Beef Stew with Mashed Potatoes

This was soooo yummy.  There were also a lot of leftovers, but that might not be the case if your kids aren't picky eaters like mine.  Don't worry, I came up with another recipe for the leftovers that I'll share with you tomorrow!  It was equally delicious!  I took a few more pictures than I usually do, so you can actually see some of the steps.  This dish is similar to a Boeuf Bourguignon, but I just used red wine that I had on hand and there aren't any potatoes in the actual stew, since I decided to serve it over mashed potatoes.

Ingredients for the stew:

2 lbs of beef stew meat

1/2 cup of corn starch

1 package of white mushrooms

1 package of baby carrots

1 - 14oz  frozen package of petite white onions

4 cloves garlic

2 sprigs of fresh rosemary

2 sprigs of fresh thyme

vegetable oil

2 cups of red wine 

3 cups of beef stock

salt and pepper

Directions:

Open package(s) of beef stew meat.  If wet pat lightly with a paper towel to dry, as the meat will not brown as well when wet.  Place beef stew meat in a large ziplock bag and sprinkle in 1/2 a cup of corn starch some fresh cracked black pepper and 1 tbs of salt.  Zip bag up and shake until corn starch coats meat.  Heat a large dutch oven over high heat and add enough vegetable oil to coat the bottom of the pan.  You just want to brown the meat, not deep fry.  When the oil is hot add the meat in two batches.  If you over crowd it it won't brown.  You can see a photo of this step below. While the meat is browning, slice the mushrooms in half, unless you find small ones that you want to leave whole.  Turn the meat frequently until all sides are browned and both batches are complete.  Then empty most of the remaining oil/grease into a safe glass dish or jar and discard when cool.  Return dutch oven to medium heat and add the whole bag of onions, carrots, mushrooms and 4 cloves of chopped garlic.  Stir and let cook until garlic is soft and the onions are defrosted and have a little color on them, about 5 minutes.  Add two cups of red wine to pan.  Be sure to use a wooden spoon to scrape all the little bits from the browned meat from the bottom of the pan.  Add the 3 cups of beef broth, fresh rosemary, thyme, more black pepper and another pinch of salt.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat until stew is simmering lightly and cover with lid.  Continue to simmer the stew for a couple hours stirring every 20 minutes or so.  After about two hours my stew was perfect.  I served it with mashed potatoes.  My recipe for them is below.

Recipe for mashed potatoes:

6 large yukon gold potatoes

2 cloves of garlic peeled

2 oz cream cheese

2 tbs butter

1/4 cup light sour cream

1/2-1 cup whole milk

salt & pepper to taste

Cut potatoes into large chucks and add to a large pot of salted cold water.  Peel garlic and add that to water as well.  Place over high heat and bring to a boil.  When potatoes are fork tender (about 10 minutes of boiling) remove from heat and drain.  Put potatoes back in hot pot and add butter, cream cheese and sour cream.  Use a potato masher and mash until no longer lumpy.  Add milk a little at a time until potatoes become the consistency you prefer.  I like mine extra creamy so I use closer to a cup of milk, but it's really up to you.  Season to taste with salt and pepper, and you're good to go!

Serve potatoes in a soup bowl and cover with stew.  I garnished mine with fresh parsley so it would look pretty for the camera.  I hope you give it a try!  If you have leftovers like me, see my post tomorrow for my round two recipe!