Old-Fashioned Beef Stew

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3 1/2 pounds London Broil

1 cup flour

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 1/2 cups onions, diced

3 to 4 ribs celery, diced

3 cups cleaned, sliced, petite button mushrooms

4 tablespoons olive oil, divided

4 tablespoons butter, divided

1/2 to 3/4 cup wine

6 to 8 cups beef broth

1 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes

3 fresh bay leaves

6 potatoes, peeled and quartered

6 carrots peeled and cut in large chunks

 bag of frozen baby peas

Cut the London Broil into about 1 inch pieces. Put about 1 cup flour in a resealable plastic bag and season it with a generous amount of salt and pepper. Coat the beef pieces evenly with the flour (you may want to do this with half the beef at a time). After coating the beef  put it in a sieve to shake off any excess flour. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil and 2 tablespoons butter in a large Dutch oven. When it is hot, but not yet smoking, brown the beef cubes in batches, taking care not to crowd the pan, and removing beef after it is browned.

After all the beef has been browned, pour about 1/2 to 3/4 cups wine into the pan to deglaze it (I used Pinot Noir). Pour the glaze over the reserved beef & clean out the pan. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil and 2 tablespoons butter in the Dutch oven, when hot add the diced onions and celery, cook until soft. Add the mushrooms and cook for an additional 3 to 4 minutes, do not brown. Add the meat to the veggies in the pot. Pour in about 5 cups beef broth, the crushed tomatoes and bay leaves. Stir everything together to combine.

 

Put the lid on the Dutch oven and pop it into a preheated 225* oven.  Bake for about 3 or 4 hours. Remove from the oven and add peeled and quartered potatoes and big chunks of peeled carrots, (at this point I added some more beef broth). Bring to a gentle boil on top of the stove and cook, covered until potatoes are tender. Depending on what size you cut the potatoes, it should take anywhere from 1 1/2 to 2 hours cooking on low so that the bottom of the pot does not scorch. About 10 minutes before it is done, add a bag of frozen baby peas.

If the stew gets too thick, add some more beef broth.

 

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enjoy!