Bistro Style Beef Stew

I got a great recipe from a web site, http://www.911cheferic.com/ It is a great recipe. Probably the best Beef stew I have ever had. His description is that of a stew that you would find in the small bistros of France. Wasnt that difficult to make, just pay attention to your steps and watch while sauteing the aromatics and not let them burn. I made a few slight changes from his recipe due to not having certain items. Here is my version.

2 lbs stew beef, I used approx. 2 lbs sirloin steak I found on sale.

1/4 c all purpose flour

1/2 tsp pepper

1/4 c olive oil

1 med. onion chopped, I had a red onion so that is what I used.

3 Carrots peeled and chopped, I had a pkg of sliced carrots that was a little more than 3 carrots.

1 head of garlic peeled

1c dry red wine

6c Beef stock. Orig. recipe called for 4 cups I wanted a little more liquid.

2 Bay leaves

1Tbsp dried Thyme

1 Tbsp dried Coriander, Orig. recipe called for Marjoram but I didnt have this

1 Tbsp dried Celery seeds, Thought it would be good in it so I added it, not in Orig recipe.

1lb mushrooms

Orig. Recipe called for 8 oz. sugar snap peas but I didnt have these either. I bet they would be good in it though.

Cut meat into approx. 1 in pcs. Toss in the flour to coat. Heat oil in bottom of 6.5 qt. dutch oven. Brown meat in 2 batches and remove from pan. Put Onions and garlic cloves in oil and saute until translucent (not browned) Add wine and deglaze bottom of pot getting all the little browned bits to turn loose. Add the beef stock, return the beef to pot, add mushrooms, the dried herbs and the carrots. Bring to a boil and turn down to a simmer. Let it cook for about 1 1/2 hrs, stirring occasionally. If you want a little bite to your carrots add them after cooking for about an hour instead of at the beggining. I like my carrots soft so I added them early on.

I served this over a bed of Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes. These were easy to make and were a great addition to the stew. I took a head of garlic and coated it in olive oil then wrapped it in alum. foil. Placed it in a 300 degree oven for about 3 min. until soft to touch. removed and let cool. After cool cut the end off and squeeze out the soft flesh. Its amazing how sweet the roasted garlic gets. Peel 6-8 potatoes and cube. Put them into a pot of boiling water until soft, about 20 min. Drain and put them back into the empty pot you cooked them in. The residual heat in the pot will disipate any water left on them. Add 2-3 Tbsp butter and a splash of milk. Mash with a potato masher or you could use a mixer. If the mashed potatoes are to dry add a little more milk and mix in well. Add the garlic a little at a time and taste to get the amount you like. I used about 1/2 the garlic I had roasted. I mixed the remainder in a part of a small bottle of olive oil for later use as garlic infused olive oil.

If you like beef stew give this one a try. It is absolutely wonderful.