Beef Stew

We went to Costco today and among other things, I saw a family pack of cubed stewing steak that I decided to buy and make a stew. I only used half the meat; the rest I froze for a later date and purpose. Perhaps chopped smaller and made into a pie?

I went with a very simple recipe. I dusted the steak with flour, salt and pepper and browned the pieces in a large pot. 

 Then I added some sliced shallots and onions, cooked till they were softened and then poured in about two glasses of red wine. I say about because it was what was leftover from an open bottle. I used the wine to scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the pan, added the meat back, then a jar of my own homemade tomato sauce ...

and some chunkily sliced carrots.

Some bay leaves, oregano, more black pepper and after a quick taste, I put the lid back the pot and then transferred the whole thing to a hot oven for about two hours, at which point it looked like this:

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