A Weekend Stew

Hi all,

This weekend I was feeling a little off and needed some TLC so i prepared a delicious beef stew for my love and I. He usually cooks us a lovely meal but I wanted to make something for us since he's been having long weeks at work. This stew is really easy to make and very healthy too. Best part is you will have plenty of left overs! Perfect meal to end a long week and to warm you up on cold winter days <3

Recipe courtesy of the book Homemade

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 onion thinly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
• 3lbs of stew meat (I buy a pre-packaged and pre-cut stew meat available at Trader Joe's or Whole Foods)
• 1 tablespoon of all purpose flour
• sea salt and freshly ground pepper
• 2 1/4 cups of button mushrooms, sliced
• 3/4 cups + 2 tbsp of red wine
• 1 28 oz can of chopped tomatoes
• 2 teaspoons of finely chopped rosemary

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Place a dutch oven (cast iron casserole such as Le Creuset. I have one from Sur La Table) over medium heat and add the olive oil, onion, garlic and red bell pepper. Cover and cook for 2-3 minutes or until tender.
3. Toss the chunks of beef in the flour, making sure they are thoroughly coated.
4. Remove the lid from the dutch oven, add the beef and season with salt and pepper. Cook until all sides of beef are brown.
5. Add the sliced mushrooms and let cook for an additional minute or 2.
6. Pour in the red wine and let simmer for 10 minutes. (I usually use a merlot)
7. Stir in the tomatoes and rosemary
8. Cook in the oven for 1 1/2 hours. (make sure you wear oven mittens when handling the casserole after it cooks in the oven, it will be very hot and you will burn yourself otherwise).

Serve and enjoy! I served the stew with some sliced Italian bread for dipping in the broth as well as a side arugula salad and some sparkling water. I feel like sparkling water makes the meals feel more like a date night =)