A simple tradition.

Hearty meal season is upon us, and with that I bring you beef stew. My fiance and I pick up our Christmas tree during the first weekend of December, and though there are sappy fingers, needle-covered floors and a LOT of lugging involved (for him), the spirit-warming results are always worth it. We decorate the tree with an ever-growing hodgepodge of ornaments, and light a fire and watch Home Alone or National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. It’s a simple tradition, but we look forward to it all year. And now that we’re engaged, I can’t help but imagine doing these things with our kids someday.

I also think I’ll add this beef stew to our little tradition. After schlepping an Evergreen up a flight of stairs, finagling it into a temperamental stand and scooping up needles from the weirdest of places (I swear I found a few in the fridge), we deserve some good old-fashioned comfort food. Between the wine and the bacon, this meal is a gift all its own.

Beef Stew
Adapted from The Barefoot Contessa

Ingredients
2 ½ lbs good quality beef cut in 1 ¼-inch cubes (buy it pre-cut at the butcher or grocery store)
1 bottle of good Cabernet Sauvignon
3 whole garlic cloves, smashed
3 bay leaves
6 oz. bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 ½ C. All-purpose flour, plus another 2 Tbs for later
Kosher salt
Black pepper
Olive oil
2 C. chopped yellow onions
1 lb carrots, peeled and cut into 1 ½-inch chunks
1 1lb small potatoes, halved or quartered
1 14 oz. can of beef stock
1 large branch of fresh rosemary
2 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
1 10-oz package frozen peas

Place the beef in a bowl with the whole garlic cloves and bay leaves, and pour the entire bottle of wine over it. Marinate in the fridge for one hour (Note: the longer you marinate, the more flavor the stew will have. But I find an hour does the trick).

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Brown the bacon in a large sauté pan for 5 to 7 minutes over medium-low heat. With a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a Dutch oven. Combine the flour with 1 Tbs salt and 2 tsp pepper. Lift the beef out of the marinade, and discard the bay leaves and garlic but reserve the liquid. In batches, dredge the cubes of beef in the flour mixture and shake off the excess.

In the sauté pan, brown half the beef over medium heat for 5 to 7 minutes, turning to brown evenly. Place the beef in the Dutch oven with the bacon and continue to brown the remaining beef, placing it all in the Dutch oven.

Lower the heat in the sauté pan to medium-low, add the onions and cook for 5 minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Add the carrots and potatoes and cook for 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Place all the vegetables in the Dutch oven with the beef. Add 2 ½ C of the reserved marinade to the sauté pan and discard the rest. Cook over high heat to deglaze the bottom of the pan, scraping up all the brown bits wih a wooden spoon.

Add the beef stock, rosemary, Worcestershire sauce, 1 Tbs salt and 2 tsp pepper. Pour the sauce over the meat and vegetables in the Dutch oven and bring it to a simmer over medium heat on top of the stove. Cover the pot and place it in the over for 2 hours, until the meat and vegetables are all tender, stirring once after 1 hour. If the stew is boiling rather than simmering, lower the heat to 275 degrees.

When the stew is done and the meat is tender, whisk 2 Tbs of the flour and 1 C. of the sauce together and pour it back into the stew. Simmer for 3 minutes, until thickened. Stir in the frozen peas, season to taste and serve hot.

The stew is best enjoyed with a crackling fire and a freshly decorated Christmas tree.