Serves: 6-8
2 lbs lean stew meat (marinade in red wine over-night or during day before making stew, save marinade for use in recipe)
1 tsp worcestershire sauce
1 clove garlic
1 medium onion, thickly sliced
1-2 bay leaves
1 Tbs salt
1 tsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp pepper
Dash of ground allspice of cloves
6 carrots, peeled, chunked
4 potatoes, peeled, quartered
1 large onion, peeled, chunked
In dutch oven, thoroughly brown meat in 2 Tbs of hot crisco, turning often. Add 2 cups liquid from marinade (add water if needed) and next 9 ingredients. Cover and let simmer for 2-3 hours or until meat is tender but not falling apart. Stir occasionally. Remove bay leaves and garlic. Add veggies. Cover and cook 30-45 min or until veggies and tender.
To make gravy (thicken stew liquid). In a small fry pan melt together butter and olive oil. Add enough flour to soak up the oil, but not allow it to be lumpy. This is called making a rue. Be careful not to burn this. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove about 2 cups of stew liquid and add to the rue all at once and stir vigorously. This should be allowed to get fairly thick. Then pour the gravy into the rest of the stew pot to thicken the whole stew. If there is a lot of oil or fat on top of stew, skim that off before adding the gravy to the whole pot.