Red Wine Beef Stew

While the calendar asserts that fall arrived last month, it typically takes a little longer for it to feel like fall in Arizona. Which is probably why this is my favorite time of year; I love watching the temperature begin to drop after a long, hot summer, and I enjoy cooking more when it's chilly out and the oven keeps the house nice and roasty-toasty. We haven't quite reached chilly yet in Arizona, but with last day of hundred degree heat behind us, I can't help but get excited about all of my fall favorites, especially beef stew.

I grew up eating this midwestern staple on cold winter nights, and honestly, it wasn't one of my favorites back then. My family's stew has all the classic ingredients: meat, potatoes, carrots, celery, onions... you get the idea. But I could never get excited about it. Like a lot of other folks, I got caught up in Julia Child mania and only recently discovered Bouef Bourguignon. Now, I don't want to prepare a dish that labor intensive most days, but Mrs. Child did inspire me to try a reworking of my family's beef stew that included red wine. Turns out, I love beef stew! I just needed a little wine (okay, a lot of wine) to transform this ho-hum classic into a meal I crave on chilly (or at least not so hot) evenings.

If you think I'm being a little over-the-top about stew, just ask my cousin Jason about this meal. I debuted this recipe on him, after he sat down at my kitchen table and announced, "I'm not really a stew kind of guy." Jason has since learned that the moment your hostess pulls a bubbly Dutch of deliciousness out of her oven is not the appropriate time to make such assertions. And we both learned that Jason is a stew kind of guy -- it just took the right stuff to turn him around.

Here's what you need to get started:

1 1/2 lbs beef roast, cut into 1 inch cubes

1/2 cup flour (in a large ziploc bag)

6 carrots, chopped into 1 inch chunks

4 stalks of celery, cut into 1 inch chunks

3 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks

2 onions, sliced into 1 inch pieces

5 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed

2 tbsps fresh thyme leaves, plus 6-8 whole springs

2 cups red wine (try a Cab -- that's my favorite for this dish)

1 cup beef broth

1 small can tomato paste

3 tbsps olive oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 300 degrees, and start chopping. I almost always cut up the beef first, but then get overly excited to get it cooking and toss it into the pot. Unfortunately, this means I end up speed chopping of everything else in a panic to have it all ready for the next step. Do yourself a favor, and just chop everything all at once before you even turn on the stovetop.

Once everything is sliced and diced, heat a large Dutch oven with 2 tbsps olive oil over medium heat. Place the chunks of beef and the flour into a ziploc bag, and shake to coat the meat. Add the meat to pot, and cook until brown on all sides. Remove the meat to a plate, then add the remaining tbsp of olive oil, as well as your veggies and thyme leaves to the Dutch oven. Cook about 10 minutes, or until they have softened up a bit. Return the beef to the pot, then add wine, broth, tomato paste, salt, and pepper. Don't go crazy with the salt, but be generous with the pepper. Top with fresh sprigs of thyme.

Put the lid on, and slide the whole thing into to oven. Cook for two hours, removing the lid for the last 20 minutes so it can thicken up a bit. Serve with some kind of crusty bread. This supper is most satisfying when there is a chill in the air, but it still tastes pretty darn good if you simply turn the AC down an extra couple degrees.