These instructions are for 2 pounds of beef. To cook 4 pounds, double everything. To cook 3 pounds, multiply by 1.5x. And so on.

You need an Instant Pot for this recipe.

Phases

1. Chopping and Combining
2. Searing of Flesh [optional]
3. Filling of Pot with Flesh, Pressing Buttons, and Waiting
4. Removing Stuff
5. Transubstantiation: Broth into Gravy [optional]

1. Chopping and Combining

The Seasoning Potion

Mix 1 teaspoon of chicken Better Than Bouillon with 6 oz of water in a large cup until it’s dissolved. Then add the following to the cup.

• 3 tablespoons of butter
• 2 teaspoons of a non-white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire
• 2 oz of red cooking wine

Vegetables

Chop the root vegetables to about 1-inch chunks like so. (Don’t put them in the pot yet.)

Chop a whole onion into thick disks. Peel five garlic cloves. Halve the especially plump cloves.

Beef

Slice the beef into 4 evenly sized chunks.

2. Searing of Flesh

BUT WHY?

The point of this phase is to create some brown bits at the bottom of the pot. They make the stew much beefier, supposedly.

How to Do It

Press the Sauté button.

Set the timer to above 15 minutes and the heat to High.

Start the sauté.

Add two tablespoons of high-heat oil: avocado oil, grape seed oil, ghee (not regular butter), whichever you have.

Wait for the pot to get hot enough to sizzle the beef, which is about 3 minutes.

Place chunks of beef in the pot until the bottom of the pot is covered by beef. It’s ok to leave some of the beef unseared if you have extra.

Let the beef sit there for about two minutes. Then flip it to sear the other sides.

Take out the seared beef and set it aside.

3. Filling of Pot with Flesh, Pressing Buttons, and Waiting

Put the root vegetables at the bottom of the pot. Then the onions and garlic. Then the beef. Then the seasoning potion.

Put the lid on and set the vent to sealed.

Set the pot to Pressure Cook, Custom. Set the temperature to High and the time to 60 minutes. Enable the Keep Warm option. Start it.

4. Removing Stuff

Take out the chunks of meat. Shred them with forks. They should come apart easily. Place the veggies on top of the shredded meat so they leak any extra juices back into the meat.

5. Transubstantiation: Broth into Gravy

Set the pot to Sauté on High like you did before. Mix 3 ounces of cold water with 1 teaspoon of corn starch until homogenous in a little cup. This is called corn starch slurry. Add the corn starch slurry and an additional tablespoon of butter. Stir it up until it thickens (about 3-8 minutes). In the final minute, add 2 ounces of red cooking wine. Take it out and serve it.