4 Hour Beef Stew

"This is definitely one of your best ever."

Don't you just love hearing those words? Whether it's from your husband, kids or guests, when you get complimented on the meal you just spent time planning and preparing it just makes your heart soar a little bit.

I had one of those heart soaring moments the other night when I placed a bowl-full of this heavenly stew in front of my hubby and he didn't speak again until his bowl was licked clean. My 14 month old also had little to say since he was stuffing his face as well. This is a recipe that will go in my rotation for a while, especially now that the weather is cooling down (most of you wouldn't call 75 degrees cool but to us Floridians it is scarf weather!)

Enough gabbing. Here's the recipe. Make it. Tonight. Just do it. That's all.

4 Hour Beef Stew (adapted from The Pioneer Woman)


What you need ( I didn't take a picture of everything. Sorry!)

- 1 lb beef, cut into chunks. I got mine in the store already cut and just trimmed some of the excess fat and cut the larger chunks a little smaller.
- 2 T olive oil
- 1 small onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 T tomato paste
- 4 C beef broth
- Couple dashes of Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 dry bay leaf
- 2-3 large carrots, sliced
- 1/2 lb waxy potatoes (I used little white and purple fingerling potatoes because they cook up fast!)
- Salt and Pepper


Directions:
- Heat your olive oil in a large soup pot or dutch oven over medium high heat.

- Rinse and pat dry your beef. Then season liberally with salt and pepper

- Add 1/2 your beef into the pot in a single layer. Don't stir! You want it to get a nice sear on it because that will result in major flavor

 - Allow the meat to cook 1-2 minutes, then flip it to the other side.

- Remove to a plate and repeat with the rest of the beef.

- There's the color you want!

- Once all the beef is seared and removed from the pot, lower the heat a bit and add your onion. Cook 1-2 minutes

Note: I got a massive onion in our produce delivery last week so I used what I needed and then froze the rest in either dices or slices. Great to have it on hand and already prepped for this recipe!

- When the onions are starting to sweat, add your garlic and tomato paste. Give it a good stir to combine really well

- After 2 minutes, add your broth, making sure to use your spoon to scrape up all the browned stuff on the bottom of your pot!

- Add back in all your beef and make sure you get all the juice from the plate as well!

- Add just a dash of salt and pepper. You can season it more later if needed.

This is my little pepper shaker. Isn't he cute?

- Now add a couple dashes of Worcestershire Sauce

- Add in your bay leaf and bring it up to a boil, just for a minute or so.

- Reduce heat to low, cover, and let it simmer for the next 3 hours (the longer the better!)

Another note: If you can, definitely make a dutch oven part of your kitchen ASAP. There are a lot of good brands out there in a variety of price ranges. My husband spoiled me with the Le Creuset (which is the best of the best) and I can't imagine not having it now. I use it more than any other kitchen item.

- When you're getting close to the home stretch of the simmering time, go ahead and slice up your potatoes. The original recipe called for turnips but I didn't have any, nor did that sound appetizing so I went with these cuties. Feel free to add whatever floats your boat.

 - Once they're sliced, add 'em right in to the soup. You'll notice how much my broth mixture has reduced by now and the smell...oh the smell is heavenly. I had to keep "shooing" my hubby away from the stove telling him it wasn't ready yet!

- Also slice up a couple - o - carrots and toss them in too. I kept mine kinda large and "rustic" but you could slice them smaller if you want.

- Stir everything together, cover and simmer another 30 minutes - 1 hr depending on the size and amount of your potatoes. You may also need to add a bit more broth or water to get enough liquid for your potatoes to cook in.

- Before serving, remove the bay leaf and taste to check your seasonings.

- Serve it up to your hungry peeps!

 - Oh man this was so good! If you're feeling fancy you can add some fresh parsley on top. Clearly I was too hungry to be fancy this time. This stew was still pretty "brothy" which was fine with us. If you want it to be thicker, just take the lid off when you're simmering in the last 30 minutes and let some of the liquid cook out.

- This is 100% gluten-free deliciousness and it super easy if you plan ahead a bit! You could probably also make this in the crockpot but I liked just keeping everything in one big happy pot. My meat and potatoes man absolutely loved this and has already requested we have it again!