Summer Beef Stew

I guess this is beef stew in the summer, but I did throw zucchini in it 😉...  I don't know why but I was craving beef stew and couldn't get it out of my head, even in the hot summer weather as of late.  Thankfully it was cooler and rainy today which I took as my cue to fulfill my desire.  I got my son to get the beef from Costco.  The smallest package he could find was 4 lbs.  I decided I'd put in a roasting pan and bake it low all day as it would be tough to fit that much meat and all the veg in a dutch oven.  I could have froze some of the beef but elected to freeze some of the finished stew instead.

All my veggies were from the farmer's market.  I put this in a 275°F oven for five hours once assembled.

• 4 lbs beef stew meat
• 2 Walla Walla onions, diced
• 5 cloves of garlic, minced
• 3 stalks celery, sliced
• 1 bunch of fresh carrots, sliced in 1 inch pieces on the bias
• 1/2 lb white mushrooms, sliced
• 4 zucchini, 2 yellow, 2 green, sliced and quartered
• 3 large yellow potatoes, cut in 1 inch pieces
• 1 cup of red wine
• 2 cups organic "Better than Bouillon" low-sodium beef stock
• 28 oz can organic low-sodium diced tomatoes
• 1/4 cup flour
• Worcestershire sauce, to tase
• 1 tablespoon "Trader Joe's" Umami seasoning
• 2 bay leaves
• Fresh thyme, to taste, tied in bundle
• Fresh carrot greens, to taste, tied in bundle
• Fresh Italian parsley, to taste, tied in bundle and chopped coarsely for garnish
• Kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper, to taste

I got out a deep frying pan and heated a swirl of olive oil on medium.  In the meantime I took some flour and S&P and shook it up in a plastic bag.  I also patted the beef dry and seasoned with S&P as well.  I gave it a shake in the flour and then seared the beef until browned.  

I moved each batch into the roasting pan and topped up the oil as needed between each browning session.  I ended up doing this four times.  

I fried the onions and garlic next until tender.  

I put in the flour and cooked it out.  The wine went in next and I stirred and stirred until the liquid was thick and all the brown bits lifted up from the bottom of the pan.  The stock, tomatoes, Worster sauce and Umami spice went in.  

I brought to a boil, simmered for a minute and poured it all in with the beef.  The chop fest began and then everything left on my list went into the pan except the zucchini as I would put that in for the last half hour.  One final stir, a seasoning of S&P, then I covered with a lid and put it in the oven.  

I stirred it half way through, mostly so I could look at the progress.  I turned it down to 250°F as it was coming along quickly.  The house smelled wonderful.  

The last time I looked was putting the zucchini in. 

When I took the stew out, I removed the herb bundle and bay leaves.  I stirred once more and checked the seasoning.  

I served with these biscuits as you can't have stew without them, right?  

The stew was very rich and comforting.  The seasoning was on point. Everything was cooked perfectly, meat was fork tender and veggies were soft but held intact without a hint of being mushy.  The only thing I didn't like was the zucchini in it - just didn't feel right for stew.  I'd pass on that next time.  The itch is scratched and Sunday dinner is done.