Beef stew (Best new recipe)

Ingredients

• 3 lbs beef chuck roast (trimmed and cut into 1.5" cubes)
• Salt & ground black pepper
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 medium onions, chopped coarse (about 2 cups)
• 3 medium garlic cloves, minced
• 3 tbsp, 1 tsp unbleached, all purpose flour
• 1 1/4" cup full-bodied dry red wine (clos de bois zindafel 2009)
• 2 1/2 cups beef broth
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 4 medium red potatoes (1.5 lbs), peeled and cut into 3/4" cubes
• 4 large carrots (about 1 lb), peeled and sliced 1/4" thick
• 1 cup frozen peas (6 oz)
• 1/4 C minced, fresh parsley

Directions

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and pre-heat oven to 300 degrees.  
2. Cut the beef into 1.5" cubes.  Cut the onions and garlic.  Ready the oil and flour.
3. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a large oven-proof dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering.  Add half the meat so that the individual pieces are close together, but not touching.  Cook, not moving the pieces until the side touching the pot are well-browned, 2-3 minutes.  Using tongs, turn each piece and continue cooking until most sides are well browned, about 5 minutes longer.  Transfer the beef to a bowl and add another 1 tbsp to the pot, swirling to boat the bottom.  Brown the remaining beef, then set aside.
4. Reduce the heat to medium, add the remaining 1 tbsp of oil to the empty pot and swirl to coat.  Add the onions and 1/4 tsp salt.  Cook, stirring frequently and vigorously, scraping the pot bottom with a wooden spoon to loosen the browned bits, until the onions have softened, 4 -5 minutes.  
5. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.  Stir in the flour and cook until lightly colored, 1-2 minutes.  Add the wine, scraping up the remaining browned bits and stirring until the liquid is thick.  Gradually add the broth, stirring constantly and scraping pan edges to dissolve the flour.  Add bay leaves and thyme and bring to a simmer.  Add the meat and return to a simmer.  (Siphon extra liquid to a bowl.)  Cover and place into the oven, cook for 40 minutes.  
6. Prepare the potatoes, carrots, and celery.  Remove the pot and add the potatoes and carrots.  Cover and return to the oven.  Cook for 40 minutes.  
7. Prepare the celery.  Remove the pot and add the celery.  Cook until the meat is tender, around 30 minutes.  Remove the pot from the oven
8. Add the frozen peas, cover, and allow to stand for 5 minutes.  Stir in the parsley, discard bay leaves, adjust seasonings, and serve immediately.

Note:  Red wine sauce tastes wonderful, will make again!.  Be sure to cut meat and potatoes the right size.  I did as the recipe suggested with 1 cup wine, 2 cups beef broth, and 3 tbsp flour, and that was enough to just barely cover the beef, but that wasn't enough to cover the potatoes, so I needed to add in more wine and broth when the potatoes were added.  I cooked the meat for about 55 minutes, added in the potatoes and carrots and cooked those for 35, then added in the celery for 15, but the vegetables weren't fully cooked.  I also cut the potatoes in 1" cubes, which were too large for my tastes.  The beef was just at tender (I think we could have left it in a little longer).  Based on this, I adjusted the values above.