Sick Kid, Update and Beef Stew...oh my!

Remember the recipe I promised yesterday? Yeah, well, I ran around like a crazy woman all night and didn’t get to it. I was getting the house ready for my PartyLite shindig and taking care of my five year old who was lethargic (scary) and running an “Anti-Fever”…he was CLAMMY (sweaty…wowza!) and said he was warm, but his body temp hovered around 96° which is pretty low for him (his normal is well over 98). Still not sure what that was all about but he seems to have fully recovered today, so that’s a relief!

So as an update on my LIST of “10 in 10”…dining room is ALMOST DONE!! WOOT! And I have plans to do the family rules tomorrow so that will be GREAT! I painted my trim and have now decided I HATE it! LOL! Soooo, that’s going to be a do-over but at least I got this far, right?

Ok…ok…onto the recipe! I found this recipe on the "lifeingrace" blog. LOVE her blog (and her KITCHEN!) If you’re not familiar with her you must go check the blog out…I suggest becoming a follower! :) This girl’s got some YUMMY recipes! In fact, my slightly altered variation of her stew recipe is the most delicious six hours I’ve spent in a LONG time!

Best EVER Beef Stew

2-3 lbs Stew Meat (I have a big family!)
Flour, Montreal Steak Seasoning, Salt and Pepper
Oil
½ cup red wine
1 small bag baby carrots, cut in half
½ sweet onion – coarsely chopped
8 small red potatoes – cubed
1 pkg. sliced mushrooms – coarsely chopped
Olive Oil
Approximately 2 cans of beef broth
Worcestershire sauce
2 T. minced garlic
2 T. honey
1 c. heavy cream
1 can peas

1. Start with your stew meat…salt and pepper and Montreal Steak season the meat, then dredge in flour. Be generous with the flour as this will help thicken your stew later.
2. Heat a Dutch oven or stew pot with a decent amount of vegetable oil over med-high heat. Add the meat and brown on all sides.
3. Add minced garlic and allow to cook for a minute or two.
4. Add red wine and enough beef broth to cover the meat.
5. Cover your pot and bake at 250° for 3-4 hours.
6. About half an hour before your meat is done, begin to prepare vegetables.
7. Chop baby carrots in half into bite-sized pieces. Cube potatoes and coarsely chop onion and mushrooms.
8. Salt and pepper veggies and lightly sauté in olive oil.
9. Remove stew from oven and add veggies. Add more beef broth if necessary to just cover the veggies. You don’t want TOO much liquid so if there are a few vegetables not completely covered that is a-ok!
10. Add a splash or two of Worcestershire sauce, a couple shakes of paprika and 2 Tablespoons of honey.
11.Recover and put back into the 250° oven for another three hours.
12.When ready to serve, remove from oven and add one can of peas (drained) and 1 pt. of heavy cream. Stir until well mixed. Taste and add salt/pepper as you see fit (I added a bit of salt, but I generally lean towards "sodium-junkie") :)

This is SO DELICIOUS! We served ours with warm dinner rolls and it was a HUGE hit with the whole family! Definitely worth the 6 hours of cooking time! Hearty and warm and filling...ohhh...just perfect! It is the only beef stew recipe for me, from here on out!

I'm linking this up at ASPTL's DIY DAY! Stop by Kimba's to check out the other fab DIY goodness going on over there!