Brazilian Beef Stew

Heat the oil in a large pot. Add onions and cook until soft (about 3 minutes). Add garlic, cook until fragrant (2 minutes). Add tomato sauce (or paste), stir. Add flour and vegetable base, briefly stir. This will quickly turn into a thick sauce. Add red wine (or water, if preferred) and stir. Add beef, all the spices and 4 cups of water. Cover and cook over medium heat for 1 hour.

Cut vegetables into small cubes or chunks. The okra cooks very fast, so keep them whole. Simply add the veggies to the pot but do not turn or stir, otherwise the veggies will fall to the bottom of the pan, causing them to cook too fast and become mushy. Add remaining 3 cups of water, fresh cilantro and rosemary on top. Cover and cook for an additional 45 minutes or until veggies have softened to taste.

You can serve this right out of the pot, but I like to carefully transfer it to a shallow platter or casserole. This way, it is easier to scoop up what you want without mushing the other veggies.