Beef Stew on Playoffs Sunday

I'm almost embarrassed to tell you about an old cookbook I have called, Sunset Cook Book of Favorite Recipes, Copyright 1969. The cover price is $1.95--Ci Credi!? It was not an innovative or even very creative publication, but rather followed a conventional Betty Crocker school of cooking. I think the cookbook came along with us on a move (my husband and me), unobserved, inside an old glass-fronted upright oak secretary he picked up for 60 bucks at a second-hand furniture store in the 60's (yes, I mean 1960!).

You've probably seen a lot of them if you've frequented antiques shops in the past 40 years or so. The secretary is now an antique and although I didn't like it at first--I had seen too many of them and the wood looked tired to me--I can't imagine my kitchen without it now. I use it for so many things--sorting mail, tracking bills, storing recipes, correspondence (remember owning stationery?). Anyway, I've used the Sunset Cookbook for one and only one recipe (the cover of the book boasts "800 Recipes!"), and that is for beef stew which the cookbook calls "Favorite Brown Stew," which sounds gross. But I've come to rely on this recipe as a basic formula for beef stew no matter how you choose to flavor it.



Beef Stew
adapted from Sunset Cookbook
for 6 servings

About 2 lbs. stew beef, cut into 1-2 inch pieces
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons combo butter and evoo, or other fat of your choice
1 med. onion sliced
1 clove garlic, smashed
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
4 cups combo red wine (full-bodied, dry) and chicken/beef broth (either)
5-6 carrots sliced
6-8 whole boiling onions
4-5 stalks celery sliced
4 medium potatoes cut into quarters
Few twigs of fresh thyme (or a different herb of your liking)

This recipe is made entirely on the stove top, in one pot. Use a dutch oven or heavy bottomed pot.
Place all the meat in a bag with the flour and shake it around until the pieces of meat are all coated with flour.
Melt the fats in the pot and add the meat and brown it on all sides. This will take some time. Browning can't be rushed. Turn the pieces in the pot from time to time and don't crowd the pot with pieces; do it in 2 batches if you need to.
Add all the extra flour to the pot.
Add the onion, garlic, seasonings, and liquids.
Bring to boil.
Cover tightly, lower heat and simmer for 1-2 hours, or until the meat is very tender.
Add vegetables and continue slow cooking until veggies are tender. As is often the case, stew will be better the next day.
Serve with crusty bread, an arugula salad and a Montepulciano d'Abruzzo.
Enjoy!