It is a snowy, blustery day.  I am in my cozy sweatpants and a cuddly sweater curled up in my office with Dexter and a mug of Constant Comment Tea.  Outside the snow is blowing sideways.  My boys are home and My Michael is in the other room working away.

I LOVE A SNOW DAY!

A day such as this is an invitation to pull out the dutch oven and stir up something hearty and delicious:  Beef Stew.  I served it up with some warm popovers (Ina Garten’s recipe which I believe is the most amazing!- recipe to follow)

Come and get it.

Sparkle On. Friends!

Lovely Beef Stew

 

 

What You’ll Need:

3 lbs beef sirloin cubed
1/4 cup flour
2 tbsp bacon fat
1/4 cup chopped onion
One large shallot minced
Four cloves of garlic, minced
2 quarts of chicken broth
8 oz. can of whole tomatoes
1 cup of good red wine
Two bay leaves
Six peeled potatoes, cut into 1” pieces
Six peeled carrots, cut into 1” pieces
Three  onions, quartered
Two tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 cup cold water
1/4 cup cornstarch

 

 
What to do:
Coat beef cubes with flour.
In a Dutch oven, brown the meat in the bacon fat. Add more fat if needed. Remove and set aside.
Sauté the onions until almost translucent. Add the shallot and cook another 1-2 minutes. Add the garlic and cook another minute or so. (Be careful not to burn the garlic, or it will become bitter.)
Add the chicken broth, tomatoes, wine, potatoes, carrots, quartered onions, bay leaves, salt, and pepper.
Put the meat back into the Dutch oven, cover and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer 2 hours or until the beef is tender.

Whisk the cold water and cornstarch and stir into the stew. Cook and stir until mixture thickens about 5 minutes. Remove bay leaves.

Makes 8-10 servings

Popovers
Ina Garten

Ingredients
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus softened butter for greasing pans
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups milk, at room temperature

Directions
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Generously grease aluminum popover pans or Pyrex custard cups with softened butter. You’ll need enough pans to make 12 popovers. Place the pans in the oven for exactly 2 minutes to preheat. Meanwhile, whisk together the flour, salt, eggs, milk, and melted butter until smooth. The batter will be thin. Fill the popover pans less than half full and bake for exactly 30 minutes. Do not peek.