The pot that's fed six generations of this family through Ontario winters. Nothing clever in it — just time.
Ingredients
Method
Cut stewing beef into generous two-inch pieces and dry them well; wet beef steams, dry beef browns. Brown hard in a heavy pot, in batches, and don't rush this part — the crust on the beef is the flavour of the whole stew. Set the beef aside, soften onions and carrots in the same pot, and scrape up every brown bit from the bottom.
Return the beef with a spoonful of flour, stir a minute, then cover with stock (or water and a little tomato). Bay leaf, salt, pepper. Lid on, low heat — a bare simmer, never a boil — for about three hours, until a fork twists through the meat without argument. Potatoes go in for the last 45 minutes so they hold their shape.
Grass-fed note: our beef is leaner than grocery-store stew meat, so keep the simmer gentle and let time do the tenderizing — high heat will tighten it. Taste at the end; a splash of vinegar wakes the whole pot up.
Feeds a crowd, better the next day, freezes without complaint.