Beef Stew

Beef stew is total comfort food for me. When I was a kid, my mom would cook stew all day in the crock-pot and we would eat it with plain bread and butter. This is one of those recipes that I really love because it's very easy to make, it reminds me of my childhood and it makes the house smell so good. I love to cook the meat, onion, garlic, tomatoes and broth in the oven for about 4-5 hours then add the fresh vegetables and cook for another hour on the stove top. I serve with a tossed salad and fresh bread with butter. This is my daughters very favorite dinner and is a huge hit in our house - especially on cold and rainy days.

• 1 lb stew meat (I use lean round cut into small chunks)
• 1 sweet yellow onion chopped into large pieces
• 6 cloves of garlic chopped
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1-2 tsp dried thyme
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 bay leaves
• 6 cups of beef stock
• 1 cup diced carrots
• 1 cup diced celery
• 2 cups diced baby red potatoes (skin on)

Preheat oven to 250 degrees (you can also use stove top or crock-pot). Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add stew meat and onion then cook for about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds before adding tomatoes, seasonings and stock. Cover and cook in the oven for at least 4 hours. Remove pot from oven place on stove top over medium low heat.

Add vegetables to the stew and add more beef broth if low. Taste and re-season if needed. Cover and cook for 1 - 1 1/ 2 hours. If you want the stew to be thick, add a slurry of cornstarch and cold beef broth (mixing thoroughly) then pour into stew while it's boiling, stir then reduce heat to low. Serve and enjoy!

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