to stew...to stew

So beef stew it is....
or you can be fancy and call it Boeuf Bourguignonne..
but either way.....you start with MEAT!

I used a bottom round roast and cut it up myself.  (Mostly because it was a little bit cheaper and i have good sharp knives.  My neice Courtney has a pink knife...That is just ridiculous right? OK that will be another entry)  You could use the stew meat that is pre-cut at the grocery, but i'd make the peices smaller.  You don't want a ginormous piece of meat on your spoon, really, you don't.

The first thing you do is get your big Le Creuset French Oven or whatever deep pan you've got.  (it should be a pan that can go from stovetop to oven)  See how I'm boasting about my pan...you can see it here.  

it is orange.  it is heavy.  it is fabulous.

So the next step is to brown a few slices of bacon in your pan.  I also threw in some of the fat which i cut off my roast.  You can pretend that you are making BLTs.  go kinda slow, you don't want to burn the bacon.

Preheat oven to 450 at this point.  Next, remove the bacon from the pan and brown your meat in two or three batches. 

NOTE!  YOU MUST DRY THE MEAT WITH PAPER TOWELS OR A HAND TOWEL OTHERWISE IT WILL NOT BROWN!   When each batch is brown move it to the paper towels where you've put the bacon (did i mention that earlier?)  Oh well.  Ok now add 2 sliced carrots and 2 sliced onions....real roughly chopped.  Stir them with your wooden spoon in the saute fat until brown.

Now return everything (not the bacon) to the pan and stir.  Then sprinkle a couple of TBL of flour over all of it and a good shake of salt and pepper..  See picture below...and put the pan in the hot oven for five minutes. After five remove the pan, stir and put back in for 5 more minutes.

The rest is all smoke and mirrors.  (that means, easy)

After the second 5 minute stint in the oven pull the pan out, and turn the oven down to 325.  Just leave the door ajar while you do the following.  Add one bottle of a full bodied red wine,  i use a cab...you don't need to use your best stuff.  But it should be something you wouldn't mind drinking.

Then add enough beef broth to just cover the meat.
1 TB tomato paste (i use Hunts in the tiny steel can)
2 mashed cloves of garlic

1/2 t. thyme

1 bay leaf

Cover and put back in the oven (its now 325) for 2 to 3 hours.

During the last half hour of cooking i add
1/2 a  bag of those small frozen onions,
a big handful of button mushrooms,
and several handfuls of fresh green beans.

I always serve my BEEF STEW over mashed potatoes.
See below.