Pam Carter’s Beef Stew

Okay, here’s the deal with this stew: The amount of the ingredients can be changed, depending on how many people you want to serve; use 4 pounds of stew meat if you want more meat; more carrots/less carrots; or more or less of any of the vegetables; use your imagination and the cooking judgment God gave you – it’s yours to play with and make your own. That being said, here’s how you put it together:

Salt, Pepper and lightly flour your stew meat and brown it in batches in a few tablespoons of olive oil in a deep stew pot. Remove meat and add crushed garlic to the pan and saute until soft. Deglaze the pan with the 1/2 cup of the red wine and add the sugar.

THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT: Add all the vegetables (EXCEPT THE MUSHROOMS) WHOLE – DO NOT CUT UP. They will cook just right and will not get mushy when cooked whole and in the alloted time.

Add the other 3 1/2 cups of wine, tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes, worcestershire sauce, Cavendar’s (the Kick!) and Paprika.

Throw the browned meat back into the stew pot. OH, EXCEPT for the mushrooms – they go in the last hour of cooking. If there is not enough liquid to cover everything in the pot, add some beef stock OR more red wine (can’t hurt!) until everything is just covered.

NOW you’re going to cover the stew pot and put it into a 350 degree oven for 2 hours, THEN ADD your mushrooms and continue to cook another hour or until the meat is very tender.

This is good the first day, but absolutely AMAZING the next (if you can wait that long to dive in!). Serve with cornbread (if you’re from the South) or even if you’re not – it’s divine.