Stewing for the First Time!

It's the middle of summer and we're craving stew. Why? cuz it's 50 degrees in foggy San Francisco. No, I'm not jealous of all the triple digit temperatures the rest of the world is getting, but can we at LEAST get past 70? I know all we need to do is drive 20 minutes away from the city to enjoy some warm sunshine but on a lazy Sunday, that's just not happening. SO...we pretend it's winter and we make stew. I've actually never made stew before so it was pretty exciting (or as exciting as stew can be). You basically take a cheap cut of meat, chop it up and simmer it in a pot with whatever veggies you like, in my case potatoes and carrots. You can cook it all day or as little as an hour as long as your meat and veggies get tender. It was definitely comfort food to the max and perfect on a winter, I mean summer, night!

Ingredients:


1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 c chopped onion
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 lb beef, cut into bite-sized pieces
1/4 c dry red wine
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1 cup beef broth
1 bay leaf
6 baby potatoes, cut into quarters
2 carrots, cut into 1/2-inch circles
Rice, for serving


Prep:


1. Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Place flour in a pie plate and dredge beef in the flour, shaking off excess. Add the beef to the pan and brown 5 minutes on each side. Remove and set aside.


2. Add the onion and carrots and sauté 5 minutes or until tender and golden brown. Add the garlic and sauté 1 minute.


3. Add the wine and deglaze. Add the thyme, broth and bay leaf and bring to a boil. Add the beef back, cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 1 hour, until meat and vegetables are tender.