Beef Stew!!!

Alright, now that the fall seems to be upon us I thought I would share with you my ultimate favorite comfort stew recipe. This recipe calls for beer but you don't need to use it. You can double up on the beef stock and the add a little more vinegar. Yum!!! Serve it with crusty rolls, fresh bread or biscuits as well as a couple drips of Tabasco.

Oil
1 pack stewing beef, cut into small cubes
Salt and pepper
2-3 sweet onions cut up, not sliced
1 head of garlic, each clove smashed and pealed
brown sugar, about a table spoon
1-2 TBS flour
bay leaf
thyme
1 biggish bottle of beer, something like a honey brown or maple something is nice. Nothing bitter or too crappy
1 carton of beef stock
1 splash malt or cider vinegar
3 boiling potatoes, cubed
1 big carrot, pealed and cubed
6 white or brown mushrooms, quartered
4 ribs celery


Ok, so first season the meat. Get it all tossed in with the salt and pepper. I like to use a little steak spice too, but i love steak spice so maybe that's just me. Now heat the oil in a big ass pot and brown the meat. the trick here is to do it in small batches and actually let the meat brown. Don't get impatient and take it out when it's kinda brown/gray. You want that browned flavour, so wait it out. When all the meat has been browned, put it in a bowl and leave it somewhere in the kitchen. Now toss the onions in the pot, put on the lid, put the heat to med.low and let them wilt a little. When I say cut up onion I don't mean chopped. i mean cubed it that were possible with an onion. You want the to have some size since they are gonna get melty and delicious. Yummm! Stir the onions every few minutes or so until they start to brown. Now throw in the whole smashed garlic gloves. Like the onions, the garlic will get all melty too, so don't chop them up. Stew is all about big yummy chunks of stuff in an amazing broth. let the ingredients be big enough to stand up for themselves!
Ok after a few more minutes of this, you can take the lid off and check it out. Smell good? Yes, yess it does. So now, add the sugar and give it a stir. this will help brown and caramelize the onions after a minute of stirring this, add the flour. How much? I don't know, go with your gut on this one.stir it in and let it cook for a few minutes. you want some of the flouryness to cook out of it, so don't skip this part. When the flour start to cook, add the beer. Oh man, that first sizzle when the beer hit the pot is magic! Stir it as you poor making sure to scrape all the yummy parts off the bottom. Now put the meat back in. Add the vinegar and about half the carton of stock. Now toss is the thyme and bay leaf and step away from the pot. for the next hour and a half to two hours you should only go near the pot for stirring. Nothing else.Yes this takes awhile. go watch a movie or something. ok, 2 hours are up. How is the liquid holding out? not enough? Add some more stock. Now is the time for the other veggies. Toss in the potatoes, carrots and mushrooms. Hold of about 15 minutes on the celery because nothing is grosser than soggy celery!.
ok, cook another 30 minutes or so, let sit for ten off the heat and eat it!!!
Yes, you can use turnips and parsnips and any other crazy veg you want. I've made a really good veggie stew using veg broth and tons of odd ones and barley. the main thing is the herds, onions and a fair amount of time.
Now, go eat stew!!