COUNTRY BEEF STEW

SERVE THIS STEW WITH POTATOES, GREEN VEGETABLES AND A MIXED SALAD. If you drink wine, a hearty Burgundy is the wine to serve. Also, serve with slabs of really good French or Italian bread.

COUNTRY BEEF STEW:

1 TABLESPOON COOKING OIL (Read, good olive oil)
4 ounce salt port cubed
3 pounds of top round of beef cut into 2 inch cubes
1 carrot scraped and sliced diagonally
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper

4 springs of parsley, 1 spray of thyme and 1 bay leaf tied together in a little cheesecloth bag. Just cut a square of cheesecloth and tie the four corners together to make a little bag. You are going to throw this away so you don't need to buy something fancy.

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
3 1/8 cups of red wine (Burgundy)
1 tablespoon tomato puree


ONIONS

2 OUNCE BUTTER
15 SMALL PICKLING PEARL ONIONS
1/2 TEASPOON SALT
1/2 TEASPOON BLACK PEPPER


MUSHROOMS

1/4 cup butter
1 pound button mushrooms, wiped clean and quartered
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg


In a large flameproof casserole, heat the oil over moderate heat. Flameproof means you can put it on top of the stove and then put it in the oven. Do not use cast iron unless it is protected by enamel. Tomatoes remove the seasoning from your cast iron. Paula Deen has some enamel covered cast iron that will work well.

Add the salt port cubes and fry, stirring, for 5 to 8 minutes or until they look like small croutons and have rendered their fat. With a slotted spoon, remove the salt port to a kitchen paper towel to drain.

NOW, THE MOST IMPORTANT TRICK TO MAKING THIS STEW OR ANY STEW, IS TO DRY EACH OF YOUR PIECES OF MEAT. Pat each piece of meat dry with a paper towel and then add five or six pieces to the hot oil. Cook each piece until they are lightly and evenly browned. Remove them with a slotted spoon and set aside. Dry five or six more pieces and keep repeating this process until all your dried cubes are browned. The reason you do this is twofold. You want your meat to caramelize. That's why you dry it before browning it. And, you add it slowly, five or six pieces, at a time so that your pan keeps it's heat up and you don't end up boiling your meat in it's own juices. This is time consuming and annoying. But, it will make a very significant difference in this stew and in any stew. Caramelize your meat. Don't boil it.

So now, all the meat is browned and sitting aside.

Add the carrot, onion and garlic to the casserole and fry, stirring for about 5 to 7 minutes or until the onion is soft, translucent, but not brown. Stir in the salt, pepper, little bag of herbs, thyme and parsley.

Return the beef and salt port to the casserole and pour over the wine. Stir in the tomato puree. Bring the liquid to the boil, reduce the heat to very low, cover the casserole tightly and simmer for 1 1/2 hours.

Shortly before the 1 1/2 hours is up, prepare the onions. In a medium sized frying pan, melt the butter over moderate heat. When the foam subsides, add the onions, salt and pepper. Stirring, fry for 8 to 10 minutes or until the onions are golden. With a slotted spoon, transfer the onions to the casserole.

Once the onions have been added, put the butter for the mushrooms in the frying pan and melt over moderate heat. When the foam subsides, add the mushrooms, and nutmeg. Fry for three minutes or until they are just tender. Stir the whole time. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the mushrooms to the casserole. Cover the casserole again. Simmer 15 minutes until the meat is very tender, but the onions are still firm.

Remove the casserole from the stovetop,remove the little cheesecloth bag of herbs, put the casserole on a trivet, and serve immediately with slabs of really good French or Italian bread. The "gravy" in this stew is not runny, but you need those slabs of bread to "sop" up the gravy. Remember, this is a country stew.