the most tender), about 8-10 minutes. Stir in the garlic the last few minutes of cooking. This is so the garlic doesn’t brown. Brown garlic tastes bitter and we don’t want to risk your lovely cobbler tasting bitter.
- Return the beef with juices to the pot and then stir in the chopped porcini mushrooms, mustard, red wine and beef broth. Bring the stew to a lively simmer then turn down the heat to low and let the stew cook for about 20-30 minutes or until the vegetables are tender and the liquid feels a little saucy. Season to taste with salt and pepper. While the stew is simmering, prepare the biscuits.
- Pre-heat the oven to 400F.
- Transfer the beef and vegetable stew to an 8×11 or 9×13 baking dish. I prefer an 8×11 baking dish because it’s smaller and allows the stew to be deeper in the pan, which makes for fantastic cobbler. Top the beef and vegetable stew with the biscuits and brush each biscuit with butter.
- Place the baking dish in the oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes or until the biscuits are nicely browned on top. You want a rich color on the biscuits to be sure they are done. Take the cobbler out of the oven and let it stand for about 5-10 minutes before serving.
For the Biscuits
- Add the flour and diced butter to a large bowl and work in the butter using a pastry cutter or your hands. You should see pea sized crumbs. Then mix in the sour cream and chives until the dough forms a ball and pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
- Pour the dough onto a well floured surface and roll out to your desired thickness. Cut into biscuits with a 2″ biscuit cutter, dipping in flour in between cutting biscuits. Place the biscuits on the beef and vegetable stew and brush each biscuit with melted butter. Continue with recipe above.
- If you’d like to make these biscuits without the stew, place the biscuits on a lined baking sheet, brush with butter and bake for about 15-20 minutes or until the biscuits are a deep golden brown. Bring them out of the oven and serve warm
What a beautiful family meal! Completely gorgeous, Karista.
Thank you Ksenia! Perfect for all the rainy winter weather we’re having here.
Lovely casserole.
Thank you Rosemary!
Holy Smokes, If I was in the electric chair and had to pick a last meal….this might be it. You go girl!
Hahahaha! Well thank you so much! It is pretty darn tasty if I do say so myself.
So……..I made this for Valentine’s Day. My picky Italian Husband is still talking about it. It was sooooooooo good. Made as you instructed except forgot to get chives so substiuted with thyme. Also, had to double the flour to get it to set up….not sure why. Never would have figured the flank steak and now it will be a staple for a good, rich stew. WOW.
Susann so happy your husband loved the cobbler! Thyme substitute is perfect as it goes well with the stew and once I started using flank steak for stews I never went back. 🙂 Sorry about the biscuit recipe not setting up properly. I’ll re-visit that recipe to be sure I wrote it correctly. Thanks for letting me know! Delicious Wishes! Karista
An absolute classic – beautifully made, Karista.
Thanks Nick! It is a classic, although we see this dish here in the U.S. most often with chicken instead of beef. I like beef much more than chicken. 🙂
Karista,
Another winner. I am new to your site and I’m enjoying your recipes. After the pork sliders, I had to try this one as soon as I got it. We had this one for dinner tonight. The flavor was fine and the cooking times were good. The veggies weren’t mush. I don’t bake so I am somewhat biscuitly challenged but they tasted fine. I went to the broiler for a couple of minutes to brown them up. The recipe calls for flank steak, which I think they call London Broil around here. I used chuck steak, which seems to be the beef of choice for stew and it was fine. Thanks again for another great recipe. Your two for two in my book. I’m looking forward to the next recipe.
Thank you so much Jim for the comment! I’m so happy you liked the Beef Cobbler. Although you said you don’t have a lot of practice with biscuits it sounds like they were a success. I love that you adapted the recipe to suit your tastes and ingredients on hand. If you like beef recipes, I have one on the website that has been hugely popular. Here is the link: http://karistabennett.com/2013/04/05/beef-stracotto-with-creamy-parmesan-polenta/ It’s an older recipe from years ago but I still make it for my family every month or so. Enjoy!
Karista,
That recipe looks both delicious and doable but it might not be a good thing for my wife. We are both in our mid 60s and she has some gall bladder issues that we have been controlling with diet. The beef last night was a treat for her. Usually, the only stew that she gets is a chicken stew that I make for her with raw barley in it. Good tasting and good for you. I try to keep her meals to low fat and low cholesterol, so I cook with a lot of chicken and a lot of pork tenderloin. Both very versatile meats. Thanks again for the recipes and for your generous comments.
Jim, I completely understand the gallbladder issue! I had mine removed years ago and as a result I have to watch fat content. I used to work in nutritional therapy so I understand eating for health and wellness. I have a lovely winter salad posting soon and several pork recipes on the website as I’m sure you’ve seen. I completely adore the website called Nourished Kitchen. The gal who writes the website is a Nutritionist and has some wonderful delicious and comforting meals that are healthy but feel so indulgent. http://www.nourishedkitchen.com This might also be an excellent resource for you. In the meantime… if you are looking for something specific to prepare for dinner and don’t know where to find it just email me at karistaskitchen.com and I’m happy to send you some links. Have a lovely Sunday! Karista
Ksrista, this dish looks so warm and cozy. A perfect dinner for the weekend. I hope you are having a super W/E. Take care, Bobbi
Thanks Bobbi! I should really start using your name instead of BAM. Lol! Actually, we’re all a little under the weather but hanging in there. Just a slow, cozy weekend indoors. It’s frightful weather here too. Have a lovely weekend too!
I’d love to pull up a chair to this table and dig in. We are in NY at the moment with low temps and though the food has been great I’m ready for something, warm and homey!
Thank you Wendy! I wondered where you were from the pics on facebook. At first I thought it was Seattle. The food in NYC is incredible I agree. I’m the same, love to travel but sometimes we just need a homey meal. It’s wild wet weather here. You’re not missing much. Lol! Have a fun trip!
I was on the Facebook conversation this morning on Melanie’s page and enjoyed your comments there. I had to checkout your blog and am glad I did, this looks amazing! Can’t wait to try it and others.
Thanks Chris! 🙂 It was a great conversation, one that Melanie and I have had often.
Now I’m nervous! Lol! Hope the recipe works for you. I’ve had excellent feedback. The lovely thing about my readers is that they are terribly honest but kind. If I accidentally leave something out or instructions aren’t clear they tell me right away. I love that. Sometimes it’s hard to catch everything and editing is not my forte. Enjoy the recipe and I’ll swing by and check out your website!
Oh no! Now the pressure is on my blog 😉
Lol! Loving that Broccoli Quinoa dish! I am a HUGE Broccoli fan so I think I’ll put that on the menu rotation next week.
Hi Karista,
unfortunately I not can see the recipe in your website. Could you send me the link for to make that?
Kind regards
Barbara
Apologies Barbara! My recipe plugin updated and screwed up a few recipes. I’ll be happy to email you the recipe. Thank you! Karista