Beef Stew - Comfort Food Comfort

Whoever coined the phrase "comfort food" is a genius.  Without description, you know exactly what it means.  But what do you call the overwhelming contentment which results from comfort food?  Let's refer to it as "comfort food comfort", the contentment attained from having eaten comfort food.  And in the case of me last night after dinner, a double-dose of comfort because I knew I'd be having leftovers for lunch.  A double dip of comfort food comfort that just keeps on giving.  And since I just finished lunch...

When I think of Beef Stew, I think of my youth.  Again, back to the school cafeteria, I don't think I ever liked the Beef Stew that was served.  To be sure, I am highly confident that it came out of a can and had roughly 200% of the daily recommended allocation of sodium.  It also reminds me of the movie, Meatballs, where the winner of the "Mystery Meat" contest won with the answer of "some kind of beef".  But this ain't your youth's Beef Stew we're talking about today.  We are talking Paulina Beef Stew meat (aka small chunks of Beef Chuck) with some high quality ingredients, including a bottle of beer in the stew (I used Ellie's Brown Ale).  Is your mouth watering yet?

OK.  So, first I seasoned 3 lbs of beef stew meat with salt and pepper on both sides.  Let me pause for a minute.  This recipe which I found in a book (and don't have online links for you) is so old school.  The majority of the measurements are in pounds.  Gotta love that.  Anyhow, seasoned 3 lbs of beef stew meat, and using olive oil in a dutch oven over high heat, I seared both sides of the meat (had to do it in two batches) for about 6 minutes total per batch.  I removed the meat and set it aside.  Then, 10 minutes over medium heat (covered, but stirring every couple of minutes) for 2 lbs of sliced onions.  Then, add 5 finely diced carrots, 2 TBS of chopped garlic and 1/4 pound of diced thick prosciutto and stir/cover for 5 minutes.  In went 1.5 lbs of mushrooms (I used white and shitake) for a few minutes.  Then, we added the meat back in, the bottle of Ellie's Brown Ale, 3 cups of Beef Stock, a teaspoon of thyme, a teaspoon of Worcestershire Sauce and 3 Bay Leaves.  Stir it all up, bring it to a boil, and then cover and turn to simmer for a little over 2 hours (until the meat is "fork tender").  Then, remove the meat with a slotted spoon, add in 2 carrots-worth of 2 inch chunks, and crank the heat to high.  Get it to a roiling boil to reduce the stew liquid by about half, getting good and syrupy.  During this time, the carrots should cook through (and they did).  Once the stew is ready, add the meat back in and turn the heat to low.  Let the meat warm through again, and serve.  No sides.  No bread.  No nothing extra.  Just stew, Cotes de Rhone and COMFORT!

33 down, 28 to go!