This article is from Lucky Peach – David Chang’s new magazine but was reprinted by Gizmodo.

blogTO listed their favorite steakhouses today. I’m glad a few of my favorites made it to their list, including Carmen’s and Hy’s. I’ve been meaning to check out Jacob’s. Full list is on their website including reviews for each place.

• Barberian’s
• Harbour Sixty
• Jacobs & Co.
• Hy’s
• The Fifth Grill
• The Tulip
• House Of Chan
• The Octagon
• Tom Jones
• Carman’s
• Senior’s
• Bardi’s

Udon noodles come in these great little packages at T&T. I bought them and have been getting them regularly every trip. They store forever and keep better than the frozen kind which get freezerburned too often.

• Beef ribeye sliced thinly
• Udon noodles packaged
• Beef broth
• King oyster mushrooms
• Bok choy (or spinach or other nice green veg)
• Green onion/Scallion

1. Cut beef into very thin strips and cook on medium low heat in a fry pan. When finished, set aside.
2. Boil enough water to cover the udon noodles for only 2-3 minutes, then drain and set aside.
3. Bring beef broth (or chicken broth) to a boil, quickly add bok choy and king oyster mushrooms. Add noodles just a minute later, then finally the beef. Turn off the heat and let stew for a minute.
4. Plate and serve, garnish with green onion.

My version of beef stew is an variation of Alton Brown’s recipe from Good Eats. It involves seperately roasting the stew meat low-and-slow in the oven before adding it to the stew. This accomplishes a few things – makes the stew meat extremely tender and keeps the vegetables in the stew from being all mushy.

• tomato paste
• canadian rye
• Worcestershire sauce
• paprika
• dried herbs, any combination of thyme, oregano and rosemary
• stewing beef, bought from the grocery store
• kosher salt
• large yellow onion, thinly sliced
• carrots chopped
• celery chopped
• red potatoes, unpeeled and diced small
• Freshly ground black pepper
• chopped fresh parsley leaves

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the tomato paste, rye, Worcestershire sauce, paprika and dried herbs. Set aside.Season the stewing beef with kosher salt. Place a large grill pan over medium-high heat and sear the meat until browned on all sides. Once browned, remove the meat to the bowl with the paste and toss to coat. Transfer to a large piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil and seal tightly. Place the package into a metal pan and put into a cold oven on the middle rack. Set the oven to 350 degrees F and cook for 2 hours.

In a large saucier heat some butter on medium heat. Add the onion with salt and stir to separate the onions into rings. Allow to cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the potatoes along with a pinch of black pepper and stir to combine. Next, add the liquid from the meat and stir. Cover tightly and decrease the heat to low so that no heat is escaping the lid. Cook for 30 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender.

Once the potatoes are tender, uncover and set the meat atop the vegetables. Add carrots and celery and continue to cook for 10 minutes. Serve sprinkled with the parsley.