Why not try making a little beef stew this weekend? I saw the Pioneer Women serve beef stew over cheese grits and I was in love. Sorry my picture isn't very yummy looking but beef stew isn't a pretty dish. Making a stew is also a great way to get rid of any root veggies that are close to the end of their life.
Stew meat
Flour
carrots, Chopped**
onion, Chopped**
garlic cloves
celery, chopped**
potato, chopped**
Beef Stock
Red Wine (optional)
Bay leaf
Salt and Pepper
Oil
(You could also add parsnip, turnip, any root veggies you like)
Preheat oven to 325
Grab a heavy dutch oven and heat over medium/medium high heat. Season your stew meat and them dump into flour and dust off excess. Add meat to the pot when the oil is hot. DO NOT over crowed the pot. Do the meat in batches so it browns properly. Brown on all sides and remove to a plate. Continue until all meat is browned and resting on a platter. Add your onion, carrots, and garlic cloves to pot. Season with salt and pepper and let the veg cook a bit. Add a bit of red wine, beef stock or water to pot to deglaze. Scrap up all the yummy brown bits off the bottom of the pot. Now add meat, bay leaf, potatoes to pot. Cover with beef stock (everything in the pot should be covered by the liquid). Cover and put in oven. Cook for about 3 hrs. I checked mine after 2 hrs to make sure the pot wasn't dry. Cooking time will very depending on how big your meat chunks are but they should fall apart easily. When the stew is done you can make your grits.
**All the veg should be the same size. Cut into large chunks so they don't turn to mush during cooking.
