Beef Stew

My love for beef stew goes all the way back to my grandpa (Jerry Grove) He would always make a stew and bring it to us when we were driving cattle to Nevada. Freezing cold days up and over the mountain always ended with hot stew, either over a brush fire or at Home Camp on the cook stove. On really good days there would be a pan of my grandmas sour dough biscuits to dip in the hot stew. I can still taste it just talking about it! Good times, good people, good food!

Start with good beef. It really doesn’t matter what cut I use what I have round, sirloin, chuck, it really doesn’t matter. Just cut into bite size pieces, about three pounds. Brown in a med-large pot. I like cast iron. Season with salt, pepper, garlic salt, fresh rosemary and 3 tablespoons honey.

In a separate pan peal and cut up 3 carrots, an onion, two or three potatoes, a rutabaga, or really anything you want in it. Sometimes I put in zucchini squash. Cook in a little oil until carrots start to get tender.

Once the beef is nice and brown sprinkle with 3/4 cut flour. Stir flour in until all the meat is covered.

Deglaze the vegetable pan with a little wine to get all the tasty bits incorporated. Add veggies to meat. I add about two tablespoons of beef bullion, then slowly add water and stir four to five cups. Adding water slowly allows the juice to thicken. Add mushrooms if you like, and let simmer on low for two to three hours. Salt and pepper to taste.

I like to do this the day before if possible. I think any soup or stew taste even better after it sets overnight.