Beef Stew

The first time Joy tasted a similar recipe was at a church potluck the assistant pastor bragged about how his stew cooked in a good red wine was and he was right! 2lbs cubed chuck roast or Costco’s boneless short rib meat cut into cubes ½ bottle good red wine of your choice 1 medium onion diced 4 cloves garlic 1 diced jalapeno Fresh herbs such as rosemary, thyme, flat leaf parsley or cilantro basil etc.. 8oz button mushrooms or criminis (optional) 4 waxy potatoes red or white rose Bacon strips(optional for extra flavor) Joy likes to cook this in a crockpot. If you like gravy salt and pepper the cubed meat and dust with flour, sauté in a little olive oil until brown. Remove meat and sauté onions jalapeno and garlic. Place the meat, onions, garlic, jalapeno, red wine, bacon strips, potatoes and herbs in a crock pot on high for the first hour then turn down and cook a couple more hours and cook until tender, add the mushrooms the last ½ hour. Before serving the liquid can be stained from the meat and placed in a strong reclosable bag and tipped to one corner cut a small hole on the tip the fat will rise to the top pour good juices in a pan for gravy and thicken with wondra or just add back to meat mix. Serve with rice and a cooked vegetable such as asparagus or broccoli. Enjoy!