An Apology, An Explanation, and A Stew

Salutations to the handful of you who still hold out hope for me, and rest assured I am still alive and well. My deepest apologies for dropping you like a bad habit, but I'm baaaaaack!

I suppose that's where we'll start, you deserve an explanation for why you've been abandoned for so much of 2017 - and the explanation is that the universe has done the impossible and dropped a fella into my lap.

Internet, I know. Take a minute. 

It's far too soon to make introductions, but trust me, he exists and I'm as shocked as you are. But I'm also really disgusting happy. I've been doing a lot of the obligatory going-out-on-a-limb-and-out-of-my-comfort-zone to pick up a few hobbies he enjoys so we can do them together:

This is evidence of me giving skiing a shot for the first time. I screamed the entire time, as expected.

Lots of motorcycle rides in 2017 up to the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Also, for those inquiring, Olive is alive and well. Happy about the new fella in my life, not quite, but she's working on her people-skills. 

So here we are, you're all caught up and you're really here for stew, so on with the show.

It's been "snowing" this past week, so I dug out my Williams-Sonoma Comfort Food book and got flipping, because honestly, what is more comforting than flipping through a cookbook. At some point, food had to be made, and I settled on the Hearty Beef Stew recipe I've included below - my version, at least. 

I had most of the ingredients on hand because I'm a food hoarder and my freezer has just about any cut of meat you could find at a butcher, so conveniently had 3 pounds of beef chuck at the ready. If you aren't stocked to live as comfortably as I will during the Zombie Apocalypse, you need to just go out and get the limited number ingredients it takes to create this stick-to-your-bones, cold-weather-curing stew. It's so magical and soooo good leftover.

Hearty Beef Stew

You Will Need:

3 pounds boneless beef chuck

2 thick slices of pancetta, cubed (approximately 4 ounces)

2 tablespoons olive oil

salt and pepper

1 medium onion, chopped

3 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks

3 stalks celery, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tablespoons salted butter

6 tablespoons all purpose flour

4 cups beef stock

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 teaspoon fresh parsley, plus more for garnish

1 teaspoon dried rosemary

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 bay leaf

1 1/4 pounds red-skinned potatoes

Position rack in lower third of the oven and preheat to 325 F. 

Cut the beef into 1 1/2-inch cubes and set aside. 

In a large Dutch oven, cook the pancetta in oil over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until pancetta is crisp and browned, about 7 minutes. Transfer pancetta to a large bowl and set aside. Pour the leftover grease from the pot into a heatproof bowl. Return 2 tablespoons of pancetta fat into the pot and heat over medium-high heat. 

Season the beef cubes with salt and pepper and cook in batches to avoid over-crowding. Make sure to brown beef on all sides, about 5 minutes per batch. Add seared beef into the large bowl with the cooked pancetta and set aside. 

Add another 2 tablespoons of fat to the pot and heat over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, celery, and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions soften, about 5 minutes. Stir in the butter and let it melt, then add in the flour, stirring well. 

Gradually add in the beef stock, then the tomato paste, parsley, thyme, rosemary, and bay leaf. Return beef and pancetta to the pot and bring to a boil.

Cover, place in the oven and cook for 1 1/2 hours. 

Cut the unpeeled potatoes into 1-inch cubes, add them to the pot, stir, re-cover and continue cooking until both the meat and potatoes are tender, about 45 minutes more. 

Season the stew with any additional salt and pepper to taste, and serve with extra parsley on top. 

This is one of those recipes where I'll urge you on the importance of owning a Dutch oven. I absolutely love, love, love mine. Mostly because I can just use one cooking vessel from stovetop to oven, thereby reducing the number of dishes I have to do, which, in turn, makes me feel like cooking isn't a huge inconvenience. 

I heard a tidbit of information the other day - that millennials don't like touching raw meat. That's a shame. You can certainly go out on the prowl for a meal like this, scouring the internet for yelp reviews on the best stew, but there is something so great about being able to make something like this yourself. Don't be scared of the meat. You're not going to make it any less dead.

And with that, happy cooking!