Marinated Beef Stew

We've been eating turkey for days, so I thought some beef was in order for dinner. I decided to make beef stew using some of the ingredients I still had out from Thanksgiving - like cognac and allspice berries and serving it over left over mashed potatoes instead of noodles.

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Step One: Marinate the Beef
1.5 pounds London broil cut into cubes
1 cups dry red wine
2 cups beef broth
¼ cup cognac
2 bay leaves
8 cloves garlic, smashed
10 whole peppercorns
1 tsp dried thyme
1 onion, sliced
5 whole allspice berries (optional)

- Combine all the ingredients in a large ziploc bag and refrigerator for a few hours or overnight.

Step Two: Make the Stew
Flour
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 red onion, chunked
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 ribs celery, sliced
½ cups dry red wine
1 tsp dried thyme
Additional beef broth
2 Tbsp Corn starch (optional)

- Strain the marinade from the meat, reserving all the liquid, but discarding everything else. Keep the marinade.



- Melt the butter into the olive oil in a large pot. Pat the meat dry with paper towels and then coat with flour. Sear the pieces of beef until well browned on all sides, in batches if needed, and remove all meat to a plate.



- Add more olive oil to the pan if needed and sauté the onions, carrots and celery until almost translucent. Deglaze the pan by pouring in about 1 cup of the reserved marinade and ½ cup red wine and scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Pour in the rest of the marinade, browned beef, and thyme into the pot and bring it to a simmer. Simmer, covered, on low heat for about 2 hours (adding broth if necessary).

- If you prefer a thicker stew, combine 2 Tbsp corn starch with 2 Tbsp water until well combined. Add to the pot and stir until thickened.

Can you believe I forgot to take a photo of the finish product?!