Beef Stew and a Day Off

I decided that in this shitty weather, I needed a nice, hearty dish that wasn't going to give me a sneak peek of my insides out like Chris' chili did last weekend. I tell you, he's not allowed near a stove anymore. Anyway, today I made Beef Stew for the first time. It's weird that I'd never made it before since it's such a comfort food staple, but I decided to give it a try. I used a combination of different recipes that I found on various sites, and it turned out pretty decent!

Here's what I came up with:


Although in real life it looks a lot less like throw up than it does in this picture.













Beef Stew:

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch pieces (I found the cubed stew meat at the grocery store, but you can buy a big piece of chuck and trim it really well)
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper
4 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 cups beef broth/stock, at room temperature
1/2 cup red wine
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
2 bay leaves
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
1 pound small red potatoes, quartered
2 bell peppers, coarsley chopped
1 cup carrots, sliced about 1/2 inch thick
1 large very coarsly chopped onion
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley leaves

Heat a large dutch oven over medium high heat, and pour in olive oil. Season meat with salt and pepper and add to the pan in batches. I think that I only had 2 batches for this recipe. Brown on each side, about 2 minutes per side. Set meat aside.

Add onions, garlic and bell pepper to the oil and cook until browned and fragrant. Add the tomato paste and incorporate. Add the meat back into the pot, stir into the veggies and sprinkle with the flour. Stir for a few minutes to lightly brown the flour, you're almost making a roux but not quite. Add the stock/broth, wine and bring to a simmer. Add the herbs, allspice and bay leaves. Stir and simmer for about an hour or until the beef is sort of tender.

Add the potatoes and carrots, stir and simmer for an hour or hour and a half to make sure that the potatoes and carrots are soft and cooked through.

Serve with rice or mashed potatoes. I like to add a little Tabasco or Pickapeppa sauce, Chris likes to add a little bit of vinegar but it's totally up to you.