comfort food thursday.

i have been waiting for comfort food thursday since…well, since last friday when the leftovers from last week’s shepard’s pie suddenly disappeared from the fridge. the valentine’s day phantom, perhaps?

so this week, in honor of the snow storm that has buried much of the east coast , i am going to attempt to concoct the perfect beef stew. recipe thanks to my friends at healthy living (much more on them to come…)winter beef stew
what you need:

2 lbs beef chuck, cut into 1 ½ inch cubes
3 tbsp vegetable oil
2 small yellow onions, roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
2 tbsp flour
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 cup good red wine
2-3 cups chicken stock
1 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
1 bay leaf
4 medium red potatoes, diced in 1 inch cubes
4 carrots, peeled and sliced ¼ inch thick
¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped

what you do:
heat oven to 300. In a large, flat bottomed dutch oven, heat 1 tbsp oil over high heat. dry and season beef with salt & pepper. in 2 batches, brown the meat on all sides, placing browned meat aside in a bowl. add the remaining oil and reduce heat to medium. add onion and sauté, scraping bottom of pan with wooden spoon. add garlic and thyme and cook 1 minute more. add tomato paste and flour and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. add wine and bay leaf and stir, increase heat and simmer until wine is reduced by 1/2. add stock and meat (and any juice that has collected in the bowl with the meat), meat should be covered or just barely covered with liquid, if more is needed add more stock or water. bring to a boil, cover and place in oven for 1 hour. remove from oven and add carrots and potatoes. return to oven and cook until meat is tender, juicy and falling apart and vegetables are cooked. adjust seasoning and serve (great over pasta or rice)

now you have the perfect meal for a snowy winter night. all you have to do is close your eyes and pretend you are in nyc where the snow is still falling…and of course, keeping with tradition, you must open a bottle of bubbly to celebrate the fact that it's thursday (-: