When snow came down on a perfectly fine spring day in North Carolina's Piedmont we decided to test out an all American old-fashioned beef stew.
We gave the whole affair 2 1/2 hours with plenty of time to skip out. First we dusted 1 1/2 lb. of chopped up stew meat in a quarter cup of flour and a good bit of pepper.
Then we browned it with olive oil in our casserole pot in 2 batches.
We took out the meat and added about 1 cup of red wine and roughly 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar. Over medium heat we loosened all the crunchy beef bits and then added 2 bay leaves, 1 quart of beef broth, and the meat, brought the whole shebang to a boil and let it simmer, covered, for 1 1/2 hours.
Then we pealed and chopped 1 medium onion, 5 carrots, and 3 potatoes. They were added to the stew for another 30 minutes. At the end we measured the consistency of the broth and took off the lid for a while. We also nibbled on the potatoes to call for dinner when they were just right.
A little salt and pepper - Voila! Mama and Papa got a finish off the left over wine as we dug in. It was just right. Warming our bones and leaving us without a care in the world. Of course the snow was all melted and gone by the time we were done.
