Beef Stew

It's been beef stew kind of weather lately, and there was a recipe for quick beef stew in Food and Wine that gave me the idea to do it (although I did it differently). I think a long-cooked stew is better, of course, but this was good for something quick (the meat didn't break down as much as it would have had the stew cooked longer).

First I cut about a pound of stew beef into smaller cubes, then sauteed it in some olive oil until it was brown on all sides. It gave off a lot of liquid, so I poured the beef and most of the liquid (was it fat?) into a bowl, leaving a little in the pan to try to make a fond, which kind of worked after a little heat was applied. Added a diced onion and potato, and two diced carrots, and stirred that until they started to brown and picked up the brown on the bottom of the pan. Then mixed in a couple of tablespoons of flour and stirred it around to coat the vegetables and cook a little. Poured in a can of beef broth, the meat and its juices, a bay leaf and some salt and pepper. Cooked for about half an hour, until the juices had thickened and the vegetables were tender. Then I added a couple splashes of red wine vinegar (the F and W recipe used 2 cups of red wine, but I didn't want to open a bottle just for that since I wouldn't be able to finish it in my current state).

It wasn't too bad. I ate mine and ran off to a meeting, leaving the rest on the stove for Todd, who ate when he got home. Another busy night.