Is it cold where you are? We had our first frost warning last week... exciting!! Like most of you, I love it when it gets cold because that means cozy sweaters, fires, and bowls/mugs of hot stuff. Namely, hot chocolate, apple cider, and beef stew. Lots and lots of deliciously comfortable beef stew. Kaz's family came over the other day for dinner, and I decided it was the perfect occasion for the debut of the beef stew recipe. Hope you enjoy.

You'll need the following:

• two or three carrots
• two or three red potatoes (so you don't have to peel them...ugh)
• one yellow onion (red and white are fine, too)
• one package of stew meat (or buy a piece of meat and cut into cubes yourself)
• one bunch of fresh thyme
• three cans of beef stock (low sodium if you can)
• one bottle of red wine that your neighbors kindly brought you last week

Season the meat well with salt and pepper. In a Dutch oven or big soup pot that's not nonstick (you'll see why later) brown your meat in a decent amount of olive oil, enough to almost coat the bottom of the pan, over medium-high heat. You're not looking to cook the meat through; you just want a good amount of char on both sides. Cook it in batches so that you don't crowd your pan. Put the meat on a plate, and don't worry about all of the brown stuff on the pan that you think is burning. LEAVE IT. It's yummy. 

This is what your meat should look like. Okay, moving on. Cut up your vegetables into larger bite-sized pieces; this stew is supposed to be chunky. Add a little more oil to the pot, and add the carrots first. Season and stir for about a minute. Add the onions. Season and stir another minute. Add the potatoes. Can you guess? Uh huh. Season and stir.

Okay, so you see that brown at the bottom, that brown I told you to leave alone?

Yeah, that. That's really good stuff leftover from the meat, and it's going to make the liquid part of your stew taste rich and homemade. Okay, so now add about a cup of red wine. And make sure it's a wine you like to drink... because, well, you'll probably drink some with dinner.

If you're not a drinker, I'd highly encourage you still use the wine. The alcohol cooks out, but the flavor is hard to replicate. And if you're not sure what wine to use, go for something that's fairly bold like a cabernet or merlot. My favorite go-to bottle is Kendall Jackson Cabernet Sauvignon in case you're wondering.

Add the cans of beef stock, and stir. What you have just done is something called deglazing. When you pour liquid (stock, wine, water) into a hot pan with those bits on the bottom, the liquid sort of lifts off those bits, and they meld together to make a really flavorful sauce.

Add more salt and pepper (to flavor the liquids), the cooked meat (and the liquid hanging out on the plate), and half of the bunch of thyme. Tie it with some kitchen twine and just drop it in. This prevents you from having to chop a freakish amount of thyme, and you just pull it out in the end. It gives a nice subtle herbal flavor to the stew.

Let this simmer (little bubbles around the edge of the pot) for at least 30 minutes and up to a couple of hours. If you like your stew thicker, add a slurry. What's a slurry? No, not an icey treat from 7-11. SLURRY. It's equal parts cornstarch and water mixed together and then added to your stew. It's basically a thickener. It doesn't add any flavor or anything, so no worries.

Serve with homemade herb biscuit scone things (that I honestly forgot how I made or I'd tell you) or Sister Schubert's yeast rolls from the freezer section. Shut-up, people. Those yeast rolls are like crack.

So happy fall! Enjoy a bowl of beef stew, and if there's something else that screams fall to you, let me know! I'd love to try it!

Happy Birthday, Mom!!!