the best beef stew you've ever had

before we begin i want to talk about taking your time. is this process we are about to embark on a bit on the time consuming side? yes. does it perhaps add a bit of work you could get away without? maybe. is it hands down the best stew i've ever had? yeppers. you betcha. so, if you're going for the over achiever award, here we go. chop one large onion, what ever color tickles your fancy, three large stalks of celery, three to four carrots, put them in a bowl, set aside. make sure you're beef stew meat is dry, and cut into reasonable size chunks. what do i mean by reasonable? go get one of your soup spoons. put a hunk of the meat in it. allowing for the fact that it will shrink a bit, will it fit in the spoon? will the spoon with the cooked meat on it fit in your mouth? will the others at the table leave or be sick at the site of the meat and spoon fitting in your mouth? well then. if you have to cut some of the pieces in half, try to go cross grain, it's more tender that way. season some flour with garlic salt and pepper, put a bit of oil in the bottom of your stew pot, or dutch oven and get it good and hot. dredge and brown all of the meat, removing it to a bowl, in batches. okay, i get it, it takes a while. don't crowd the pan! if you crowd the pan you ruin the whole point of this extra step and you may as well skip it. okay assuming you have all of your meat browned and in a bowl, put the veggies in the pot and let them cook down, stirring occasionally. we want them to brown a bit too. when they are brown around the edges sprinkle in your herbs, for us a bit of rosemary and thyme then add about 1/3 to 1/2 a bottle of red wine. merlot, cabernet sauvingon, any dry red wine. you don't need to go broke on it, but if you wouldn't drink it don't cook with it. let this cook down with the veggies with the lid off until it's reduced a bit and smells mellow. add the beef back in and put the lid on, turn the temp down to low and let simmer for about 30 minutes. chop some potatoes and add them after the beef has cooked for the 30 minutes, stir. this is your chance to adjust for liquid content. add one can of beef broth or stock, if it looks too thick, add a bit of water then cover and let cook for another 45 minutes to 1 hour stirring only once or twice. add frozen peas and corn, and if you like fresh green beans, stir and let simmer for 30 minutes again. serve with nice french bread, steamed dumplings, biscuits, or rolls.