Beef Stew -or- Things to Feed a Cranky Girl

Do you ever have those days where you just know that the next day is going to be a little rough? You feel a cold coming on, you know you have to do something you've been dreading, the anniversary of something is coming up, etc. I had one of those days, and I decided that the best way to combat it was with comfort food, namely: a thick beef stew.

Truth be told, I've never made a proper beef stew before. Weird, right? I tend to make soups and the like with ground turkey, but that just cannot match the richness of quality stew meat. I say "quality" because you really don't want the stringy, tough, fat-covered "stew meat" at the store, it's worth it to upgrade to a slightly better cut. To aid me in this journey, I turned to Pioneer Woman, not only does she know her kitchen, she also makes generally awesome points. She has a really basic beef stew that looked like an excellent place to start. I happened to have some shredded carrot and a few other things lying around the house, and instead of noodles I was in the mood for rice cooked in, jambalaya style, so I had to thin the base out a little. It was delicious and, yes, it did make my less-than-ideal day slightly brighter.

In other news: It is impossible to take a pretty picture of a hearty stew. Impossible! I swear that the many many things that I will post over the next couple of months that happen to be stew-like are so much tastier than they look. Sigh.

Anyway.


Cranky Day Beef Stew

1 1/2lb cubed sirloin
2 tbsp flour
3-4 tbsp butter (yes, you heard me, and you like it)
1 large yellow onion, diced
1 large carrot, chopped
8oz button mushrooms
2-3 garlic cloves, diced
2/3 cup red wine (I happened to have malbec on hand, but darker would probably be better)
3-4 cups beef broth
3/4 cup rice (uncooked)
1ish tbsp thyme (I was not shy, I just kept shaking until I decided it was enough)
generous squeeze of lemon juice
salt/pepper to taste

1) Toss beef in flour. Melt butter in heavy bottomed pot, sear the meat (in batches if necessary, you only one one layer in the pot at a time), remove to plate and set aside.

2) In the same pot, add onions, carrots and garlic - saute for 2-3 min. Add mushrooms and cook another 2 min. Add wine and 2 cups beef broth, add meat back to the pot and toss in thyme. Reduce heat to simmer and let sit, adding broth as necessary to retain liquidity, for 30 min.

3) Add rice to pot, stir, add more broth if necessary (if you don't now, you probably will soon), and let simmer on low heat for another 20 minutes or until rice is done.

Notice how I didn't mention the salt/pepper and lemon? You should really taste this one as you're cooking it, if you think it needs something, add salt and lemon juice - I was adding them in small doses for most of the simmer time. It really kicks up the flavor and keeps it from becoming a wee bit bland, as stews sometimes are.