The Best Stew of all Stews

Yum! Such good stew, even Amanda likes it!

INGREDIENTS

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 pounds beef stew meat (or 2 pounds chuck roast, cut Into 2-inch chunks)
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 4 or 5 large cloves garlic, minced
• one 6-ounce can tomato paste
• 4 cups low-sodium beef stock , plus more if necessary
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 2 large carrots (or a bunch of small ones), roughly chopped into chunks
• 1 or 2 celery stalks, roughly chopped
• one 15-ounce can white beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 Jalapeno, chopped, seeds too if you can handle the spice (optional, but DO IT)
• 2 bay Leaves
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, for garnish

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oil and butter in a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat.
2. Generously season beef with salt and pepper.
3. Working in batches if you need to, sauté the meat, turning every couple of minutes but not stirring constantly, until nice and brown on all sides (but just on the outside; you don’t need to cook the meat all the way through at this point).  Using tongs, move the seared beef to a plate, keeping all that brown juicy goodness in the pot.
4. Add the onion garlic to the pot and cook, making sure to scrape up those brown bits and stains from the bottom with a wooden spoon. (in other words: Flavor!) Cook for a couple of minutes, then add your tomato paste again scraping those brown bits. Cook for another minute or two.
5. Add beef stock to the pot, getting the last bits of brown up from the bottom one last time. Add the Worchestershire sauce and sugar, then return that seared beef to the pot, plus any juices that accumulated on the plate. Cover, reduce heat and simmer on low for 2 hours (this seems like a short time for stew, but there’s another step!)
6. Uncover and throw in the carrots, celery, beans, jalapeño and bay leaves. Cover again and let simmer for another hour (if you can wait that long), until the vegetables are tender and the meat is totally forkable.  If you prefer a thinner stew, add some more beef stock (or water), a little at a time.
7. Taste. Add some salt and pepper until you deem it perfect.
8. Serve over mashed potatoes! Yum!